Treatment Options For Nasal Polyps

Nasal polyps are soft, jelly-like overgrowths occurring in the lining of sinuses. They appear as grayish grape-like mass in the nasal cavity. Polyps in the nose and sinuses are rarely malignant. But large polyps can cause nasal blockage, making it hard to breathe. Even so, most nasal polyp problems can be helped.

Nasal polyps occur in around 1 in 200 people. Most of the time, the cause is never known. Some may be a result of swelling from a sinus infection. Other factors like asthma or aspirin sensitivity and allergies may also trigger polyps and make them grow faster. Also, the chance of re-occurrence is greater even after sinus operations.

Polyps block the nose, and in most cases there is a decrease in the sense of smell. Since much of our sense of taste is related to our sense of smell, patients with polyp may describe a loss of both taste and smell.

Nasal obstruction can also occur - the pathways where the sinuses drain into the nose can be blocked by polyp. This would cause the mucous to remain in the sinuses, causing congestion. It can also cause pressure over the forehead and face. When mucous is in the sinuses too long, there is a high risk of infection.

Although most people with nasal polyps have no symptoms and require no treatment, those who do experience symptoms have different treatment options.

If the polyps are a result of a sinus infection, they often will be treated as how sinusitis symptoms are treated. Aggressive medical treatment of sinus infection is helpful to treat polyp growths. Nose sprays are the most effective because they allow easy topical application of medication to the infected areas.

Other treatment options include:
*Surgical removal - the polyp is extracted surgically from the affected area. Removing the polyps with surgery usually allows people to breathe easier through the nose. The surgery lasts approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour. The surgery can be done under general or local anaesthesia, and the polyps are removed using endoscopic surgery. Recovery from this type of surgery is anywhere from one to three weeks. However, there is a risk of re-growth in 50% of patients.

*Cortisone or steroids - the polyp will shrink down temporarily and slow down polyp growth. Cortisone cannot be taken long term because of high risk of side effects.

*Sinus Rinse or Nasal Lavage - Sinus rinses with warm water mixed with a small amount of salt can be very helpful to clear sinuses. This method can also be used as a preventive measure to discourage the polyps from growing back and should be used in combination with a nasal steroid.

*Allergy desensitization injections- sometimes used in allergic patients with hay fever and polyps. While this often helps with hay fever and therefore reduces the fever's negative effects on the polyps, there is no guarantee that the injections help shrink the polyps directly.

*Although there is no real way to prevent or eliminate nasal polyps completely, therapy aimed at the cause can help.

No-Scar Heart Surgery Has Great Results and the Fastest Recovery - See What Your Best Options Are

When you are told you need open heart surgery a sudden rush of fear is often the first reaction. Gruesome images of huge scars, bleeding, unbearable pain and overwhelming fear of terrible complications come to mind in a whirlwind blur. All these images in your mind are very far from reality and reflect the way heart surgery was performed OVER FIFTEEN YEARS AGO. I hope this article will help you appreciate the giant leap forward our specialty has made to devise a soft touch, low impact surgical technology to allow our patients a rapid and uneventful return to their life style after a coronary bypass or a heart valve operation. I will give you a brief outline of the hospital course for a minimally invasive heart operation to help you see the difference between your fears and what actually happens when you are in the hospital.

My example will be the all too common case of a 75 year old lady who needs a mitral valve repair to correct her severe mitral valve leakage. Here we go:

All the testing before surgery is done as an outpatient to give you time to discuss every detail about your state of health and your heart condition.
The day of surgery you arrive at the hospital early in the morning and meet again with your surgeon. A small intravenous line is inserted in your arm. It feels like a pinch.
Once you are in the operating room you'll be given some anesthesia right away and you'll fall asleep. The rest of the time you will not see, feel, hear or remember anything until you wake up in our recovery area after surgery.
The only person who's really suffering during surgery is your relative or friend sitting in the surgical waiting room.
The operation is carried out through a tiny incision in the skin crease under the right breast. There is no bone cutting involved because the opening is in the space between two ribs. This is important because bones don't heal well in many female patients because of osteoporosis (brittle bones) after menopause
Before closing the surgical incision a local anesthetic is injected in the space between the ribs to make that portion of the chest wall completely numb
You are then transported to our intensive care unit and you'll wake up feeling groggy but pain free
By the morning after you'll be out of bed and walking and maybe hungry enough for a small meal. You are ready to be transferred to the regular floor to continue walking and deep breathing exercises with our nurses and physical therapists
The second day after surgery most paytients are ready to go home with arrangements for a visiting nurse and physical therapy service and the surgeon's phone number
You are encouraged to resume your physical activity right away, including going out for a stroll, going up and down stairs and receiving friends and relatives at home.
Two weeks later you'll be back at the surgeon's office for your postoperative visit and by that time you'll have my blessing to resume your life style in full, including driving, traveling, going back to work

Again, this is what you should picture in your mind when you are told you need an operation. Ask your doctors about minimally invasive heart surgery techniques that do not involve bone cutting and are carried out through tiny incisions. If they are not familiar with them, consider consulting a Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery Center for a second opinion. More and more patients are gladly traveling out of town to get the best care available and they are glad they did. It's your body, it's your heart, it's the rest of your life!