Deviated septum and nasal turbinates

[pzins1]

I am a mouth breather so I have to wear a full mask which I hate. I recently went to an ENT and he said I have a deviated septum and swollen turbinates. I can get this corrected but I wonder if it is worth it. My goal is to go to a nasal pillow or cradle. Has anyone had this issue and if so did fixing the nose issues help?  Thanks

[Jay51]

I had both surgeries about a year and 1/2 ago.  

If I had to do it over again, I guess I would still have had the surgery.  

I think it depends on the degree of obstruction by the deviated septum and turbinates.  Mine were pretty bad.  So I had good improvement.  

It has not cured my sleep apnea, as I have other sleep apnea problems as well.  But it has made daytime breathing and night time breathing better (and less congestion).  

I still use a full face mask (old traditional style though - mainly because I have extreme pressure - 10 epap and 20 ipap for a pressure support of 10).  

I can't answer the question of whether you will be able to use a nasal mask if you have the surgery or not.  

It would be good to do some internet searches (and watch some videos) on both the procedures and reviews by others of these 2 surgeries.   

Also, you can type "septoplasty" "turbinate reduction" "turbinate surgery" "deviated septum", etc. into the SEARCH bar (after clicking on it) at the top right hand corner of our website's page.  You must type in enough words though.  you can use any combination of the above terms to get unbiased reviews here.  


Maybe others who have had either surgery will post their experiences with them as well.

[Nightynite]

I have the same two problems and also visited a ENT for evaluation. My choice was first to experiment with the nasal steroids and if that didn’t work go ahead with the surgery. Luckily for me the nasal steroids worked with a little bit of education and patience. nasal steroids take a while to work and many people give up on them before they do anything. I now sleep with nasal cradle and mouth tape. Flonase

[pzins1]

I had both surgeries about a year and 1/2 ago.  

If I had to do it over again, I guess I would still have had the surgery.  

I think it depends on the degree of obstruction by the deviated septum and turbinates.  Mine were pretty bad.  So I had good improvement.  

It has not cured my sleep apnea, as I have other sleep apnea problems as well.  But it has made daytime breathing and night time breathing better (and less congestion).  

I still use a full face mask (old traditional style though - mainly because I have extreme pressure - 10 epap and 20 ipap for a pressure support of 10).  

I can't answer the question of whether you will be able to use a nasal mask if you have the surgery or not.  

It would be good to do some internet searches (and watch some videos) on both the procedures and reviews by others of these 2 surgeries.   

Also, you can type "septoplasty" "turbinate reduction" "turbinate surgery" "deviated septum", etc. into the SEARCH bar (after clicking on it) at the top right hand corner of our website's page.  You must type in enough words though.  you can use any combination of the above terms to get unbiased reviews here.  


Maybe others who have had either surgery will post their experiences with them as well.

Thank you Jay!

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I have the same two problems and also visited a ENT for evaluation. My choice was first to experiment with the nasal steroids and if that didn’t work go ahead with the surgery.  Luckily for me the nasal steroids worked with a little bit of education and patience. nasal steroids take a while to work and many people give up on them before they do anything.  I now sleep with nasal cradle and mouth tape. Flonase

I didn't think of flonase... good idea

[MarkEDouglas]

Yes, I had my deviated septum corrected and my turbinates reduced by radio frequency ablation over 20 years ago  -along with a few other upper airway procedures. I’m glad I did this because it’s important to have this done if you eventually need to go on CPAP - like I did 15 months ago. My recommendation is to use the best, most experienced ENT surgeon you can find. Good luck.

[Homerec130]

I have a deviated septum, most likely from the days of my youth when I lived to play ice hockey and broke my nose several times. My ENT and I have had several discussions about it. And as of my last visit, I am doing well on my sleep apnea, the deviated septum doesn't appear to be affecting me, so why bother with surgery. BTW, I flew for 20+ years with it and never had an issue.

The only thing he recommended was I not use a neti-pot as you won't like the results (he has a deviated septum as well and has tried it).

BTW, my ENT is the same one who had me do an MRI for a hearing loss, but didn't expect to see anything. I got the call from him after the MRI and he said as we suspected, there's nothing there. Oh, and there is noting on the inner ear either. He is a great ENT.