My father underwent it, probably in the late twenties or early thirties, as a child, and it robbed him of his sense of smell and taste. Anyone know anything about it? What it was called? How widespread it was? I think he mentioned them putting sulphur or phosphorous powder in the nose and igniting it. :eek: The tonsillectomy thread got me thinking about it.
Cautery
I doubt it was sulfur though. Silver nitrate was used to cauterize back then.
Cauterization.
I had it done as a kid in the mid 70s although I don’t know what method was used. I just remember no anesthetic was used and it was the most painful thing I have experienced. I’d rather have a couple more root canals.
And it didn’t seem to help much in the long run.
They don’t ignite it by the way!
It’s a long stick with silver nitrate on the end and they wet it and hold it on the wart or the area in the nose to be cauterized for about 5 mins.
I, too, had this done in the late 60’s - early 70’s because I was having a lot of nosebleeds.
My mind recalls it almost as being a fireplace matchstick (about 9 inches long) that the doctor lit, blew out, then pressed against the inside of my nostril.
Wow. So they were still doing it into the 70’s? Did it affect your sense of smell?
Heck they were still doing it in the 80’s. I remember getting my nose cauterized until I was about ten, which would be around 1985. I picked my nose a lot when I was younger, and without fail it would lead to nosebleeding that wouldn’t seem to clot. They must have done it at least three times. Not suprisingly my sense of smell is awful.
I had it done with a long matchstick in about 1980. The little ulcer that kept bleeding and hurting went away after that.
Nope. But I only recall having had it done once.
I had it done circa 2001 (for nosebleeds), but I don’t think it’s affected my sense of taste or smell. Oh, and the local anesthetic the ENT specialist used was based on *cocaine *and I was given a letter in case I had to take a drug test for school or work in the next couple weeks.
Heck, we still use siver nitrate for nosebleeds now.
One of my high school teachers worked on an Air Force base somewhere up north when he was younger, and they did that to him when he has a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop.
I had it done to get rid of nosebleeds as well just a few years ago.
Can’t say that it affected my sense of small, that’s always been bad.
It was purely chemical though, no ignition.
Only one person has responded concerning the amount of pain experienced… as someone who was almost (but eventually not) subjected to this as a nosebleed-prone kid during the 80’s, may I inquire about the pain levels experienced by the others who have been through this?
It sounds absolutely horrendous.
I had my nose cauterised in the 90s because of nosebleeds - it was done using silver nitrate on a swab stick - it was done under local anaesthetic that made me feel like I had a brick inside my head for the rest of the day. I did lose my sense of smell and taste, but only while the anaesthetic was wearing off.