I’d never breathed through my nose, except with the greatest difficulty. I genuinely never understood the point of products like Afron.
When the mouth-breathing started causing dental problems (in my late 20s) I saw an ENT, who said things were so swollen / enlarged that he couldn’t even tell if I had polyps. My septum was deviated, my turbinates were chronically enlarged.
Had the surgery done and though it wasn’t pleasant, the only really bad thing was that I let them talk me into staying in the hospital overnight afterward: they made me decide when I was still feeling really wretched post-op, and by he time they had even arranged a room I was feeling enough better that I coudl probably have gone home. The room was uncomfortable, it was shared with an incontinent old lady who had a potty chair by her side of the bed, the bathroom was down the hall, I had an unnecessary IV that necessitated that walk rather frequently, they failed to give me my pain meds despite 5 requests over 2 hours… you name it.
I had a lot of packing, plus a “nasal airway” which was a bizarre-looking thing that looked like a white funnel in front of the more affected nostril, connected to a long thin tube - apparently designed to let me breathe through my nose. I had zero desire to attempt that!!
My surgeon was big on removing the packing after 24 hours (when Typo Knig had similar work done 15 years later, it was more like 72 hours). That was bizarre as hell but I expect made for more comfort. I certainly was in less pain after it was removed (maybe took 2-3 of the Tylenol 3 tablets they gave me).
I spent the next few days with gauze taped under my nose.
IIRC, I had it done on a Wednesday, planned to go back to work on Monday, but Monday morning I still felt a bit too out of it so I waited until Tuesday.
After the first few days, they gave me a rubber "ear syringe and a big bottle of saline, and I had to gently dribble water into my nostrils then lean forward to try to wash out the clots that had accumulated. That was disgusting and fascinating at the same time.
End result: I can breathe through my nose. I use a CPAP now and can use a lightweight nasal pillow vs. a “full-face” (misnomer, should be “mouth and nose” or something) mask. Travelling into Washington DC (as I was doing back then for the commute) was made more interesting by the fact that I could smell better, and the air near the Metro stations was sometimes, well, pungent. My asthma improved a bit (has since gotten worse, but it bought me a few good years).
I’ve had no cosmetic problems. I had no bruising around the nose or under the eyes that I recall. Weirdly, I can now occasionally feel pressure inside my cheekbone sometimes when I blow my nose - I guess that sinus was made more accessible or something.
At a followup visit, I asked the doctor if I should try a nasal steroid spray to help with the allergies that had probably contributed to the development of the turbinate enlargement. He thought it was a good idea - but even though this was several months post-surgery it caused me to have mild bleeding, so I stopped (I’ve since used nasal steroids on numerous occasions and not had that problem, so I think it was just that things were still traumatized).
The septum was tender for a while after the surgery - like months or a year or so, if I pressed too hard on the nose while blowing it or something.
I’ve never heard of the need to break the nose bone at the top as capybara says!!
Eating also hurts, so I’m feeding him soups and smoothies. It’s hard enough normally, to get him enough calories. ETA: he corrected me: eating doesn’t hurt, it’s just difficult.
He now has to say: “that cheers me up” or “that is funny”, because he can’t smile or laugh.