12 day post-op update

An anonymous writer asked me to provide an update on my nose. I wrote the following at emptynosesyndrome.org at 12 days post-op. (At present, I am 20 days post-op, and I am feeling better every day!).....Below is what I wrote:

I am about 12 days post-op from my lateral wall implant surgery.
Thankfully, I seemed to have healed well from the surgery, with only minor throat pain that quickly resolved itself within days after surgery.

This early post-op, I cannot gauge the long-term benefit. Overall, it feels OK and improved from before the surgery, but a primary issue I have had is that my breathing sometimes feels like it is pushed "to the left" as a result of the lateral wall implant, making breathing uneven. (Remember, now I have both a lateral wall implant and an upper septal implant.) My breathing was uneven before this implant surgery as well, and the nasal cycle contributes to this uneveness in breathing. And of course, my lateral wall implant will likely resorb by around 50% over time, so I anticipate my breathing will feel closer to normal and more even as times goes by. I noticed an improvement in eveness today over recent days, and I am thinking my allergy shots yesterday might have played a role in this respect. According to Dr. Houser, it takes 9 months for the lateral wall implant to reach its permanent size.

But this much I do know: a) the lateral wall implant is a much more natural place for an implant and physiologically correct and b) a lower septal implant can be obstructive and un-natural, so I am very confident that removal of my lower septal implant was also a correct decision. Do note: some people can tolerate the obstruction caused by the lower septal implant, as it still represents improvement over their previous symptoms. I am also well-aware that implants are not a cure. As expected, I can clearly tell that my right nostril will never function as perfectly as my left. I just won't have the level of humidity, nasal sensations, degree of comfort in breathing, etc. because my right inferior turbinate was significantly removed, whereas my left inferior turbinate was left more intact. What the implants will likely do for me in the long-term, if they have not done this to some extent already, is prevent erosion of my mucosa by acting to preserve my remaining mucosa. As tissue loss can lead to turbulent airflow which, over time, can lead to erosion/atrophy of the mucosa, resulting in lost nerve endings as the mucosa breaks down and becomes increasingly metaplastic, I can be thankful my implants will help protect against that. If you do not have an implant, then I strongly encourage you to do techniques to preserve the mucosa so your nose does not become atrophic.

I am going to wait about a month or more before providing another update, at which point I can hopefully provide an update that might in fact closer reflect the long-term impact of my lateral wall implant. So expect an update around July 10th, give or take a few days.