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Nasal cauterisation issues

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roger99
roger99

Yesterday I had nasal cautery for recurrent nosebleeds. I wasn't told about the ache/pain I would get afterwards in my teeth and jawbone, nor about the continous dripping from my nostril. It's still there today over 24 hours later. I think it was the anaesthetic that has caused this by somehow affecting the nerves of the face and teeth. Does anyone know what anaesthetic they would have used? Has anyone had similar problems after cautery? How long can I expect these issues to last? Also, to top things off, I had no aftercare advice!

1 like, 71 replies

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  • MySharonah
    MySharonah roger99

    Posted

    Had the flood gate open on my nose to call 911! Bathroom looked like a crime scene. Went to ER, after 2 hours, still bleeding, they tried to cauterize with silver nitrate with NO success. Had the lovely balloon shoved in my nose for 2 days. Went to ENT, and pulled out balloon.... still more blood, so he cauterized again, and this time a success. Nurse- no -info, didn't answer my questions and gave me a useless flyer about how nosebleeds occur...NOT anything about cauterization AFTER CARE. (Maybe she was new, as she sprayed my cheek to numb my nose...)

    Anyway, all the info I found that was HELPFUL was patient experience and my own. My teeth hurt and the side of my head. Tylenol relieved NOTHING. Had to have the helpful friend that has prescription Percocet to relieve pain, and I'm not a fan of narcotics but this pain was unbearable! Slight bleeding for a day, but I was ok with slight. I coughed out the blood that was draining to my throat, as I didn't want to swallow. I did not touch my nose for 2 days as I didn't want to disrupt nothing. Day 3, all the crusty crap drove me nuts, so sprayed saline and took a hot shower. It took over an hour to drain out. I did not pick, but as it reached my nose opening, I pulled ever so slightly. Gross, but I could breathe better. I still have gunk around the cauterized part, but I'm not messing with that as I've read others who messed with it and it started to re-bleed. I try to saline as much as I can, but there are moments I'm still congested. So I use gravity to lean my head back and let the crap run down my throat and than cough it out. Sounds gross, but better than touching that tender sore!! Hope this helps someone....idk why ENT office doesn't give more AFTER CARE info.

  • p32219
    p32219 roger99

    Posted

    I am glad that I found this thread of discussion. Today is my 9th day after the cauterization and the pain in my mouth is still unbearable. Tynanol doesn’t relieve the pain. I had running nose on the first two days. Afterward, i have felt pain in my face, in the front teeth, roof of my mouth, and lips.  It’s awful. I called the doctors office, but they say this is normal and I should keep using nasal sprays, antibacterial ointment, and Tynanol. The pain has not relieve at all. After reading this thread, i am hoping the pain will go away after 10 days. Otherwise, i will see a different doctor.
    • Guest
      Guest p32219

      Posted

      It took exactly 10 days for my pain—exactly like yours—to go away. Tylenol was useless for me. I have read that it’s really nerve pain from the cauterization, which makes sense. I also tried the antibacterial ointment, and that burned so I stopped that. Prescription strength pain pills helped some, Also saline spray and gel made my nose feel better.  Hope your pain goes away soon!
    • p32219
      p32219 Guest

      Posted

      Thank you for your reply. I am feeling worse on my 11th day. The pain in my mouth has become worse. A bump has formed on the roof of my mouth behind the front teeth and this bump is growing in size. It gives so much pressure on my teeth. The pain has also expanded to the left jaw of mine. I went to see the doctor who did the cauterization. He said in his 30+ years of practice, he has never seen a patient who had symptoms like mine due to cauterization. He thinks I should see my dentist instead. I will need to see a different doctor.
  • nabila01
    nabila01 roger99

    Posted

    I had a nasal cauterisation for my nosebleeds three days ago. The doctor didn't numb my nose or warn me about the pain. They just went in with silver nitrate cautery pencils and rubbed it all on the inside of my nose. As soon as they put it in, it started burning really badly, my eyes got filled with tears and i wanted to sneeze. They did the first side, then let me sit up and sneeze because i could not hold it in anymore. After they did the second one, i started sneezing again and im pretty sure i sneezed about 15 times. It was the most painful thing ever and i would never like to do it again. Although the pain has gone now, i have a painful scab in my nose which is the one thing they did warn me about. But the day i had it done was pretty bad. I has a very drippy but blocked nose, a painful burning feeling and a migraine which kept me up all night. Im not sure if the migraine had anything to do with the cauterisation, but it was definitely the first migraine id ever had and it was on the day i had my nose cauterised. Who knows? maybe its another side effect. Anyways i am very grateful the pain has gone, just waiting for the scab to heal and hopefully I will never have a nosebleed ever again. Although I am still very annoyed that no one has produced an information leaflet of some sort, warning everyone about the pain and any possible side effects. Hopefully they will make it very soon so that anyone else knows what to expect.

    • roger99
      roger99 nabila01

      Posted

      Apart from the intense pain I had for about 10 days (and I do believe that the anaesthetic was partly to blame) it was the fact that nobody (hospital staff) believed me when I made the complaint and the fact that there were no leaflets about what to expect. It's a barbaric procedure in my view!

    • p32219
      p32219 roger99

      Posted

      My pain has not gone away and the condition has become complicated. I am now taking antibiotics. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will feel better tomorrow. I also feel that both the doctor and the nurses had ignored my symptoms when I called to report on the unusual pain. They still believe it’s not caused by the cauterization, which I don’t want argue about. I only hope the pain in my mouth and teeth will go away. I saw my Dentist today and my teeth are fine, my dentist is also very puzzled.. I have taken more painkillers in the last two weeks than I had taken my whole life before this happened. I cannot say enough how regretted I am. My nosebleeding was not even serious .
    • gewb
      gewb p32219

      Posted

      I've followed your part of this thread and really feel for you. My jaw/teeth pain went away after about ten to twelve days but those were intense days. My path was a lot like Rogers and similar to yours. Have your browser search this page for gewb to see my portions.

      Best of luck to you.

    • p32219
      p32219 gewb

      Posted

      Thank you, gewb, and everybody else for sharing their experience. I am feeling a lot better today (knock on wood), after I started to take antibiotics yesterday. My front teeth are still a little tender, but I feel I can function 90% now! What a relief!
  • aliceopal
    aliceopal roger99

    Edited

    Just had this done yesterday. I've had regular/frequent nosebleeds all my life but yesterday it bled profusely, as in drops falling down faster than my heart beat. Since it didn't stop or show any signs of lessening in severity after an hour and a half I went to the local emergency. 

    Waited all night (it's good, in the ER having to wait means you're lucky - you don't wanna be the person who gets help right away). 

    At 4.30 am I was greeted by a very tired doctor who didn't tell me much about the procedure (probably because I talked nervously I don't know) 

    And a stick with liquid that I by googling identified as silver nitrate was then inserted into my nose 

    It hurt like hell. Holy s**t pardon my French but that hurt like f*****g hell. I've got a VERY high pain threshold; I used to self harm, and I tend to be able to kinda remain calm and not think about pain. But this was a completely different type of pain. It was like it regenerated, like it contuously begain all over again - the pain was like the first moment after you hurt yourself. 

    I've gotten undiluted 12% h2o2 in my nose and it was much less painful than this. I've gotten chemical burns in my armpits from mistaking the spray cans. The only thing similar in sensation was these things, except continuous like when you get sour powder/ citric acid in your eye. 

    I'm in so much pain still. The stinging is less, but my front teeth feel like ive got a bad infection, or that something is wrong. The only relief is pressuring the teeth. 

    As well, when I run my eye it's like liquid collects in the bag underneath my eye and there's this pressure inside my head that just doesn't go away. 

    My face feels like that one time my brother accidentally elbowed me in the face; it feels like the whole mid section is bruised from the inside out. 

    I've got a pretty small nose so I guess maybe the liquid isn't running fast enough to drain the eye area. 

    Oh and the best thing about this bulls**t? 

    I just had a new nosebleed. (Alas only for like five minutes or so, but still, the f**k did I do this s**t for???? I've had stitches much less painful)

  • kerri36671
    kerri36671 roger99

    Posted

    Hey everyone,

    I had my nose cauterized last Saturday after 2 horrendous nosebleeds during the middle of the night. The doctor that did it in a surgery hit the main blood vessel in my nose which resulted in being rushed to ER where they tried to fix it. I had the balloon for 2 days, nose packs for a further 3, drips and morphine after and now I am on day 8. I’ve had 5 small nose bleeds since and I am panicking that things will stay like this. 

    A lot of your comments are from 2+ months ago and I’m just wondering does it get better eventually & how are you coping with it now? 

    I haven’t left the house in a few days and have just been using the humidifier and Rhinaria prescription from the ENT. I have a complete fear of having to repeat the whole process so any tips would be appreciated.

    Just to add I didn’t get any after care information either which is disappointing.

    Thank you,

    K

    • Guest
      Guest kerri36671

      Posted

      After my 2nd cauterization, I have had no more issues. It took 10 days to stop hurting, though. I use saline spray and gel morning and night. I don’t blow my nose hard and am careful when I sneeze. So far, so good. Hope you don’t have any more nosebleeds.
    • MySharonah
      MySharonah kerri36671

      Posted

      Omg hang in there!! It gets better with time. I was careful not to sneeze either... opened my mouth wide and sneezed that way. Saline everyday and loved the saline gel at night. I was very protective and wouldn't let anyone even get CLOSE to my face. It's been 8+months and I've not had a problem. I actually put a little coconut oil in my nose now (wait until scar completely heals) because I feel that saline, a great cleaner felt to me like it was also making it dry. Like salty crusty tears?

      And what's wrong with these people with NO AFTER CARE instructions??!😡

      Best of luck!

    • roger99
      roger99 kerri36671

      Posted

      All I can say is that it does improve over time and the scab will eventually go (mine went in a month or so).

      The reason I started this thread was to highlight the ridiculous and barbaric procedure, the subsequent pain and discomfort endured in the first week to ten days coupled with the fact that no information was given at the time (other than, this is what is going to happen in terms of procedure) and absolutely no aftercare information or what to expect.

      The only thing I can say on the plus side is that it does heal and, touch wood, I've had no further nosebleeds since.

       

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