Your First Appointment

Always bring your completed:

• Updated Health Insurance Information
• LCR Health Questionnaire
• Always feel free to bring a family member or close friend

Please obtain prior to your appointment:

• Sinus imaging studies (CT or MRI) – ACTUAL FILMS/CDs
• Operative Reports from prior nasal or sinus surgery
• Sinus culture results
• Surgical pathology reports
• Allergy test results
• Breathing test results

LCR Questionnaires

So that we can give you the best care, we work hard to keep our electronic medical records accurate. We involve you in this process through a series of questionnaires that we will ask you to fill out at each visit. We recognize that filling out questionnaires is tedious. However, information from these questionnaires is part of the critical framework in which we offer you the highest level of care. Because these questionnaires are used to update your medical record, we ask that you fill them out accurately and to the best of your ability and sign them to attest to their accuracy. If you have difficulty filling out the questionnaire our staff will assist you.

Office Visits for Nasal & Sinus Complaints

At each office visit, your nose will be sprayed with certain medications. One is a topical decongestant similar to over-the-counter brands like Afrin® or Neo-Synephrine®. The other is a topical anesthetic spray, which will numb the lining of your nose and make it less sensitive when we examine you with the nasal endoscope. You should inform the nurse at each visit if you are allergic to either of these medications or should you be taking an MAOI (mono-amine oxidase inhibitor) for depression.

The anesthetic spray frequently causes numbness of the front teeth and back of the throat, however, these effects wear off in less than an hour. Occasionally, it may be necessary to provide additional anesthesia to specific areas of the nasal cavity. Additional anesthetics may be detectable in your urine for a few days after it is used in your nose.

Once these sprays have taken sufficient effect, usually after six to ten minutes, an endoscope will be used to exam your nose and sinuses. Either a flexible or rigid endoscope is used. Although nasal endoscopy may be an uncomfortable experience, it is not meant to be painful. The endoscopic exam yields useful information regarding the nature and extent of disease present in the nasal cavity and the drainage paths of the paranasal sinuses. The CT Scans give complimentary information but does not replace the value of nasal endoscopy.