If you have chronic sinus swelling or infections that keep coming back, we first treat you with medicine, like steroids or antibiotics, or by flushing your nose and sinuses with saline.
When these treatments don't work, sinus surgery can help improve your symptoms of:
- Nasal congestion
- Thick nasal drainage
- Facial pressure
- Loss of smell
- Recurrent infections
Sinus Surgery & Chronic Sinusitis
These procedures may help heal nasal congestion, facial pressure and recurrent infections associated with moderate to chronic sinusitis. View balloon sinus surgery transcript.
How Sinus Surgery Benefits You
Balloon Sinuplasty™: Balloon Sinus Surgery
During this procedure, we use a specially designed balloon to open up your sinus cavity. We then flush out any pus and mucus blocking the sinuses. Afterward, the sinuses stay open. This relieves pressure while allowing for normal drainage.
This simple procedure, often called sinuplasty:
- Offers faster recovery time — you can return to your daily routine within an hour
- Has less risk of scarring and infection
- Can be done in the clinic
- Requires no general anesthesia
- Does not involve cutting tissue
At UVA, our sinus surgeons have extensive experience performing balloon sinuplasty.
Endoscopic Sinus Surgery
Depending on your condition, balloon sinuplasty isn't always the right choice. Instead, you may need endoscopic sinus surgery.
With this procedure, no incisions or cuts are made on your face (unless the surgeon decides they are needed). We use small cameras, about the size of a pencil, that go through your nostrils and show the inside of your nose and sinuses on a screen. We widen your nasal openings using tools that remove small pieces of bone and tissue from the inside of the nose.
Sinus surgery isn't necessarily a cure. But it can significantly improve symptoms and make it easier for your medicine and other treatments to reach your sinuses.
About the Surgery
- The procedure lasts between a few minutes to a few hours, depending on what needs to be done. You should plan to spend at least a half a day at the hospital or surgery center.
- General anesthesia is required. You'll feel groggy for a day or so afterward.
- Most people have very little pain and use Tylenol to manage it.
At UVA, we only use small amounts of dissolvable foam to help the inside of your nose heal. We don't put painful gauze or packing in your nose.
You and your doctor together choose the best treatment for you, depending on the nature of your condition.
What Will This Cost?
Get a general idea of what you'll have to pay: Use calculators, see price lists, or ask for a personalized estimate.