The gauze packing sounds like surgery for sinusitis, not a deviated septum. My brother had that done like 20 years ago and he still talks about having trauma from the pain of having it all removed.
Apparently it is borderline torture, and medical practice and technology has advanced to where nobody should be doing that anymore.
Imo it’s probably one of the best things I’ve ever done for my body that wasn’t diet/exercise related. It was annoying and uncomfortable and being on downers always makes me a wreck, but once that fog cleared and my stents came out, I slept infinitely better, the orbital bones below my eye sockets aren’t constantly sore, I don’t take a constant stream of OTC allergy/sinus meds, and now, when I do take meds (very seldom - I think there were two days in the last year and a half that my post nasal drip needed help) they actually work.
I also had the procedure where they burn away a bit of the insides of your sinuses if they’re too swollen. I don’t remember what it’s called anymore.
Omg going into surgery my doctor told me I wouldn’t need them so it was quite a surprise when they came out!
And yeah, it was hella weird. But I had probably the best sleep ever that night.
I read somewhere on Reddit or somewhere way back when about The nasal cycle where one nostril sort of constricting (just due to blood flow and normal sinus congestion) allows for optimal air flow and moisture in our nostrils.
The poster also said that if this regular nasal cycle resulted in being unable to breathe on one side, consistently, you have a deviated septum. I don’t know if that’s 100% true, but I 100% had a deviated septum.
I looked it up. It’s called a bilateral turbinate reduction. They don’t burn anything, but they cut and scrape and shave down the turbinates in the nasal cavity.