Severe conjunctivitis in both corners of eyes

@erin1958

How long after your CB resection do you experience this?

Was this the only part of your surgery or was more done?

These resections/reductions can actually cause these symptoms. If the original issue was never addressed such as allergies, they will still happen.

The middle turbinate acts as a shield or a guard, so to speak of the sinuses. Sometimes when these are reduced/removed. This can allow for allergens, pathogens and unfiltered particulate to go right into the sinuses which are right between the eyes. The middle turbinate is also connected to the ethmoid bone which attaches to the orbit.

Did your ENT try you on allergy therapy for a long time before the Middle Turbinate resection?
Airflow may feel better, but can start new issues.

I had the left side CB resection in November 2021 , that was the only sinus surgery I had. Allergy testing was not suggested prior to surgery but was I was advised that I should get tested at some point. It was difficult to get an appt any sooner so I began immune therapy (shots) this past April 2022. My eyes started bothering me 2 years ago not long after we moved to SC. Itching etc. But most recently started hurting, aching, pinging about the same time I started allergy shots. The left eye is much more swollen which is the CB resection side. The right eye is Now starting to swell and there was no surgery on my right side. I have only had 5 shots so far and am hesitant that they will work at all? I have not had a vaccine now for a few weeks since I left my home in SC to come to my moms to get out of that environment thinking it was all due to the SC allergens.

@erin1958

I would work with someone in immunology/inflammation.

This would NOT be an ENT.

The goal is to figure out why the blood vessels in your nose are swelling -the allergic response.

The ENT took the air pocket and some tissue out of the MT Conchae Bullosa, which are very common anatomical variants.

If you can pinpoint the onset of symptoms after a move, then it is most likely environmental. Your anatomy does it’s job to protect hence swelling/allergy like responses etc…
It’s not your nasal anatomy.

Did the hypersensitivity to smells/and inhaled dirt etc…start after the resection?

Usually true allergies are quite the opposite, no taste or smell.

In someone with allergies, sometimes alterations to the nasal airway and mucosal contact points can actually exacerbate underlying allergies.

Thank you!! I had the surgery w/ Augusta ENT and then the allergy tests and immunology with the Augusta Allergy department there. The tests revealed such typical results. Grass, trees, mold spores. High numbers on the wheel but I had certainly been around trees and grass in my life before moving to SC And never suffered before. Mold spores are a huge trigger which I can feel inflame me almost immediately. We now live among alot of trees, woods and leaves on the ground in those woods now so seems to be a lot of potential there for mold spores. I have always been a bit sensitive to smells but the hypersensitivity has gotten more intense since the CB resection in November. It’s extremely uncomfortable when I come into contact with cleaning supplies, chemical fragrances etc. Immediate inflammation and a sense of extreme dryness. I just don’t feel confident I am getting the right help from the immunologist I am seeing. I honestly feel like I am not being heard!! Thank you!!!!!

@erin1958-
You are welcome. And I understand what you are explaining.

•Correct-grass/trees/mold spores are very common in many people. It’s the individuals sensitivity level that is the reaction to those.

•That conchae bullosa was with you all of your life. The size etc.
The MT are lined with some of the olfactory (smell) nerve mucosa. Above the MT is where most of the olfactory nerves are. When new airflow, that never came in contact with this area of the nerve channel before, comes directly in contact, it can be quite bothersome for some people.
A resection of the conchae bullosa reduces mucosal contact points that were once present that attracted, dust matter and particulate, they would then be swept back along the MT and to the throat protected in mucous. When you are working with new airspace post resection the particles now have the “possibility” of going directly to the throat into the sinus area and air can shoot upwards heightening the olfactory nerves. This can cause exaggerated sensitivities to smells and particles.

How long did your ENT have you on maximum medical therapy before CB resection?

If you return with new onset of symptoms post surgery, the next step will be a recommendation of allergy testing. Which should always be done prior to any nasal alterations.

ENTs are interested in how open your air channel is, so to them if you tell them your smell is too sensitive now, they don’t think of that as anything harmful. But I think I know what you are explaining. Like if you went into a Tire Store right now, you might get nauseous?

The dryness part? Does this feel like a cold/dry sensation? Did this dry feeling start after the resection? And does it feel kind of like a “brain freeze” type sensation?

Again , thank you!!! I first went to 4 different eye Drs between July and August 2021 because something felt like it was stabbing the corner of my left eye and had been for awhile. One finally told me it’s nasal, go to an ENT. I did and that was August 12, 2021. The ENT ordered a CT scan and MRI. They showed the left side 3 times larger and more swollen than the right. He had me doing saline sinus rinses, Flonase (which didn’t work) and put me on antibiotics for two weeks . I was able to get what had been stabbing the corner of my left eye out with the nasal rinse. Looked like a small sharp dried up piece of mucus. Swelling didn’t go down with medical therapy so had CB surgery on November 15, 2021. Three months after my first ENT visit. Now we get to April 2022 and my eyes start pinging and are swollen and a blood vessel has popped once in the right eye and a couple of times in the left eye over the last 2 years. (Allergy season again, seems to be the culprit. Dryer climate than where we used to live too.) The dryness sensation I feel at times when I come into contact with yes, let’s say rubber, a fragrance bulb in a home or car, laundry detergent aisle at the grocery , gasoline …. It shoots straight to my eyes. Not necessarily a brain freeze but a sensation that every ounce of moisture has just left my body. My eyes hurt, feel like they are swollen (and are) and I get extremely thirsty and I can taste the chemicals I just came into contact with. The heightened sense of smell might not be so bad if it wasn’t also painful. I went to an urgent care when I got up to my moms in Michigan last week. They gave me a prednisone shot and 5 days of 20mgs of prednisone. Tomorrow I finish the last pill. I plan to go back to SC in the next week and debate whether to put our house on the market and move or continue on with the allergy shots not really understanding if they will work in the end and how long it will take. It seems when I leave my home in SC I feel better and then begin to feel bad again once I am home for about a week. I have literally left and gone back at least 6 times since December, 2021 mainly to get away from the environment and test my theory that it has to be something there.

@erin1958

It sounds like you are very in tune with what is going on.

And I’m sure you are well aware of how dryness can affect the mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth, throat) in many different ways. The challenge is the chicken or the egg. Is it dryness that causes intensified allergy reaction or is it an allergic reaction that causes dryness. Either way it all comes down to sensitivities.

When things like this occur, providers will often ask about history. If you can think back to child hood, early adult hood, if you had any exaggerated skin sensitivities, like over reaction to mosquito bites or changes in laundry detergent or lotion products on the skin. Sometimes these atopic dermatitis like reactions fade away as we go through life but individuals who at some point had atopic dermatitis would also have nasal hypersensitivities but not correlate the two.
These are just thoughts, that a Dermatologist/Allergist would discuss with you.

If the cause is true allergic reaction-allergy desensitization can take a while to feel the affects.

The way you describe your sensitivities also sounds like non-allergic rhinitis as well. Which is essentially hypersensitivity in the nose, like vasomotor rhinitis.

No allergic rhinitis changes can be felt from barometric pressure changes, dryness, scents etc….hyperactivity and a lot of vasoconstriction on and off.
Where it’s not necessarily an allergic response that can be tested for, because it’s overall a nerve(nervous system) sensitivity.

It doesn’t hurt to try to allergy therapy to rule things out, if you have had new developments such as the eye swelling dryness.

Wish you all the best in trying to get through this.

Thank you, you have provided more insight than anyone has thus far!!! It’s a shame the ENT or immunologist never explained a thing really! Thank s again!!