Before undergoing a balloon sinuplasty procedure, college athlete Maddy Manahan's sinuses brought about a lot of misery.
Manahan couldn't breathe out of her nose at all and was suffering the consequences that came along with that: poor sleep, bad breath and chronic sinusitis.
"[...] I was pretty much getting a sinus infection once a month. I'd get one, get on antibiotics but then within a week or two I'd start to have another one," she told Patient Daily. "That went on for about a year or two."
Fortunately for Manahan, her godfather and father's best friend from college was Dr. Jamie Oberman, an ENT specialist who was in the process of opening his private practice, Frederick Breathe Free Sinus and Allergy Center, just as Manahan's sinus issues were reaching a zenith. Manahan was quickly cleared as a candidate for ballon sinusplasty, a simple procedure that gently opens the nasal passages.
The sinusplasty, done directly in the doctor's office with no need for a surgical operating room, uses topical anesthetics to numb the sinuses; after numbing, a catheter with a small balloon enters the opening to the sinus cavity, and the balloon is gently inflated to expand the passage, encouraging normal sinus drainage.
Manahan found immense relief in the results. With sarcasm, she remembered the "lovely" thumb-sized pieces of mucus extracted from her pharynx once those cavities were able to drain.
"Immediately, I could breathe out of my nose," she recalled. "It was funny, I had the drip pad on my nose and I was literally bleeding, but I could breathe. Apparently, I was coming out of anesthesia and saying, 'I can breathe, I can breathe!'"
With the exercise and training that her college athletics career demands, easeful breathing is important for Manahan. The procedure also brought more comfort and quality to her sleep and significantly longer periods of time between sinus infections.
Unfortunately for the athlete, the opening of her nasal passageways is not enough when her sinuses have never been able to properly drain; Manahan goes to the clinic every two years to have her sinus manually drained, but the visits would be much more frequent had the passageways not been opened.
Manahan's procedure was scheduled early in the morning, one of the first slots of the day. Her procedure was set to be longer than a standard balloon sinusplasty since she was also getting her tonsils and adenoids removed and deviated septum repaired.
Despite the extras, Manahan remembers the procedure as being simple. Due to all of the work being done, she was asked not to eat after midnight the morning of her procedure and was given valium for her nerves. She stayed in the hospital for one night, not typical of a balloon procedure but standard for all of the aforementioned.
The athlete doesn't recall a lot of pain or swelling in her sinuses afterward; after about a week of soft foods, rest and ice packs on the face, she was able to return to her college track, back and better than ever.
"It was definitely a lot of relief, immediately."
