Nasal polyps are growths of tissue in the back areas of the nasal cavities. They are not always apparent at first, but eventually, they can partly or completely block nasal passages even to the point of totally preventing the intake of air through the nose. They can grow and when removed they can regrow. I know. I’ve had to give attention to nasal polyps at least four times in the past.
What Causes a Pre-Disposition Toward Polyps?
There are various causes of nasal polyps, but I don’t wish to get into a medical treatise on their various causes. There are plenty of articles on the internet that explain those far better than I ever could. I can only speak of the cause in my case, which appears to be intense allergies. The cause may be different for you, but the effect is the same, whatever the cause. When I was a child, I was allergic to many, many things. The worst ones for me, but probably the best for polyp formation are cats, dust, mold, and pollen. Curiously, many who suffer from polyps also have serious allergy problems, but do not tend toward the usual hay fever symptoms. The reverse is true. Hay fever sufferers do not often suffer with polyps! I do not suffer from hay fever.
My Story: Could It Help You?
When I was in my later teenage years, I joined a class on martial arts. A fellow asked me if I would care to box briefly. I thought, Sure, why not? It wasn’t five minutes, and the fellow who weighed some fifty pounds more than I did knocked me down. I hung up the gloves. It was not long after that that I had sinus troubles, and, thinking I was sick, went to my GP. Over the next year, plus, he prescribed antibiotics five times for me. So not receiving any relief, I went to another GP. Bingo! He looked up my nose (Why didn’t the other guy do that?). He immediately diagnosed me as a nasal polyps sufferer.
A bit later, it was time for my first visit to the specialist who would remove my polyps. He gave me some cocaine and out they came, painfree. Hey! That wasn’t too bad. He told me some disconcerting news, however; that they could come back. And come back they did. Something like ten years later, they had to come out again. I couldn’t breathe through my nose at all, and to swallow was a real trial.
Meanwhile, I had moved from New Jersey, the clean air capital of the world (NOT), to Virginia. After I was there a while, I decided to have my polyps removed. I went to the doctor who wanted to put me in the hospital to have them removed. Ridiculous! I asked him if he couldn’t do it in the office, like my last doctor did. He said he could. On his wall were many citations of excellence, and he was a bigwig in the nearby hospital. Should be a breeze.
Wow, I couldn’t have been more wrong. He nearly butchered me. Pain and misery. I felt like a horse kicked me. I actually came close to hating that doctor. Everywhere I went I ran him down, bigtime. You see, the main problem, unbeknownst to me at the time, was that cocaine was out. No more cocaine. The druggies had managed to cause that to be put on the taboo list. Thanks, guys.
Well, you guessed it. They grew back again. But this time I went to another hospital, and was assisted by a doctor as old as the hills. Maybe so, but this guy was good! He was the only one who discovered that when I was in that martial arts class and boxing, my nose had been broken. In fact, the bone had been splintered.
This time I agreed to be knocked out cold. Not by another boxer. By an anaesthesiologist. I won’t pretend I felt good afterward. I had to have my nose packed, and it was a good day or more before I felt human. Happily, the doctor had removed the splinters of bone. The bleeding took months to totally stop.
They grew back again. This time I was directed to an allergist. Hickory Tree Pollen! I lived on five acres of mostly Hickory Trees. Sigh. Well, at least I knew the cause. And I went back to the same doctor for removal of the polyps. However, good news. He had fine-tuned an improved procedure named after him, and he had ways of shrinking the polyps in the future (a super-fine occasional needle that doesn’t hurt), before they got large. And in addition, he prescribed for me a steroidal nasal spray that is simply great. So now, although they want to grow, they are pretty much in control, and I am able to survive, essentially polyp free.
In Closing: A Bright Outlook
So if you have polyps, it may be this three-fold method will help you. First remove them. Then prevent future growth by an occasional needle if necessary at first, and use the prescription nasal spray, if “it is right for you.” If you are a nasal polyp sufferer, at least you are living in a time when medical advances are producing some “automatic weapons.” May you receive the correct medical treatment for your situation, and become a former sufferer!
