@kay874-Hi. I am so sorry that you are experiencing this.

•What was your entire surgery? And what for?
•There are very few ENTs who help with this kind of iatrogenic(caused by a doctor) effect.
•What type of enlargement procedure did this ENT recommended to you? It sounds like he is recommending enlarging the other turbinates that have not been touched?
Absolutely not. But you would have to have one of the experienced ENS friendly doctors tell you this.
•I would consult with one of the few ENTs across the country who recognize this and have a research department dedicated to this. There are only about 3.
• The pain you are experiencing is for many reasons. Some people have been helped with a low dose amitriptiline.
•Humidification, Anything that can bring moisture to the area. But if your IT’s were completely removed it sounds like you would just be trying to moisturize the floor of your nose.
•Some people have put cotton in the nose to alter the airflow, like the turbinates would have done.
•The reason why you felt this 4 month after surgery was because that’s how long it takes, typically for the overall healing, swelling process to go down. After this has subsided the residual effects are left.
•The pain into the face and neck is neuropathic like pain.
The cranial nerves innervate the nasal cavity and turbinates. The trigeminal nerve is one of the most powerful nerves in the body. These nerves all run through the turbinates. They all work together and need communication.
The nose is an entire organ system that communicates with every cranial nerve. The nasal cavity and turbinates are governed by the sympathetic nervous system. Turbinate removal is a disruption to an entire organ system. When this communication is removed, the nerves have no where to regenerate and everything your body had been genetically programmed to do has been thrown off. You also now how airflow disruption and air hitting nerves and tissues in a way it did not before which can cause dryness and pain. The very word turbinate means turbulence. These bones/tissue provided you with a genetically programmed airflow. You can look up; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernoulli's_principle to better understand.
Every person has turbinates in their body for a reason. They have so many different functions. Humidification, Airflow, and protectant of germs, particulars and pathogens. When these are removed, dysfunction occurs.
•Enlarged turbinates are not all of the sudden an issue for the body. There are many reasons that this occurs and it is not an anatomical reason that needs to be cut out. Lifestyle, diet, vitamin deficiency, UV exposure, Hormones. I had this conversation w/ a University ENT. He even said they know very little about inflammation and are just now as in 2021, starting to take note that nasal inflammatory issues have a big systemic component to them. So if the body is trying to send you a message through your own unique system, how does cutting out that system ever help anyone? It doesn’t. Most of these surgeries are placebo affect and or just don’t work because they are done for all the wrong/incorrect reasons.
•Some ENTs have eventually stopped performing these types of surgeries, due to being part of so many lawsuits.
•There are now ENTs who give talks at National conferences warning other ENTs about the dangers of these surgeries. As well as now retired ENTs speaking out against their own communities.
•These side effects are not “rare” as they like to say. They are only rare, due to being under reported or never reported because the patient is left seeking other opinions.
The average ENT sees one patient a week for this, but will not tell them the reason for what they are experiencing, therefore more not reported.
•I list all of these things, to add the real life conversations I have had with ENTs as well as to warn others, to never ever ever have anyone touch their nasal/sinus cavity.
Everything is there for a reason and simple daily changes can improve symptoms.
•The physiology of the nose and the natural function should never be messed with.