Has anyone here got any experience with nose operations?
I am going into hospital on Sunday to have an operation.
I broke my nose a few years ago, with the consequence that I have trouble breathing.

When I had my pre-assessment the doctor said they were not going to touch the bone, but they were going to make an (or some) incisio(s) inside the nose since the main deformation occurs there.
In the mean time they will also remove a polyp from my nose.

According to the leaflets I was given regarding aftercare, you have to be very careful for a long time.
Apparently you have to take two weeks of work and you are to avoid any (even light) physical activity.

I was told I cannot do karate (expected that) for four to six weeks (think that's a bit much), but they also advise against walking, having meetings in a badly ventilated room etc.

It seems the main reason is there could be extensive bleeding for quite some time after the operation.

Has anyone got any experience with this, does anyone know if it is very painful afterwards?

Any advice would be welcome.

Oh boy, I hope you get some good information! I need to do exactly the same thing. Funny you bring this up, I was just trying to contact doctors in Mexico to see about getting mine fixed there. (no insurance, can't afford it here)
I have heard it was pretty painfull, but hadn't heard about not being able to work, that is out of the question for me.

There's always a period of recovery time from any surgery. If they're not going into the bone, then I don't think it will be quite as painful, but there's also less structure for the healing tissue to form around. This means that ANY disturbance to the area will affect the way the tissue forms. You wouldn't want to have another surgery to fix your nose simply because you breathed in too hard or a random football came flying towards your face while you called the rest of the family in for dinner.
My friend had a nose job for her 16th birthday to "repair a deviated septum." I didn't know her back then, so I can't tell you whether she's telling the truth or not. I do know that she's still trying to protect her nose 5 years later. She'll play a game of beach volleyball with us, but she'll duck and cover if the ball is coming straight for her face. Hopefully you aren't going to be taking any roundhouse kicks to the face when you spar.

Well, sheepdog, fortunately the 'not working' problem is not such a problem.
I'm a teacher and it is summer holiday now.
Rotten thing about your insurance, though. A good thing that here in England the NHS covers all those things without us having to pay a penny towards it.
Tikiprincess, thanks for your contribution. In my case it is indeed also a "heavily dilated septum", so that is what they are going to concentrate on.
Feels a bit scary the way you explain things. But thanks for sharing all this with me anyway. Where roundhouse kicks to the face are concerned it should be pretty OK, as it is not full contact I do, although accidents do tend to happen.
Thank you both for your input.

Well then,
made it home today.

I had my operation yesterday an dhad to stay in overnight to be monitored.

There is of course substantial swelling and lots of clotted blood inside my nose, it also feels quite uncomfortable.

However, when the doctor came to see me this morning he said that there was going to be some congestion for the first week or so, I was given seawater to spray into the nose after which I have to put drops in.
Unfortunately I have to rely on painkillers quite a bit, hope that will soon stop and hopefully I'll soon see the benefits of my surgery.

I'm glad everything went well! You'll definitely want to keep that bottle of Vicodin handy for awhile. Can you still breathe through your nose right now? If not, I would guess that eating and drinking are problematic. It would be great if you could keep us updated so that others might benefit from your experiences.

Hi TikiPrincess,
yes, I can breathe, but it is obviously not easy as there is a lot of congestion there after the surgery.
It can be painful at times too, but things can only get better (probably once the congestion begins to clear and the wounds heal).
Anyway, I am awaiting better days.