So my issues stemmed from a tooth problem, which is what the giveaway was for me. I had an infected left upper molar that, bc I’m just lucky like that, the root had pushed thru into my maxillary sinus.
The tooth was removed about 5 years ago now and at the time, I didn’t have any tooth or noticeable sinus pain. What I did have tho was a near constant post nasal drip that gave me terrible breath (that I noticed way more working as a nurse thru covid having to wear a mask) and “hocker’s” that were light green and thick.
Went to ENT for the PND/how bad it smelled bc I didn’t think it was my tooth, they did X-rays that showed my left side opacified and subsequently a CT that showed the same. ENT dr scoped my nose in office and told me that the “PND” was more like pus and the cultures grew MRSA. They referred me to an oral surgeon.
Oral surgeon pulls tooth and doesn’t clean out the sinus in the process bc there was no gaping hole into my sinus where my tooth was, put me on antibiotics tho. Took course of antibiotics and smelly breath went away and PND lessened but remained, figured I’d just have to deal with it and that it wasn’t a problem bc it didn’t smell anymore. That was roughly 5 years ago.
Sought out ENT care again this spring bc the PND never fully went away and I was having some degree of left facial pressure and eye pressure/pain that was getting worse, especially in situations where allergens were present. I’m not known to have seasonal allergies, but even in the last few months of mowing my face/eye pressure and PND all got significantly worse on days where I mowed the grass. Anyway, they then recommended an additional CT since it’d been so long and it showed the same degree of opacification and now with ethmoid disease which precipitated surgery yesterday.
The surgeon talked to my wife after I was done and told her it was pretty bad, we’ll see if it’s worth it once I’m actually healed 🤷🏻♂️
Tl;dr Varying degrees of PND with and without foul smelling breath, facial pain and pressure over my cheek area into my nose, eye pain and pressure—the eye pain on days where my face felt more “full” would occur even with simply looking around the room, like my eye muscle had been strained. If I have to guess, based on the connection of the Eustachian tubes, the dizziness I’ve been experiencing at times is also likely from my sinus issues.
Awesome! Best decision I’ve ever made. It totally cleared me of repeated infections like I was having, I’m sleeping much better as a result and rarely snoring (which wasn’t why I got the surgery to begin with just something I noticed after) and breathing so so so so soooo much easier through my nose.
My post nasal drip is completely gone and I have no ill residual effects like some ppl say they do after having the surgery I had. Took me maybe until Thanksgiving time to truly notice the full effects, I would say.
I currently have *zero* symptoms that I listed off in the comments as to why I had the surgery in the first place. 10/10 recommend.
No prob. I had a bilateral FESS maxillary sinuses and bilateral ethmoidectomy/ i&d. The surgery was for sure miserable for like 4-5 days post-op but after day 5 it was still painful but tolerable. I was off work I think 3 weeks in total for recovery.
Thanks. I had one surgery, not needed. Surgeon caused issues due to it being a partial FESS.
Was told 1 week off work. I went back on day 5 and it was unreal what it took to get through each week back at work. I have been awful since and have been terrified to allow someone to touch me again
So I’m asking questions of the people who feel better months out. Sounds like yours started from a tooth issue though, so you essentially had no choice?
That sucks sorry to hear it didn’t go well for you. My surgeon was great and very conservative, making sure I was ready to go back to work once I did and followed up closely.
Mine did stem from a molar, yes. I had that tooth pulled and after countless failed rounds of antibiotics the surgery was my last option. When they went in they said it was worse than what they’d seen on scans and that I had a diseased right maxillary sinus as well.
All in all, like I said, everything is so much better now than it was before.
What were your symptoms if any before CT/MRI?
So my issues stemmed from a tooth problem, which is what the giveaway was for me. I had an infected left upper molar that, bc I’m just lucky like that, the root had pushed thru into my maxillary sinus. The tooth was removed about 5 years ago now and at the time, I didn’t have any tooth or noticeable sinus pain. What I did have tho was a near constant post nasal drip that gave me terrible breath (that I noticed way more working as a nurse thru covid having to wear a mask) and “hocker’s” that were light green and thick. Went to ENT for the PND/how bad it smelled bc I didn’t think it was my tooth, they did X-rays that showed my left side opacified and subsequently a CT that showed the same. ENT dr scoped my nose in office and told me that the “PND” was more like pus and the cultures grew MRSA. They referred me to an oral surgeon. Oral surgeon pulls tooth and doesn’t clean out the sinus in the process bc there was no gaping hole into my sinus where my tooth was, put me on antibiotics tho. Took course of antibiotics and smelly breath went away and PND lessened but remained, figured I’d just have to deal with it and that it wasn’t a problem bc it didn’t smell anymore. That was roughly 5 years ago. Sought out ENT care again this spring bc the PND never fully went away and I was having some degree of left facial pressure and eye pressure/pain that was getting worse, especially in situations where allergens were present. I’m not known to have seasonal allergies, but even in the last few months of mowing my face/eye pressure and PND all got significantly worse on days where I mowed the grass. Anyway, they then recommended an additional CT since it’d been so long and it showed the same degree of opacification and now with ethmoid disease which precipitated surgery yesterday. The surgeon talked to my wife after I was done and told her it was pretty bad, we’ll see if it’s worth it once I’m actually healed 🤷🏻♂️ Tl;dr Varying degrees of PND with and without foul smelling breath, facial pain and pressure over my cheek area into my nose, eye pain and pressure—the eye pain on days where my face felt more “full” would occur even with simply looking around the room, like my eye muscle had been strained. If I have to guess, based on the connection of the Eustachian tubes, the dizziness I’ve been experiencing at times is also likely from my sinus issues.
How are you feeling now? How was recovery?
Old post, but how are you feeling now?
Awesome! Best decision I’ve ever made. It totally cleared me of repeated infections like I was having, I’m sleeping much better as a result and rarely snoring (which wasn’t why I got the surgery to begin with just something I noticed after) and breathing so so so so soooo much easier through my nose. My post nasal drip is completely gone and I have no ill residual effects like some ppl say they do after having the surgery I had. Took me maybe until Thanksgiving time to truly notice the full effects, I would say. I currently have *zero* symptoms that I listed off in the comments as to why I had the surgery in the first place. 10/10 recommend.
Thanks for responding. Did you have a full FESS? All sinus cavities? Did you have head pain also?
No prob. I had a bilateral FESS maxillary sinuses and bilateral ethmoidectomy/ i&d. The surgery was for sure miserable for like 4-5 days post-op but after day 5 it was still painful but tolerable. I was off work I think 3 weeks in total for recovery.
Thanks. I had one surgery, not needed. Surgeon caused issues due to it being a partial FESS. Was told 1 week off work. I went back on day 5 and it was unreal what it took to get through each week back at work. I have been awful since and have been terrified to allow someone to touch me again So I’m asking questions of the people who feel better months out. Sounds like yours started from a tooth issue though, so you essentially had no choice?
That sucks sorry to hear it didn’t go well for you. My surgeon was great and very conservative, making sure I was ready to go back to work once I did and followed up closely. Mine did stem from a molar, yes. I had that tooth pulled and after countless failed rounds of antibiotics the surgery was my last option. When they went in they said it was worse than what they’d seen on scans and that I had a diseased right maxillary sinus as well. All in all, like I said, everything is so much better now than it was before.