I’m due to have a sinuplasty for a deviated septum over the next few months. The hospital has told me that I shouldn’t exercise for 2 weeks post surgery which will be difficult as I have a big cycle event in the summer which I’ll be training for.
Anyone had any experience with sinuplasty and exercise? For those who’ve had a sinuplasty, was it beneficial?
I had a sphenoidotomy 20 years ago, with some work on the uvula at the same time.
It did not go too well and i had a lot of bleeding just after the surgery. It took a really long time for me to start breathing by the nose again (i would say a couple of weeks, but that’s 20 years ago, i’m not sure).
Even if it goes well, i would be careful and listen to your docs. Ask him about zone 2, conversational pace.
Vo2max will probably be a few months away (maybe do a vo2 block before the surgery)
I had the following done in July 2020, Septoplasty, Balloon Sinuplasty, and Turbinate Reduction. I had lived with a badly deviated septum for most of my life and finally decided to get it fixed. The procedure itself only took about 20 minutes and recovery was very quick. Modern septoplasty is much simpler/advanced than it used to be. The old way of packing and splinting was a painful recovery and took a long time.
I was back on the trainer two days after surgery and back to normal intensity the week after. What I cut out for those couple of weeks was running, or anything that would mean jumping up and down. But trainer riding was totally fine. And yes, this is what my doctor told me would be fine.
Below is what those two weeks looked like for me. And yes, I would say for me it was worth it. It improved my sleep, as I previously couldn’t nose breath at night which can lead to dehydration and long-term lead to sleep apnea. I don’t know if I notice it from a performance perspective, but it was worth it for my long-term health.
Thanks both for the input. Sounds like you had very different experiences.
Mine was a long time ago, and the doctors screwed up. I’m sure you will have a much better experience than me.
I took a few days off while the packing was in my nose, then came back with easy rides for a couple days and was good to go. But I would go with what your doctor says within reason.
I wasn’t training when I got mine done (septum-straightening and turbinate reduction), but I didn’t rest as much as I should have. I did a 4 hour drive something like 3 days after the surgery and it was more than I should have; my body was repairing itself and couldn’t really spare the energy. I’d take at least a week completely off the bike. Then see how a really easy ride feels.
Check out this old post as well: Deviated Septum - Worth Having Surgery? - #24 by Northshorerider
Thanks for all the replies folks.
I’ve had 2 sinus surgeries. First one included deviated septum correction and I was definitely slower to recover but started easy riding on the 10th day. After just a few workouts, I felt ok adding in sweetspot and threshold. The second one was largely polyp/sinusitis related and I recovered much sooner from this one. I think I started riding again on the 9th day, but definitely could have started sooner. Same deal with a couple easy rides, then adding back intensity by feel. Dr’s advice in both cases was to wait 10 days. I suspect you won’t lose too much fitness.
Thanks for all the tips guys. Reckon I’ll be aiming to overtrain a bit before and then recover while I recover.
Hey guys, so had the procedure on Friday. I felt that breathing had improved quite a bit immediately after, but overnight the normal nasal blockage commenced. Have to say it’s pretty miserable recovery, not so much pain, but just being wiped out / struggling to breathe / poor sleep.
Good luck with the recovery! Post some details and progress regularly if you can, please.
I’m planning on having a deviated septum fixed in May, a couple of days AFTER my A race (GFNY NYC) so I’m in a good place to rest/recover. Will find it really interesting to follow your progress.
The first week or two is definitely the worst.
I had a nasoseptal reconstruction, bilateral turbinopasties surgery in November last year.
Felt awful for the first week and my nose was constantly bleeding for the first 4-5 days. I had to wear / continually change what I can only describe as a nasal nappy to absorb all the blood.
After 2 weeks or so of not being able to blow my nose and doing 3-4x nasal flushes a day, things started to improve. Went back to the surgeon and he removed 2 plastic stents that had been inserted into each nostril to keep the shape. Once they got removed breathing improved ten-fold.
Was off the bike completely for the the first 14 days post surgery, and within about 6-8 weeks was almost back to a full training load.
Now 4-5 months on I am fully recovered and very happy I got the surgery done - in fact I wish I had got the surgery years ago. Breathing is much easier, nose is not running as much, have not had a sinus infection yet (when these used to occur pretty regularly) etc.
Hang in there, as it will get much better!
Progress so far:
Came to with ‘stuff’ in the back of my throat and sat up coughing. The nurse wasn’t pleased as apparently this can cause bleeding, but I was on the edge of vomiting.
Could feel an immediate improvement in breathing once the coughing stopped.
Unfortunately, overnight, my nose clogged up to the extent it was absolutely impossible to breathe through my nose and really days 1 to 4 were pretty awful. I barely got out of bed (slept / dozing most of the day) and didn’t make it out of the house.
Today (day 5) is a bit better, went for a walk and though I’m still bunged up and uncomfortable it feels like I might have turned the corner. Will see what tonight / tomorrow bring.
I’ve been doing nasal rinses 6x a day, drinking loads, barely eating (only soft food - soup and yoghurt as the palate of my mouth is uncomfortable) and trying to keep my bedroom windows open - fresh air does help congestion.
I can’t lie, it’s been brutal. I’ve had several surgeries (6 before this) but this is the worst by a long way.
Glad to hear that it’s worked out! Sounds like you had a lot of work done. 2 weeks with no nasal breathing is a really long time.
Mine was just correction of a deviated septum.
Hoping that it isn’t too long before I can resume some training as I have a 215km ride in June!
This was the worst part of my first sinus surgery. It made it almost impossible to swallow comfortably. Also, I really hate mouth breathing. My gums were super unhappy. Fortunately the gel packing started to work loose in 24 hours and I started to get airflow.
How long did that take to resolve? My palate is really uncomfortable and I can’t eat even toasted bread without irritating them.
It was only really bad for the first couple days. It started getting back to normal after I could nose-breath consistently. Comically I had a dental appt 4 or 5 days after, which I kept, but despite me telling them about the surgery chided me for my inflamed gums 
Importantly, I could breath through my nose by then so the hygienist could do their thing.
eta: I used coconut oil as a chapstick to keep my lips from getting too bad (it was winter and dry in the house)
Update from my side - been through the wars over the last 2 weeks.
It turns out that I developed an infection soon after surgery. I was waking up at night sweaty with shivers. I was prescribed a course of antibiotics which were effective against a narrow strain of bacteria which were partially effective. These were changed to something broader and a nasal antibiotic cream last Wednesday and I’ve slowly been improving since then but still quite wiped out.
Still quite far away from doing any sport.
