I've heard septoplasty can cause horrible headaches. is that true? will they be worse than the headaches i already get from not being able to breathe? i've read some comments from people who got them that suggest they were much worse. how long would they

If : If your nasal obstruction is severe, it is possible that your headaches may be secondary to a barosinus response. In other words, air filled cavities (i.e., your sinuses) which normally connect and drain into the nasal cavity can't effectively do so creating pressure or traction type pains about the affected sinuses(i.e., forehead- frontal sinus, between eyes-ethmoid sinus, cheek or molar teeth areas-maxillary, behind eyes or top of head-sphenoid sinus). Septoplasty typically doesn't result in bad headaches beyond the period of temporary nasal packing and resolution of reactive mucosal swelling (short-lived and typically dull, achey, and mild). Understand that there are many causes of headache and not necessarily attributable to your nasal blockage such as underlying untreated sinusitis, atypical migraine variant, facial neuralgia syndromes etc. A proper history, exam, and appropriate radiological studies would be helpful in sorting this out.

I : I do think some people can get a headache from the procedure. Septoplasty can be uncomfortable, but the discomfort does resolve. I would be careful that your headaches may be from something else rather than the problems breathing. That would be a rare cause of headache. A risk of surgery would be that the breathing gets better, but the headache remains. There is a controversial diagnosis called "contact headache" that is thought to be from contact between the septum and the turbinates, deep in the nose. This can be diagnosed by numbing that area during the headache--if the pain resolves with the placement of lidocaine, you may do well with the surgery to separate the contact point. As surgeons, we should remember that there is a risk that "surgery for pain causes pain.".

Headaches : Headaches can be caused by nasal obstruction or sinus congestion and infection. If this is the source of your headaches, hopefully a septoplasty will decrease the severity and frequency of your your symptoms. The headaches caused by a septoplasty, which are rare, only last several days.