Nasal passage blocked

I was going to see about this nasal surgery for my daughter but then read about Empty Nose Syndrome. Please read before surgery. It's a risk. Not sure how much but enough I decided to forgo it for her.

Read about empty nose syndrome first. That's why we didn't do surgery.

@lynneat-very wise of you. This is a very big risk actually. Downplayed in the ENT community due to not being reported/acknowledged. All of their procedures are a total guess when it comes to them determining your issues in these areas. This is a highly subjective area.“Empty Nose Syndrome” is an outdated name, that really is an umbrella category for all of the sinus/nasal procedures that cause harm but not with an “objective” finding. Nerve Damage, Tissue Damage, Airway disruption can not be seen on any type of test, but all are very common. And not discussed enough.

Can you please share what the Mayo proprietary nasal spray is?
I’m using Xlear nasal cleansing bottle daily with their packets containing xylitol which moisturizes as well as cleans.

Thanks

Excellent information. Thank you. An additional tactic to try that I have found to be very useful in keeping my nasal passages more open is to use Breathe Rite nasal strips.

Hi @jetsetter, I shared the three ingredients in another post here - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/605757/. I imagine any compounding pharmacist/pharmacy can make the same spray.

I had 1sife blocked as long as I can remember. Also had horrific cough that showed up with every slight cold and lasted for months. Every year. Constant drainage. Always told it's viral, you have o give it time. Never went away til I got antibiotics.
Years of ENT cat scans, chest x-rays etc.
TURNS OUT - when having a root canal done, upper right side ( closed off side) the dentist said .... " I don't know why, but you have a root canal on tooth next to this one that only has 1 out of 3 roots cleared, and it's infected." Went back to my reg dentist who told me this is no problem as long as no pain. After 3 years, the crown fell off. I asked if the root canal should be finished before glued back on . He said you can do that if you want.
Went to new root canal doctor who said, " yes it's still infected, but you should have it pulled to be sure infection.goes away. In the mean time.. covid came into the world and dentists were pushing things back. After a few months, constant migraine, and severe neck and back pain started..
FINALLY - had the tooth pulled... .
1 when I left the office I noticed my distance vision was now perfect ( I had been wearing glasses to drive for years). 2.My head , neck and back pain were gone
3.The drainage was gone and nose was clear breathing.
Yes, I CRIED , was so happy!
This lasted 4 days, until surgery closed off and quit draining. Headaches, neck and back pain returned, but distance vision has remained really good .
I believe that ( approx 20 yr tooth infection ) spread when surgery was put off. But of course doctors just do x-rays and say your not that bad. Just getting old. Even Mayo refused to see me because x-rays show not much.
Questions. ...
1. Why does your reg dentist not notice root infection with normal x-rays. Apparently they only x-ray tooth and not roots. You need expensive 3 D x-ray by root canal dentist to see root infection.
2 Why doesn't an ENT see it in all the cat scans. Apparently they only look at sinus, and ears????? And don't notice the infected tooth next to the sinus. Why would anything between the sinus and ears be included. Guess that's for a dentist and nt their business .
3 When I went to another dentist to review the bad root canal because I still had pain after almost a year, did he not tell me the root canal wasn't complete? Guess he was a reg dentist that doesn't look deep in root!!!!!
4 Why didn't doctors listen when I said there is some kind of infection in my head thats causing constant drainage and cough ..but NO.... They said it must be acid reflux! HA ... My horrific cough was only when I walked , talked , and ate. If I sat still or slept it stopped. When I took acid reflux meds, it got worse and continued at night. When I told them it was worse, they doubled the dose and said" avid reflux meds don't make coughs worse". Apparently it does if cough is caused by infected drainage! After 4 constant cough, impossible to work. I quit acid reflux meds, took more antibiotics and cough went away....
Reminder.... I never had a fever, so " it's just viral infection , not bacterial"!
I'm still dealing with neck and back pain , which I get the same thing. No fever, no infection.! REALLY.... Thanks Mayo! Another 20 yes and you'll learn differently!
Sorry this was so long, but over 20 years dealing with hanging onto a job and spending many holidays alone because I had a hittiously horrible cough. Which scared everyone , and I knew wasn't contagious. I knew was caused by a secret infection , but NO ONE listened. A bacteria that doesn't cause a stupid fever.
Hope this helps someone.
Because doctors and dentists think my eye sight improving was a coincidence!
The closed off 1 side of nose cleared was a coincidence!
The constant drainage that stopped was a coincidence!
And the stupid bacteria that made it's way to my neck and back is impossible! HA!
This is the short version after 20 years.
Good luck, with ENTs that ignore teeth between sinus and ears.....

Part 2 of blocked nose and root canal story.
Sorry.... Forgot.
After 13 months since tooth with infected root was pulled. My nose is still clear! Completely CLEAR. No drainage at all.

No horrific cough since tooth pulled.
Reminder - I had horrific cough every year for 3-8 months a year, for over 20 years, with no fever.

My distance vision remains good. Wore glasses for driving about 10 years, now no need for glasses.

I'm a different person!!!! My secret, gentle bacteria is not next to my sinus anymore .

. If I can now convince a doctor, my secret bacteria moved to my neck and back while I was waiting to get tooth pulled.. I suppose it takes a special doctor that can tell if this pain is caused by a bacteria that doesn't cause a fever. Where is that doctor?

I did request to come to Mayo- I live in MN.
They turned me down because my x-rays aren't that bad. So if the pain in neck and back is caused by bacteria, they don't care. If the bacteria is causing more damage to my neck and back. MAYO doesn't care. The fact I had a bacteria that never caused a fever for over 20 years, is not something MAYO can figure out. Maybe someday..........

Dear ENTs and lung doctors - I never had a fever... but I'd had this infected root for over 20 years. Definitely proved I had it at least 3 years. Why do ENTs ignore a tooth that is butted up against your sinus, even juts into your sinus. WHY?
Why do dentists not see it. It's taken for granted they would see infection when they do full mouth x-rays. But they don't! They only look for cavities to fill.

I live in MN... My amazing root canal doctor that noticed the infection 4 years ago, now lives in Colorado Springs. I tracked him down and thanked him. He's a rare amazing dentist! RARE....

Thanks again for listening and hope this rare amazing discovery can help at least 1 other person.

@taml I think you are right about excess phlegm being caused by infections in teeth and other sources too because it happened to me too. I have allergic asthma and that had gotten worse. I had some very old root canals that were failing and after those teeth were extracted, my lungs cleared up. For awhile, it was good until I broke my ankle and aquired some titanium hardware to fix it. Again, I had issues with phlegm in my lungs. I had that hardware removed a month again and things improved again. Sure my allergies to seasonal stuff also makes phlegm, and I also had chronic hives with metal on my joint, and that is gone now too. Doctors have to be careful about assigning a cause to something because they need some extra proof and studies, so don't worry, you know your body. I had dental implants done with Zirconium which is a ceramic with no metal, so it's all good now.

Jennifer, thanks for your reply.
I believe I have problems with metal too. Since there are few earrings I can wear without turning to raw sores. Since I'm missing 4 teeth now , I was very scared of implants. Since my dentist says few people have problems with implants, but there's no way to test your allergic to the metals in advance. But this s the same dentist that said having an infected root canal is no problem if there's no pain
I now have no sinus problems at all. Clear breathing for over 13 months.
But, the - coincidentally- neck and back pain that started just before tooth was removed, when I also had 22 days migraine , and had to ice neck and back everyday. Pain is now in neck , back, total rib cage, and down 1 leg. But.....
Of course I'm told that the infection that was visible for well over 3 years in my tooth, could not have gone to my neck and back , before or during the extraction,, because I would have a fever. So they just keep doing x-rays and .... Like everyone... Including Mayo ( who denied a visit) says it's old age and your x-rays are not bad at all .
My migraines have almost disappeared now too. So a lifetime of migraines and severe coughs ( totally isolating) are traded for neck and back. Which I will take any day, ( unless it keeps getting worse) At least no one can now tell I have pain.
But, still scared of implants because of a lifetime of dentists who screwed up and inability to see the infection. I see EMTs as useless too. A CT scan at least every other year and they couldn't see infected root canal which by the way went into the sinus. Just a little, should be no problem . But since it was reoccurring and they knew it wouldn't kill me, they just kept raking in the money........
Now, try to find a doctor who knows you don't have to have a fever to have infection . Like covid. You can be infected without a fever. Or ear infection with no fever. Or many other things.
Now I see why people don't know they have cancer till it's stage 4.
Not grumpy, because I can breath and think clearly.. I'm lucky 1 dentist paid attention. Too bad took 30 years to find him.