Cutting-Edge Sinus Treatment Offers New Hope

ABC News ^ | 4/6/06 | ABC News

[stlnative]

April 6, 2006 — It's an annual rite of passage for those who suffer from seasonal allergies: sinuses so blocked it's difficult to breathe, a recurring headache, a feeling of constant "pressure" on the face.

But for people like Michele Lynch who suffer from chronic sinusitis, allergy season seems to last all year. "I couldn't work. You can't breathe. I couldn't sleep," she said.

Lynch, 24, had suffered from sinusitis most of her life — the result of abnormal bone growth in her sinuses. But a few weeks ago, doctors suggested she try a radically new treatment that's been available in the United States only since December.

The procedure, called balloon sinuplasty, opens sinus cavities the same way doctors open clogged arteries when they do a balloon angioplasty.

~SNIP~ (More at link)

[stlnative]

Just for you... LOL

http://www.balloonman.cc/CopyJRenoBobby1.jpg

[mysterio]

I have a treatment. But I wouldn't recommend it. I use afrin every time my sinuses close up. Which is about 10 times a day. When they say it's habit forming, they're not kidding. But it works, unlike everything else.

[philetus]

A couple of bucks! No way... a clown sculpting balloon is probably only a 5 cents."

Better and better.Now I can breath a sigh of relief. I didn't have two bucks.

[Pistolshot]

There are some people who have fat enough heads already. this procedure would just encourage them.

[Cementjungle]

It's been over a year since my sinus surgury, and it was pretty funky indeed. I hope this new approach makes it easier on others needing it.

[Tall_Texan]

My answer is the same as with laser eye surgery. "With my luck, I'd sneeze at the wrong moment and be disfigured for life."

[Captainpaintball]

Has any Freeper's had it done?

I THOUGHT of the idea several years ago. cutting edge my foot...But due to my lack of influence and outlet to express my ideas, I wouldn't have convinced anyone to do it anyway...I was about to, seriously, thinking of sticking a balloon up my nose, and hooking it up to a compressed air tank with an on/of valve. Most sinus problems are due to lack of symmetry in the passages, so I figured this would be a cheap, easy fix. Now these "doctors" are getting the credit...

[Captainpaintball]

Look at my post (27). If you get around to it, let us know how it works. I was thinking of doing the same thing, but like every other project of mine, who knows how long before I get to this one.

[kinoxi]

i don't know what you are referring to

[GSlob]

I was referring to anesthesia-free dentistry.

[Marie]

I haven't had it, but I want it!!!

[Marie]

I'll bet you have bottles of Afrin by the bed, in the car, on your desk and in the bathroom. Once it was so bad that I kept two bottles in every room in the house, one in the car and two in my purse! Cost me a mint! Now I only use it 3 times a day, max.

Here's the trick to reduce your usage to a more manageable level; when you wake up in the morning, only clear one nostril with Afrin. When that closes up, wait as long as you can stand it (I can't go much more than and hour), then clear the other nostril. (I find that I'm usually fine if I can breath OK with one side.) I do the same thing when I'm sleeping and alternate nostrils and nights.

When I find myself getting out of control I do this and I'm almost Afrin-free during the day surprisingly fast. I think it's only 4-7 days.

I can NOT sleep without it, though!

And, no. I don't blame Afrin for my problems. I had so many sinus infections as a kid that I thought it was normal. Afrin actually saved me. After starting Afrin I've cut the bad infections down from 3-5 a year to 1 infection every two or three years.

[RoadTest]

Welcome aboard. Isn't Russia a great place to be out of?

Why would any tourist want to go there!?

[LadyNavyVet]

I was addicted to Afrin and got off it. Here's how--pick a nostril and use Afrin as often as necessary, but only on that side. The non-Afrin side will clog up horribly for several hours or possibly even a few days, but will eventually clear up. In the meantime you can breathe through the Afrin nostril. When the first side clears, stop using Afrin on the other. It, too, will clog up horribly, of course, but eventually clear. Then you're off Afrin. I'm now using prescription generic fluticasone proprianate, which is once a day and keeps me as clear as Afrin ever did--no headaches, stuffiness, sinus infections, not even a cold since I started using it. And since it's generic, it's not expensive.

Hope this helps.

[cloud8]

Have your tried draining and cleaning with a nasal saline solution that you make yourself?

[Ditter]

Afrin should be used only once in 24 hours and then for only 3 days. When used like you use it, Afrin has a rebound effect. You are both fixing the problem and causing it to happen again. You need to get totaly off the stuff. Get a hemi-pot and wash your sinuses out 4 times a day with warm salt water.

[basil]

Ping

[doc11355]

How much does it cost to have a specialist stick a ballon in your nose and inflate it?

Probably very little.

However, if you want to make sure the balloon is in the right spot and not next to your optic nerve or a major cranial vessel, I'd suggest you pay a decent price for someone who can do it safely.

Like most things in life, the fee isn't for what you do; it's for knowing how to do it right - the first time.

[mysterio]

Yeah, I have a bottle and several backups scattered around the house and car. This will be the third time I've had to kick. I'll get off it, be clogged for a month, and then I'll have this state of sometimes clear, clogged for the better part of a month and after a few years, I'll decide it's better to be addicted to Afrin and be able to breathe 12 months a year. But thanks, everyone, for the advice. I'll probably stop using the stuff again, suffer through it, and realize I was better off on Afrin and start using it again in a year or so. LOL.

[GSlob]

"Why would any tourist want to go there!?"
Well, IMHO that tourist would have to be mentally defecative. Few years ago when I was unemployed, I was interviewing with a company who needed a guy to go there and supervise their branch office. Through some idiotic failure of communication I had been given to understand that I was interviewing for a stateside position. As soon as we cleared the confusion, I left that joint still proudly unemployed.