Septoplasty / Rhinoplasty Recovery Using Essential Oils & Natural Remedies
posted on January 27, 2018
Hey y’all! Hope you are having a great new year. My new year has been pretty eventful so far, but things seem to finally be getting back to normal somewhat. If you follow me on social media or read my last post, then you’ll know I had surgery this past December. Some details about my surgery- I had a Septoplasty, Turbinate Reduction and Rhinoplasty all in one. 2 surgeons, but only 1 time under the knife.
Why you may ask?
Well, I have had a “crooked nose” for as long as I can remember. When I met my insurance deductible in 2017, I figured it was a good time to finally see a doctor about having my deviated septum corrected. The Ear, Nose & Throat Doctor confirmed that I indeed had a deviated septum, as well as enlarged turbinates and a bone spur in my right sinus cavity. He asked me what I was hoping to get out of the surgery, I stated the obvious- to correct my deviated septum in order to help straighten the appearance of my nose. Also to reduce sinus headaches of course.
While the doctor agreed that straightening my septum would help my sinus problems, he did not think that a septoplasty procedure would change the outward appearance of my nose. He explained that over time, the septum cartilage develops “memory” in the deviated position, and without the help of a plastic surgeon, my nose / cartilage would likely appear the same even with a straightened septum. So, I bit the bullet, saw a Plastic Surgeon, and decided to go through with having both a Septoplasty & Rhinoplasty. The rhinoplasty part would help reinforce the cartilage around my septum and change the angle of my nose so that it would not protrude as much. You can see the difference in my side profile from before / after below. (Thank God for CareCredit!)
Right before they took me back for surgery… I know my best look, right?
On December 15th, I had my surgery and luckily had my wonderful fiancé by my side to help ease my anxiety & take care of me. When I woke up after the surgery it felt like only 5 mins had passed, but that during the entire 5 mins, someone had taken a hammer to the side of my head and pounded continuously. (Yeah, I know what a lovely description!) I was eventually allowed to go home when I was alert enough and my pain was under control.
I had a hard splint over my nose, dissolvable packing and stitches inside my nose, and had to keep a drip pad underneath my nose to help control all the bleeding. About 12 hours after surgery, I was developing some pretty nasty under eye bruises that would only worsen by day 2. Since I would be traveling one week after surgery to spend Christmas with my fiancé’s family, I was determined to get these black & blue eyes under control by the time we left. I turned to some of my most trusted natural remedies and was able to fully cover my bruising (with the help of a little makeup) when we left for Albuquerque the following week.
I wanted to share some of these remedies with you all so that if there’s ever a time that you’re recovering from surgery or a similar procedure, you’ll have some good tools in place to help during your recovery.
**I just have to note here that the statements below are based on my personal experience using these products. They have not been evaluated by the FDA to diagnose, prevent, or treat any condition.**
1. First things first- Helichrysum.
The holy grail of essential oils (in my opinion). When you look Helichrysum up in a reference guide, you’ll see an abundance of amazing properties and benefits this oil can provide. I used it about 3x/day to help minimize the bruising and decrease inflammation.
2. Geranium for the win!
I made an aloe vera based healing ointment that I kept in the fridge to help decrease the swelling in my face and under eyes. Geranium was the main ingredient in this as it’s one of the best oils to help reduce bruising. I also added Frankincense, Lavender, Myrrh, Cypress, and Rosemary essential oils (refer to a Reference Guide to see all the amazing healing properties each one of these oils has!)
3. Ningxia Red.
I’m telling y’all this stuff is amazing. I have been using it consistently since October 2017 and have only grown to love it more. I heard on a podcast that it’s really good for pregnant women to increase their Ningxia intake after delivery to help with recovery and healing. I figured it couldn’t hurt to increase my daily Ningxia intake after my surgery to help with recovery and energy levels, which were decreased due to the amount of pain I was in. I started drinking about 6oz. of Ningxia per day for the first week post surgery. My body felt great! I truly believe this play an intricate role in my recovery. If you would like more information on Ningxia Red, please contact me! I’d love to answer your questions!
4. Arnica.
So I must admit, I didn’t start the Arnica until about 5 days post op. I didn’t have any and wasn’t familiar with using it. One of the nurses in my plastic surgeon’s office gave me a sample during my follow up, and I kept using from that day forward. My bruises had diminished greatly from day 1 post op to days 6-9. But it was adding the Arnica in that really helped rid me of the bruising all together. I learned that Arnica is also a natural pain & inflammation reliever, so I have kept using it even after the bruises were gone to help decrease this stubborn inflammation in the tip of my nose that I learned could be there for 6 months – 1 year !
5. Ginger Turmeric Tea.
I drank a cup of this Ginger Turmeric Herbal Tea from Trader Joe’s 1-2x/day as I recovered from surgery to help boost my immune system and decrease inflammation.
Well that’s a wrap!
I hope you enjoyed this post and some of you can find this info helpful! Using these remedies definitely helped speed up the recovery process for me- especially with minimizing bruising! Now, 6 weeks post-op, my inflammation is down tremendously and my daily sinus rinsing / cleaning routine is my only real “annoyance”. So, I would say overall this was a positive experience for me. My sinuses are getting better and my nose is straight! It’s the outcome that made all the initial discomfort worth it.
What kind of natural remedies do y’all use when you’re sick, recovering from surgery or after an acute injury? Let me know in the comments!
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Until next time!
Namaste,
Nicole Woodruff