Breathing problems
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I had rhinoplasty done year ago. I cant really breath. I have to use afrin. It seems like islways have cold
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How much afrin do you use and how frequently do you use it. Afrin is addictive, in the sense that when it wears off, you get rebound nasal congestion. Your best bet is to see a Family Physician to evaluate you and get you off afrin.
Carey M Delcau, MD
Family Physician
St. Louis, MO
Carey M Delcau, MD
Family Physician
St. Louis, MO
You are probably an Afrin abuser and you nose is reacting to this overuse and causing a chronic rhinitis. You must go cold turkey and get off the Afrin and in the future use only a steroid nasal spray if you must. Whether your nose is still crooked inside after your surgery needs to be addressed by your surgeon.
The likely reason you can not breath through your nose is that your nasal mucosa became "addicted" to afrin! Please see your doctor to find the other ways to open up the nasal passages, without using afrin, which will allow you to check if there is (also) another reason for the breathing problem, such as failure of surgery, etc...Hope this helps. Good luck
A rhinoplasty is an operation to reshape the nose. It is frequently done to make the nose appear smaller and narrower. One of the risks of doing this is nasal obstruction. Post-operative nasal obstruction is usually due to swelling and usually temporary. After a year, the swelling should be resolved. You should go back to see your surgeon to see if can be corrected.
Chronic use of Afrin, or other decongestant nasal sprays leads to a condition known as rhinitis medicamentosa where the lining of the nose actually becomes addicted to the decongestant spray. When the effect of the spray wears off, there is a rebound nasal congestion. The cure for this problem is to stop the nasal spray. It usually takes about three weeks for the rhinitis medicamentosa to resolve. If you got hooked on the Afrin because of post-operative swelling after the rhinoplasty, then solving the nasal obstruction problem may be as simple as stopping the sprays. Your surgeon is likely to recommend stopping the Afrin as a first step.
Chronic use of Afrin, or other decongestant nasal sprays leads to a condition known as rhinitis medicamentosa where the lining of the nose actually becomes addicted to the decongestant spray. When the effect of the spray wears off, there is a rebound nasal congestion. The cure for this problem is to stop the nasal spray. It usually takes about three weeks for the rhinitis medicamentosa to resolve. If you got hooked on the Afrin because of post-operative swelling after the rhinoplasty, then solving the nasal obstruction problem may be as simple as stopping the sprays. Your surgeon is likely to recommend stopping the Afrin as a first step.
Long term afrin use can further damage your nose and cause hypertension. You need to find out the cause of the problem.
Occasionally even small changes in the nose can cause noticeable changes in your breathing. Often this get better with time as the swelling subsides. If it has been a year since your surgery and you are still noticing problems with your breathing I would recommend going back to your surgeon to have your airways examined. There may be some relatively simple things that he or she can do to relieve your symptoms.
Consider following up with your surgeon for airway obstruction. Most often, this is related to narrowing of internal and/or external valves along upper portion of nasal airway. The problem can usually be resolved, but another procedure may be indicated. Placement of spreader grafts, strut grafts, septoplasty, and/or turbinoplasty (or outfracture of turbinates) are popular techniques to improve nasal airway, depending on your situation.
I don't recommend the use of Afrin on a chronic basis. You should return to your doctor to see if they can recheck the rhinoplasty. Also I usually prescribe a nasal steroid with allergy medication over-the-counter in order to help alleviate some of the symptoms. I recommend that you see an otolaryngologist to fully evaluate your condition.