Possible sinus infection after turbinate cautery

[laughingman]

A week ago I had part of my turbinates cauterized to stop the constant swelling and nasal discharge I have been having for years. After the surgery I had swelling which was expected and a little pain. The surgery hurt like hell but it was quick and I did notice I could breathe a little better when the swelling would go down. Now it's a week later and I woke up one day feeling really fatigued, with muscle soreness, slight dark yellow discharge, swollen sinuses, and a pretty brutal headache especially when I cough. At first I thought maybe I had the flu or mono but I don't have a fever, sore throat, or swollen glands. I have also had the flu shot because I work in a hospital and it's basically mandatory if you don't want to get the flu. I see the ENT in a few days for a post op check up so I can run this by him.

[laughingman]

I did it in the office, went home the same day, and went out that night. It hurt more than I thought it would but it didn't last long and there was virtually no pain afterwards. You stay stuffy and swollen for a while but nothing some afrin won't fix though don't use it a lot.  

[BettyBetty03]

Hi Laughingman.  I too suffer from allergies and sinus and am going to see an ENT doctor this week.  Did you have the turbinates procedure done in the doctor's office or did you have to be hospitalized???

[laughingman]

Saw the ENT today he said I was healing fine and didn't see anything that would suggest I had an infection. He suggested I see the neurologist for possible migraines and maybe poking around in my head may have caused the migraines.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

The swelling after cautery takes around 10 days to go.The symptoms that you are having can be due to infection of the turbinates or nasal sinuses.I would suggest an ENT evaluation as treatment of sinusitis consists of mainly antibiotics and steroid nasal sprays which are available on prescription.

Take care and do keep us posted on how you are doing.Kind regards.