I have had a deviated septum for years. Finally having surgery next week (septoplasty) to repair it. Just wanted to know if anyone on here has ever had this surgery. What's the few days after surgery like? Pain? Could you breathe better after the surgery? I have sleep apnea praying it will help with this issue as well.

Had it done in 2005 and it did wonders for my breathing. Handful of years later I had pollups develop and had a similar surgery to remove those.
Pain is manageable with prescriptions. More pressure than pain. Ones the stints and gauze is taken out, you'll feel like a new person.

I really need to get this surgery done as well..but now that I'm 50...there is no way I could deal with the recovery. Hell I damn near choke to death every time I go to the dentist leaning back and trying to breathe out of my 80% clogged nose and my throat closing on me...there is no way I could deal with a stint and gauze and mouth breathing! let us know how it goes!

Had it done as a teenager. I thought the worst part was the night of mouth breathing, until they went to pull the gauze out the next day or the day after. After that it wasn't that bad at all. A friend didnt have to have hers packed so I dont know when they do that and when they dont.

had it done in my late 30's along with having my tonsils removed. Nose surgery was no issue. They put tubes in then (no packing with gauze). slight pain when they removed the tubes, but then I could breathe through my nose for what felt like the first time in my life.

I've deviated mine 3 times. Twice they reset it while I was awake - not pleasant.

Last time I was under a general anesthesia.

Every time they packed my nose with gauze.

Worst feeling was when they pulled the gauze out.

Just nut up and get it done. You'll be happy you did!

Had this done in 2014. My deviated septum was bad enough that they took scans of my head and the tech asked if I had ever been in a car accident (I haven't). I believe my ENT also did the balloon treatment in my sinuses in the same procedure. I was under general anesthesia the entire time.

My post-op experience wasn't great and here's the story…
TLDR: enormous nose bleed, hospital visit, packed nose, puked blood.

Some time after the surgery, after they had removed the gauze, I came home from work and immediately started having a nose bleed. Didn't think much of it but it didn't stop and there was a lot of blood. After about an hour of blood just streaming out of my nose we decided to do something. Urgent care wasn't busy and I got sent back right away. The doc pretty much just observed me. I don't remember him doing much at first. He finally said since the bleeding hadn't stop he was going to have to pack my nose. That meant nothing to me because I've never done that. Or when they did it during the surgery I was under anesthesia. Then about 3 male nurses (big dudes, looked like football players) walked in the room. I asked what they were there for and the doc said, "they are here to hold you down", which immediately got my attention.

If you haven't had your nose packed it's probably one of the worst and most painful experiences I've had. And I have a pretty high pain threshold. It's like a tampon. They shoved a cardboard/plastic cylinder up my nose as far as they could to insert cotton gauze. A nose that was already tender from surgery. Those dudes definitely held me down because my back was arching trying to come up off the bed. My wife at the time was in the room and I remember seeing her covering her mouth in horror. That stopped the blood from coming out my nose. Only now it was going down my throat. After looking in my throat repeatedly the doctor finally said they need to transport me to the ER and I might need surgery. So I rode in an ambulance to the ER of a major hospital. ER was busy and they had me on a gurney staged by the nurses station. I started feeling sick. Really sick. I tell someone I'm about to throw up and they give me a bucket and start wheeling me into a trauma room. I proceed to vomit all the blood I had swallowed for the last few hours. It was black and disgusting.

I guess they called my ENT because by 9 or 10 pm he showed up. He said everything looked okay and that I would need to leave the cotton gauze in for a few days. Evidently something hadn't healed completely and whatever blood that had clotted during the surgery came loose. Had a follow up and no issues after.

I wouldn't say it's helped with my snoring but I can breathe a little better. I am very averse to having things put up my nose now. Avoid covid tests like the plague.

Surgery today
Doctor said my deviated septum was significant. Worse pain so far is from my throat hurting from the breathing tube. My nose has been bleeding quite a bit and is sore. I will keep y'all posted. I go back next Tuesday to get the tubes removed.