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Ballon up the nose curing sinus problems

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

I just had this surgery 1 week and a half ago, specifically for freediving sinus problems (frontal sinus squeeze). Here's a blog about the experience:

Hawkeye's Sinuplasty Surgery

I still haven't been back in the water. I'll post again to the blog (and deeper blue) when I do. So far, I'm very happy with the choice to do this surgery. The blog has lots of details. Good luck with your decision, and feel free to ask any questions you have: I'll do my best to answer.

Hawkeye Parker
 
Please do get back to us on this. I suffer from both vasomotor and allergic rhinitis, and am looking for a solution to solve some of my problems.
 
Sounds similar to balloon angioplasty which they do on the heart. I know somebody who had that, before stents. It worked great but he needed further treatment after a few years (and when they tried to do it a second time something went wrong & they gave him an emergency quadruple bypass -- he survived a decade or more after than but was never quite the same as they'd damaged the valve ).

Worst case, blocked sinuses can become real serious - life threatening even: mucus can build up and wear away the bone behind the eye and/or move the eye forward. I know some medical plans in the US allow you to bypass your GP and go straight to a specialist -- I would recommend against doing that from personal experience (you might pick the wrong type of specialist). I'd also strongly recommend that you see a properly trained physician and not a "nurse practitioner".

I'm not a physician but I associate rhinitis with allergies and/or asthma/ecsema. Asthma (which can be life threatening) can occur suddenly in later in life, so I'd suggest that you become aware of things that make your condition worse and avoid them (e.g. diesel exhaust fumes, unventilated swimming pools, pollen, dust, damp/moldy environments, cat hairs, etc.). Sometimes a mechanical barrier, like vaseline around the entrance to the nostrils can help. Again, see a physician.
 
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Hi All,

Finally got back in the water last weekend (10/25), exactly a month after the surgery. Unfortunately, within about 1/2 hr. of getting back in the water, I felt that familiar squeeze in my sinuses. It was really exactly the same as in the past in terms of timing, pain level, and symptoms: essentially as though nothing had changed.

I dove through the pain on Saturday, then reverted to Afrin on Sunday. Thankfully, the Afrin worked very well, as usual, and I had a really wonderful dive on Sunday. Certainly not the outcome I was hoping for, but all in all, I'm feeling like it was worth the experience.

At this point, I think I can say fairly definitively that the surgery didn't solve my problem. Only time will tell for certain. I still need to get back and talk with my surgeon; I'm sure she'll have some important things to relate.

Just wanted to follow up here for those who were curious about the final outcome. If things change significantly, I'll post back here, and I'll continue to post more detailed, relevant updates on the blog:

Hawkeye's Balloon Sinuplasty Surgery

Regards,

Hawkeye Parker
San Francisco, CA
 
hi guys! I ve just seen this topic and since I had this surgery 2months ago, I could tell you some things, just from my personal experience (sorry if I will not use the right terminology)...First of all, before I decide to go for the surgery, I had a serious block in the front before, that caused me to loose almost all summer spearfishing fun, after forced dives and blood coming out of my nose as a result of it..I took 3 times medication and in the end it was more than obvious that I had to do something to try to solve the problem permanently...My doctor here in Athens is one of the few that perform this kind of operation and I was really confident with him...I did the balloon together with an endoscopic operation in the alcoves (which did not diminish by using radiofrequencies) and left the hospital the same day (I didnt want to stay in). Doctor told me that he applied the balloon twice in the area, just to be sure that the job was properly done and also to the entrance of the eustachians and sinuses. I was told I could go swimming in the sea (it was warm then). That helped a lot in cleaning the nose. I also used physiomer at home (sterile sea water). I visited the doctor 3 more times and he saw how the healing was going...Last week I went sf mostly in shallow water, but I also tried some deeper dives (19 metres..). Everything went fine...I feel ok during my dives and most of all, I enjoy the feeling afterwards, because I feel my nose is free...I hope it will be ok with my deeper dives and when I go sf for 5-6 hours...Take care everybody!
 
Reactions: Mr. X
Hi,

I just rolled over this thread and would like to add my 2 cents. Im a sufferer of MCS( multi chemical sensetivity) and many others. I have been fighting and testing the main things that agavate my sinus issues which is causing my right ear troubles equalizing evan at 3 meters.
The number one irratant is fragrances via shampoo,conditioners,shaving cremes,colognes,hair sprays!,gels,perfumes,laundry deterent,fabric softners( bounce and downey dam near put me in the hosp),bar soaps,dish soaps, cat liters,air freshers, carpet fresheners,furnture polishes, certain cleaning suplies, just to name a few. Another one that really caught me was beding, it holds everything, so its changed every 2 days and a plastic mattress cover, pillows are worst,plastic cover them too. Needless to say my wife is unhappy about it but understanding . Any kind of dust. Flowers of course. I have to wash my clothes by themselves issolates from everyone elses.
There are the foods also,0 gluten based products...UUgh! no pizza,burgers,cookies,etc Rice products only, splet is ok but yuk! there are spices that trigger my sinuses also.
Thats the bad news

Now the good, after doing a full house clean out I kind smell everthing..i mean everything. This sounds weird but i can smell people.?. yep.. if you were to walk up and smell your womans neck , I could do that for 5-10 feet away. I was walking through the hospital while back i could smell each person as i past their rooms. To me my own skin smells like chocolate, I could tell if my wife was around a smoker at any time of the day....enough of the weird stuff.
My migrane headaches that i had were gone same for my wife which suffers from migranes. I sinuses were effecting my vision by the pressure pulling up, my teeth evan hurt before from the pressure pushing down..gone! Equalizing my ears became alot easier. No more being in a fog in my thinking processes. Eccessive fatigue is gone.
After about 2-3 hour with goggles on my sinuses clear also.

Cutting to the point I wouldnt be supprized if its a enviromental issue.
Zertec once a day helps when im out of my bubble..haha.

Hope this helps
bubble boy lol
Jason
 
:duhoh man, that was really hard to deal with...hope it gets better from now on... !!!!1
 
Thanks, but i look at it as it could be worse. I feel lucky in life.

Jason
 
Jason,

Does this mean you'll be more likely to get out with us this summer?

I'm with you on scented soaps and other "fragrances": They're trying to kill me whenever I get near them.

Howard
 
I'm a happy user of Call Ben pure soap, which contains no chemicals only natural oils such as coconut oil and vegetable oils. You can search for it on the web, they sell in bulk.

Don't forget with all the pollutants from the planes in the air, the non evaporating trails, the aluminium, barium. Mercury we get through processed food and injections, all those further stress out our bodies. Allergies are now widespread, just as autism related brain damage, both of which made a dramatic surge in the last 30 years. While the western male fertility rate plunged 85% down, and no media and politician is worried about that. - that should worry you.

I'm trying to get rid of the poisons in my environment, eat organic, non radiated, in season, local, non GMO, and skip anything processed. Indeed for me the local supermarket choices are simple, very simple.

Most people don't care enough about their or their children's lifes, why? they simply follow the experts on TV. Thinking and facing the deeper problems is not for everyone.

Anyway if you are a thinker, or your consider picking up this discipline, I wish you plenty of courage, you'll need it.


Returning to the thread, personally I have plenty of mucus, and notice differences between chem-trail days and non chem-trail days (there are only few left here).

As usual hot steamy showers help, and the other tricks I explained in other treads.
Freediving in general has made things better for me, even though I have some polyps in my nose. So for me no surgery yet. I feel for you people who face these horrible problems, preventing us to recharge in the embrace of the deep.
 
Reactions: azapa
I too am suffering from a cronic frontal sinus block. I was reading about the balloon sinuplasty surgery. Any input? I am currently on a steroid spray (flonase) and have not been diving for 1 month so I could give my sinuses rest.

Any information would be great!

Thanks, Errol
 
Along with a neti pot (using filtered water and salt) intake hot showers with a chlorine filter on the shower head. Makes a big difference.

I am in pools too much as it is... and after a 9 hr UWH tournament, not only was my skin crawling / itching from the chlorine, but my sinuses were so inflamed / stuffed-up for a week+ afterwards that it convinced me that chlorine fumes are not good for you!

I use the chlorine free / filtered water in the shower to also fill my neti pot. Makes it pretty convenient.
 
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