Turbinate reduction in KPHB, Hyderabad

A short operation, fifteen to thirty minutes, done at Sinocare ENT Hospital. You are fully asleep (general anaesthetic). It is usually done in the same sitting as septoplasty. You go home the same day. Salt water (saline) rinses from the first day, and a check-up in the first week or two. Desk work at about a week. Breathing opens up steadily over the next month.

• A nose blocked most of the time, worse lying down, worse on the side you are lying on
• A block that gets better for a few minutes with a decongestant spray and then comes back
• Relying on decongestant sprays bought from the chemist. They cause the very swelling they relieve.
• Nose allergy (allergic rhinitis) that is controlled on medicine, but the nose is still blocked
• Alongside septoplasty, where the shelf on the wider side has grown larger

Medicine comes first, properly and for long enough. A steroid nose spray used the right way for six to eight weeks does more than most people expect. At the first visit, you are shown how to aim one, because hardly anyone is taught how.

It is done through the nostrils, with no cut on the outside. The bulk under the lining of the shelf is reduced, and the surface lining is kept whole. This is done with a shaver (microdebrider), by coblation, or by radiofrequency. This way keeps the shelf working, and it is the usual choice here. Removing part of the shelf outright is kept for the unusual case. Total removal is not done.

Fifteen to thirty minutes, often done in the same operation as septoplasty.

• A camera test of the nose (nasal endoscopy), to see the shelves and confirm they are the block
• A recorded trial of medicine, including a steroid spray used the right way
• Allergy testing where your history points that way
• A CT of the sinuses if sinus disease may also be present

First week. Blockage and crusts, worse before better. Saline rinses several times a day from the first day are the one thing that speeds this up. Some blood-tinged discharge.

Weeks two to four. The crusts come away, and breathing steadily opens. After coblation, the change comes slowly over several weeks, not all at once. That surprises people who expected a switch to flip.

Beyond. The final airway is settled by about six weeks. Allergy treatment goes on. Surgery made room. It did not cure the allergy.

• Bleeding, in the first days, or now and then at one to two weeks as crusts come away. Usually minor. A light pack if not.
• Crusts and dryness for several weeks, managed with saline.
• The swelling coming back. The shelves can swell again, above all when allergy goes on untreated. That is why the allergy plan goes on after surgery.
• Taking too much. Taking away too much of the shelf leaves a nose that is wide open, yet feels blocked, dry and uncomfortable. It cannot be undone. It is uncommon. That is why the method here is careful and spares tissue. The bulk is reduced under a whole lining, and the shelf is never removed whole.
• A weaker sense of smell, usually temporary.
• Infection, uncommon, treated with antibiotics.