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One nasal passage constantly blocked
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vitalym posted:
I've had this issue for a few years now and I have no good excuse why I haven't dealt with it sooner.

One of my nasal passages is always blocked and it will alternate randomly throughout the day. Some days it is better but generally one passage is blocked and the other has unobstructed airflow.

Since this has started, I've moved twice to totally different areas and have changed my diet but nothing has worked. I went to a ENT doctor and he suggested shaving down a gland, don't recall the name, in my nose as it us swollen. Before doing this surgery I would like to make sure there are no alternatives I can try.

I have tried a sinus rise with the neti pot and it did not help. I only did it a few times so many I didn't use it long enough. The other thing I can think of is the pillow I'm sleeping on is probably about 20 years old. It wasn't used for that whole time but the insides is real goose down and I can imagine the things going on in there. So I've replaced my pillow and was looking for some other suggestions on things to try.
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Rod Moser, PA, PhD responded:
The doctor was probably talking about your turbinates. Yes, the structure of the nasal airway can be surgically improved, but unfortunately, I don't have enough information about your case to know if you need a surgical correction or not. The information in your posting is really not sufficient to make that important call, so only an ENT can answer that questioin, based on a hand-on examination, a fiberoptic inspection of your nasal passage, and perhaps, so imaging studies. It has been a few years, so why not get it check out again.

Have you ever tried a several month course of nasal corticosteroid sprays? Have you been allergy-tested? It is not likely that sinus rinses and/or a neti pot will cure a structural anomaly or narrowing, but it can't hurt to try it.
 
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vitalym replied to Rod Moser, PA, PhD's response:
Thank you for the suggestions, I will get back to the ENT and see what he has to say.

I hope you hear this a lot but I just wanted to thank you for your time in answering my question.
 
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Rod Moser, PA, PhD replied to vitalym's response:
You are welcome and good luck. Let me know what happens.
 
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Shihabeddein responded:
Try to sleep on the opposite side ....(if it is the right sleep on your left side)
When you sleep on one side for a long time one nostril will be narrower
 
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cosmo1952 responded:
I also have one nasal passage blocked and the only time it was somewhat clear was when I went surfing. The sea salt was probably the reason. Have you looked into a Deviated Septum?


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