# Enlarged turbinates **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 11, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlarged-turbinates/670934 "2013-10-11T01:09:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sandy\_Gulbrandsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@Sandy\_Gulbrandsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sandy_Gulbrandsen)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlarged-turbinates/670934/1 "2013-10-11T01:09:20Z")
I am about to have a deviated septum straightened out and the enlarged turbinates made smaller. Has anyone had head congestion all the time because of enlarged turbinates? All my life, I have suffered from them, and recently a doctor(ENT) diagnosed my problem. My doctor says I will be able to breathe better after the surgery, but he does not promise that I will have less head congestion. Do you think I will have less congestion after the turbinates are made smaller? Will they come back larger later? Please answer, as I am desperate to know. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlarged-turbinates/670934/2 "2013-10-11T01:16:14Z")
Reported for forum change. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlarged-turbinates/670934/3 "2013-10-11T01:35:17Z")
> [@Sandy\_Gulbrandsen](#): > > I am about to have a deviated septum straightened out and the enlarged turbinates made smaller… I’m sorry to tell you this, but that sort of surgery is rarely successful, and is usually fatal. You’ll probably die. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlarged-turbinates/670934/4 "2013-10-11T02:46:28Z")
Let me move that for you. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlarged-turbinates/670934/5 "2013-10-11T04:50:18Z")
I had a deviated septum fixed and it made things worse because of the way the skin healed. They basically pull your nose over your face (not really) and the procedure damaged blood vessels in the tip of my nose. I got infections for a number of years thereafter. ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlarged-turbinates/670934/6 "2013-10-11T15:12:20Z")
> [@Sandy\_Gulbrandsen](#): > > I am about to have a deviated septum straightened out and the enlarged turbinates made smaller. Has anyone had head congestion all the time because of enlarged turbinates? All my life, I have suffered from them, and recently a doctor(ENT) diagnosed my problem. My doctor says I will be able to breathe better after the surgery, but he does not promise that I will have less head congestion. Do you think I will have less congestion after the turbinates are made smaller? Will they come back larger later? > Please answer, as I am desperate to know. > Thank you. I had the surgery in 2008. I don’t necessarily have less congestion, but with the turbinates reduced and the septum straightened, I can breathe a lot better. My ENT would not do the surgery unless I also agreed to start allergy shots. His reasoning was that if we didn’t eliminate the body reacting to allergens, the turbinates would grow back in a few years. I did the allergy shots and they helped, I can still breathe reasonably well through my nose and the turbinates did grow back a bit, but they are not as large and obstructive as they were. I also still use Zyrtec and Flonase daily. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlarged-turbinates/670934/7 "2013-10-11T15:48:27Z")
I had a deviated septum fixed and turbinates reduced, and it was a big success for me. I can breathe through my nose today, whereas I literally could not before. It has been 15-20 years and I don’t seem to have any issue with turbinates growing back larger. I do take Claritin for allergies. My dad had the same surgery and got very little benefit. He also had some complications, where the tissues in his nose didn’t want to heal right and some blood vessels needed to be cauterized later. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlarged-turbinates/670934/8 "2013-10-11T16:44:29Z")
I had never been able to breathe through both nostrils, 100% since I was a child. One side could be clear, but not the other. An hour later, the “good” nostril and its airflow would switch sides. All day. Only nasal spray could open up my nasal passages to the point that I could breathe like normal people. 3 years ago, I had my deviated septum fixed, and turbinate reduction done. I can finally breathe free and clear. I am so much better than I was, but I do wish the doctor had taken a little more tissue than he did. My airflow is just slightly restricted still, and some nasal spray will really open me up, but I would like a slightly bigger tunnel, if you see what I mean. Discuss this with your doctor, and tell him you want maximum airflow when all is said and done, not just better than you are now. Good Luck! ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlarged-turbinates/670934/9 "2013-10-11T19:20:30Z")
Nose surgery is a little like back surgery, it is hard to know if it will help or not. Maybe some of the more knowledgable dopers can provide some good stats on % of people that it really helped. I think deviated septum is a bit more serious of a surgery than turbinate reduction. A little longer recovery. Also refer to my [previous comment](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16379128&postcount=3) on your thread. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enlarged-turbinates/670934/10 "2013-10-11T21:04:52Z")
I’ll answer on behalf of my non-doper wife. Yes, it helped her. Fixed a deviated septum and roto-rootered her turbinates. She’s says she breathes better in general and the several-times-per-year sinus infections have dropped in frequency.