Say Goodbye to Chronic Pain from Sinusitis with Propel
November 23, 2015
During my career as an Otolaryngologist, I’ve seen a lot of noses. However, by the time the noses come to me, they’re usually swollen, and causing pain and breathing difficulties for my patients. Most of the time these patients are suffering from chronic sinusitis, a condition affecting one in seven Americans, and these chronic sinusitis sufferers may need surgical intervention to find lasting relief.
The medical definition of chronic sinusitis is: sinus pain, facial swelling and breathing difficulties caused by inflammation and swelling of the nasal passages have lasted at least 12 weeks. 12 weeks is a long time to deal with such debilitating symptoms, yet when we prescribe antibiotics to treat our patients, we know this will help to reduce the inflammation and pain, but may not offer a permanent solution.
Surgery to remove nasal polyps and blockages is a more immediately effective treatment option, and more than 500,000 patients undergo sinus surgery each year. Because obstructions to nasal cavities will be removed during surgery it is a more immediate solution than antibiotic treatment alone, but patients will then have to combat post-surgical issues such as normal post-surgical swelling, and potential scarring, which will continue to block the passages. Some patients will feel better in a few days, while others may not feel relief for a week or two after surgery. To combat these post-surgical issues most doctors will prescribe anti-inflammatory steroids and medication to provide relief, but many people are sensitive to the effects of oral steroids.
About the Propel ImplantTM
Luckily, we live in an age where technological innovations are aiding medicine in ways we couldn’t have imagined before. One such example of this is the Propel Implant developed by Intersect. I started using this sinusitis treatment in 2012 with my patients and can confidently say that this device gives them the best possible outcomes for chronic sinusitis pain and sinus blockage.
The small cylindrical implant is put into patient’s sinus cavities during surgery, and fits to the nasal passage to hold it open while it heals, preventing the development of additional polyps and scar tissue. One of the best features of the Propel is the fact that it not only holds the passage open, but also contains a steroid (mometasone furoate) that is slowly released over 30 days after insertion. Having a device that delivers anti-inflammatory steroid medicine only to the necessary area, eliminating the potential reaction to oral steroids that some patients have following normal sinus surgery. Finally, the Propel Implant slowly dissolves as the nasal passages heal, so there is no additional follow-up removal procedure!
Overall, the Propel Implant significantly reduces the recovery time for sinusitis surgery patients, allowing them to feel relief and return to their normal lives as soon as possible.
If you are suffering from chronic sinusitis, I highly encourage you to reach out to myself or your local BreatheAmerica clinic to speak with a doctor further about the Propel Implant. I work with patients for chronic conditions, and while we can’t expect relief from a long-term problem to be resolved overnight,
the Propel gives the next best thing with a cure for sinusitis.
About Dr. Gerencer
For the last 17 years, Roland Z. Gerencer, MD, FRCSC, FACS, has been providing his patients with the highest quality of comprehensive allergy, sinus, and throat care. Dr. Gerencer is a board-certified Otolaryngologist, the only fellowship-trained rhinologist in the state of New Mexico, and a national pioneer of the minimally invasive Balloon Sinusplasty and Propel Implant treatments.