If you’re experiencing trouble breathing, a turbinate reduction surgery can be a very helpful procedure. This surgery shrinks the size of the turbinates, resulting in better ability to breathe. Turbinates are structures within the nose that help filter the air we breathe in. They also help warm the air and humidify it. Sometimes they become enlarged or misplaced due to allergies or infection, among other causes, and surgery can help. But how successful are procedures to reduce them? Will you have to redo them every so often to maintain results? And how do you know this procedure will work for you?
Turbinate reduction surgical procedure
There are several options for helping with turbinate problems. They can be reduced through nonsurgical methods such as cauterization, or they can be surgically reduced in size for more severe cases.
All nonsurgical methods are performed using a similar principle: the use of heat or energy to cause scar tissue to form, thus reducing the size of the turbinates. These procedures often just need local anesthetic. Your doctor will go in through your nostrils to reach the turbinates and use special tools to reduce the size of the turbinates.
In a turbinate reduction surgical procedure, you may be put under general anesthesia when combined with other nasal procedures. Usually turbinate reduction can be done under local anesthesia in the office as well. Your surgeon will go in through your nostrils and shave away part of the bone under the turbinates to allow them to rest further down and open up the nasal passageways. If needed, your doctor may also cut a small part of the turbinates themselves to create even more space.
How successful is turbinate reduction?
With an ENT specialist’s recommendation, turbinate reduction can work very well for many. For some, however, a single procedure does not always cause an end to symptoms. They may need another turbinate reduction procedure in order to get relief. Often a different procedure is tried the second time to see if that will work better.
The only way to know what’s causing your breathing trouble is to be seen by a doctor. It can be the turbinates, or any one of a number of other things. Dr. Edmund Fisher has successfully performed many turbinate reduction surgeries and can have you breathing easy once again. Schedule an appointment for a consultation today.
