In patients with significantly discomforting or disabling symptoms that are NOT CONTROLLED with standard measures, surgery may also rarely be prescribed as an option.

WHERE NASAL OBSTRUCTION IS A PREDOMINANT SYMPTOM, SURGERY REMAINS THE METHOD OF CHOICE FOR AIRWAY CORRECTION.

Although surgery is not a primary modality of treatment for allergies, in certain carefully selected cases, the experienced allergist or sinus surgeon may advise surgery to help control symptoms better.

Surgery may involve any or all of the following:

•    Septoplasty - Altering the shape of the central partition of the nose to allow the patient to breathe better
•    Reduction of the turbinate size to reduce the sensitivity and increasing the space for better breathing
  Ablation of the vidian nerve (the nerve responsible for a hyper-reactive nose)
•    Re-establishment of blocked pathways for the sinuses to aerate by performing Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (allow sufficient oxygen and/or topical medications to enter). Such surgical interventions may be indicated in cases where anatomic variations may pre-dispose to frequent blocking of the sinus outflow pathways, thus creating frequent episodes of sinusitis due to chronic allergic inflammation.