How Oral Surgery Can Reduce Your Morning "Puffiness"
Posted on: 15 October 2015
Many people wake up in the morning looking a little "puffy" through their eyes, nose and upper cheeks. While this could be a sign of a few serious illnesses, in most cases it is just a matter of old age or sinus issues. If your doctor has ruled out hypertension and seasonal allergies, then you can assume that it is your sinuses or your age that is to blame. If you are tired of waking up and looking like the man in the moon for the first half of your day, you can have oral surgery to treat the problem. Here is the approach for this type of cosmetic surgery.
X-Rays of Your Head
The first thing your surgeon will want to do is take X-rays of your head. Usually, he or she will want two sets taken; one set as close to the time that you wake up every day as possible and one set much later in the day when your features have returned to a mostly normal appearance. The first set of X-rays will show him/her what is going on in your sinuses when you wake up, and possibly reveal anything from a deviated septum to heavily congested sinuses filled with fluid. The second set will give your surgeon the opportunity to see what happens when you have been awake for some time and the sinuses have had time to drain.
Surgery Plan
Based on your X-rays, your oral surgeon will formulate a surgery plan. A moderate-to-severe deviated septum will be corrected so that you can breathe easier. Sinus cavities will receive shunts (drains) that allow your head to empty itself of fluids better while you sleep and chronically infected sinuses will be opened up and surgically altered to stop the frequency of infections. There are a few other procedures the oral surgeon may use, but it just depends on what your surgeon thinks is the best plan of attack to reduce your morning puffiness based on what he or she sees in your X-rays.
Expect Additional Puffiness Post-op
Anytime you are having surgery, there will be some swelling afterwards, but that is even more true of surgery to the oral and nasal cavities. When you come out of your surgery, you will be heavily packed with surgical gauze to stop bleeding and help open a path for air through your sinuses when the gauze is wrapped around special tubing in your nose. You will probably have even more puffiness up to the first week after surgery, but once the swelling has subsided most of your morning puffiness should disappear.
For more information, visit a doctor like Oral And Maxillofacial Surgical Associates.
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