So I’m getting a septoplasty in December and I am super nervous about it. I’m afraid it will hurt, I’ll wake up during the surgery or I’ll act stupid after waking up. I’m also afraid of being put under, despite having done it before.
I wasn’t originally this nervous, I was actually pretty excited after scheduling it. I’ve had a deviated septum all my life, but over the last three years have had chronic post nasal drip and a stuffy nose. It makes it hard to exercise and sleep at night since my sinuses are always clogged. That’s why I want this surgery, but also because I have an intense fear of throwing up, and this post nasal drip has been making me extremely nauseous lately. The only thing that relieves it is frequent saline rinsing.
Has anybody else felt like this? If you’ve had a septoplasty, how did it go?
When they did my septoplasty they did it under local with sedation. I was awake and semi-conscious the entire time but I didn’t feel a thing nor did I give a shit, thanks fentanyl!
The immediate aftermath wasn’t super fun tbh but I’ve never had a surgery where that’s not true. Like any surgery it hurts after the anesthesia wears off. It’s not unbearable pain and can definitely be managed with narcotics and eventually stuff like Tylenol. It’s not unbearable pain, bad soreness. Keep in mind that generally the worst part pain wise is waking up and then it progressively gets better.
You might act stupid after waking up. No one cares, even if you say like racist stuff. Everyone gets a pass when on anesthesia (the exception is whoever your caretaker is may not feel this way ig, but hospital staff def won’t care).
You almost certainly won’t wake up during surgery if you get general but if you do you probably wont remember it. This is one of the reasons anesthesia typically comes with versed/midazolam which interrupts formations of memories.
Honestly for me the surgery was smooth, the after part was the much rougher bit. But my understanding that this has changed since I got my septoplasty (2013). Back when I got mine after the surgery they packed your nose with this foam thing that basically completely blocked both nostrils. It made sleeping extremely uncomfortable and I scheduled the surgery on a Thursday so the removal was not for 4 days (following Monday). Also, the removal was painful (though after a few moments that pain faded to a nose that finally worked right which was real nice. Plus I saved a Percocet for the removal and was just feeling nice in general).
My understanding though after talking to a few people who have had the surgery more recently and reading online is that there are newer packing materials that are far more comfortable and easy to remove. Some surgeons apparently don’t do packing at all. I also have a very hairy nose so trimming my nose hair prior to surgery would’ve been helpful as the removal pain was basically waxing my nose