5 Yr Old Chronic "Stuffy Head" - Doc Says Adnoid Surgery- Suggestions/advice?

Hey, C. -

My son (now 12) has had the same symptoms for years - completely stuffed. We finally went to Nat'l. Jewish and found that he had chronic (nonallergic) rhinitis. Might be worth asking a different Dr. about to be certain?

My son uses Nasonex and it does work on the rhinitis; he also uses a nasal rinse (once a day when healthy, twice a day when he has a cold, etc.). Between the two, he is completely cleared up for the first time.

Hope this helps!

I have lived with the stuffy head my whole life, I found out last year I should have had my adnoides out when I was about 5. Anyway, my oldest boy(7) had his out last summer, 15 minutes and done, fast recovery. No issues, if they say it needs done I would do it. She does not want to live her life with a stuffy head. I could have done without it.

I had this done at 5 and my dad states to this day that he is not sure that it did much good for me. I had LOTS of sinus infections before they were removed, went a few years with fewer, but now that I'm grown, get them all the time again. The only thing that helped SOME was my snoring...I was a chronic snorer and now snore intermittenly. I still have my tonsils which are now becoming a bother as well as I've grown. I would get a second opinion and maybe have her see a peds allergist first to see if that could be part of the problem.

Nasonex is geared towards allergies. It helped my son a bit but he has had his adnoids out too, they were HUGE! Both of my kids had adnoids out.
I sent you a side note with the information you asked of me, hope it helps.
It helped both of my kids get better sleep, my daughter snored or didn't sleep well do to sleep apnea and removing her adnoids helped tremendously with her. My son we went to the ENT today and actually are going for allergy testing just to rule out as the Nasonex isn't helping with the sneezing, watery eyes, hoarseness on occassion or congestion.
The surgery in itself is easy, quick and under an hour. It is scary, however for me it was a positive having it done as both of mine got relief with sleep apnea issues.
Keep her dosed with saline drops too, this dry air here does not help matters at all! I do it before they go outside, when they come in, before bed as much as I can as having the dry air can cause problems all by itself.
I don't know about it being common for age, I think it is more genetic as I had enormous ones, my daughters were too big for her petite size and my son's were big.
Good luck!

If it were my child, I would get a second opinion. If you can - if your insurance allows or whatever -- I would go to National Jewish for this.

My neice just had this surgery done a few months ago. She turned 4 in April. It has changed her life for the better! My family thought she had a constant cold/flu until finally an ear nose and throat doctor diagnosed her correctly. Before the surgery she was so stuffed up that it was sometimes hard to understand her speech. I could tell she was miserable...and her snoring sounded like a chainsaw! Now she can actually breathe and we can hear her real voice! As far as the surgery and actual recovery, she had no problem at all. Now she is a happy little girl that can breathe through her nose! How would you feel if you had to live with not being able to breathe through your nose and sleeping with your mouth open!?? Not fun!

Get a second opinion, It never hurts. But the younger they are the better they bounce back from surgery. My son is 2 and has had 15 surgeries by the time he was 15 months old. One of which was his tonsils and adenoids. He recovered within 24 hours with his first surgery at day 2. From there each one took a lot longer to recoup. It is taxing on the kids (especially when they have more than 1 a week, the most we had was 4 in 4 days with a 1 day break in between). But you would never know to this day (without looking at his stomach) that he had a rough start.
At 5, you need to be honest with your child. Let him know that it will hurt, but that you will be there to hold his hand when he wakes up.
My dad had his done as a kid and they lied to him, telling him it wouldn't hurt, and they weren't going to put him to sleep and all this garbage. He was so mad when he woke up and even worse because he did hurt.
So be honest with him. At 5 they can listen and comprehend, but won't fully understand until afterwords.

When my son was 2 he had his adenoids out at the same time as his second set of tubes. The surgery was quick and it has helped my son alot. I know it is hard to put your baby into surgery, but I think it will help in the long run.

I would suggest getting a second opinion from a doctor at a different practice. If that doctor says the same thing, then have the surgery.

If you are concerned get a second opinion.
I will just share that I had sinus surgery when I was 23 and it was really brutal. I should have had the adenoid surgery as a kid which would have been pretty quick--instead I had years of congestion and inflamation to my sinuses and chronic sinus infections left me with inflamed tissues all around my sinuses--so I had to have the more intense sinus surgery and I had years of illness while growing up. If that is what is going on, get your daughter the surgery...if you are concerned that isn't what it is get a second opinion...surgery isn't fun but it sure beats being sick for years and years and then having a more severe surgery later...just some food for thought.

Hi C.,
My son had to have the procedure done when he was about 5 due to it causing sleep apnea. Since having the surgery, he can breath better and I don't hear him at night trying to breath so I can sleep better. I had mine out at 8 for the exact same reason. I understand your concerns, but it really will help her in the long run.

D.

My daughter had a runny nose since she was a few weeks up until she had her adnoids removed (allergy meds did nothing to help). She also had chronic ear infections. At the suggestion of our ENT in FL we had her adnoids removed when they put in tubes......Her nose no longer runs unless she is sick, HUGE difference. Also the surgery is pretty quick 10 to 15 min and that was with putting in tubes and then she was in our arms.

I am not a fan of surgery, but this made a huge difference!

R.

Hi, my son had the same problem when he was your daughters age too. I took him to an ENT who was also an allergist he ended up having to have his sinuses flushed and his adnoids removed and also while he was out they did a full panel of allergy testing on his back and legs. He was allergic to so many things. They made him allergy shots and he had to have one once a week it made such a huge difference. Just having his adnoids out made a lot of the stuffiness go away. He is now 18 and allergy free it was the best thing we could have for him. Good luck

Our 13 year old is going through this now. He's been on various allergy meds for most of the last 10 years (his mom took him off 18 mos ago but he's back on them now). Nothing has worked for him so far, including Nasonex, so we're off to the ENT to start the adenoidectomy process. The first thing ENT told me was that they needed a sinus CT scan. Did you get one of those yet? I'd ask for it-a friend said that's how they found out their 7 year old had adenoids the size of an adult.
Try the allergist (I don't have a good one, sorry) & keep going between the two until you find something that works.
Good luck!

My little boy had the same thing only he was only 18 months when he had the surgery it was about six months ago and the best thing we ever did it worked great i totally recomend the surgery good luck

I have lived with this same "condition" since I was little. I've been to many dr's when I was younger, even an ear nose and throat specailist and it wasnt my adnoids that was enlarged. I dont know the technical term for it... but the filter things in your nose is what is swollen for me. If you look up my nose you can actually see them with out any specail tools. (when swollen) if it's the adnoids they are too far up the nasial cavity to see. They said I could have surgery to shrink them but I didnt want to have surgery. They gave me Nasonex also and it did help but it gave me nose bleeds (which is a side effect) It did help with the "stuffy" feeling but it made my nose feel dried out and sensitive. plus the bloody noses. So I stopped using the Nasonex. I just live with it. I do tend to breath out of my mouth more when they are more swollen than usual but it's not horrible. I've adjusted to the "half nose" If you want to ask me any other questions based on my own experiance with this stuffiness I'd be happy to.

I think you are right to question surgery. I hope you'll get a second opinion. Most insurance companies will pay for second opinions. I'm so sorry your guy is going through this. Good luck.

Hi C.,
I highly recommend NAET- or at least be open to it. Our youngest had his tonsils and adenoids removed (Feb '09) and we were not prepared for what happened next. He now has the triad: allergies, excema and asthma. We are taking him to Boulder for the NAET treatments and he is responding well. Apparently the tonsils were helping his little body fight all the allergies (most of the allergies we didn't even know he had- and they didn't really show up until after his surgery?) Just check into it and see what you think.
Peace, T.