I just went through a terrible scare, thanks to Dr. Google in all of his wisdom, after finding out through an ENT visit that I have a single polyp in the left side of my nasal cavity.

I don't know if this is the best place to post this, but when I had initially searched up about polyps after getting the diagnosis, I wasn't too worried about it. They're benign after all, right?...So I moved on with it for a week or so, until I decided, stupidly, to search again. I then found out that a single polyp on only one side of your nose can be - SUSPICIOUS......Ohhh wonderful, that. It was a beautiful Tuesday morning, and I was losing my mind over just reading that. I sobbed and spent the day worrying and searching for anyone who might have survived a single nasal polyp, and came up with only a single post - and it was on this very forum! Turned out the dear lady was ok, but she too was freaked out about this whole business with single polypness meaning impending doom.

I'd like to share my story here to help anyone who should come doing a search the same way I did yesterday, only to find a single story and maybe a blog post. Please be reassured by what I have to say!!!

I'm among the cursed handful who has the dreaded single nasal polyp. I had it diagnosed by an ENT nearly a month ago, and believed it would be fine for a while, until my eustachian tube dysfunction wouldn't clear up. I've been getting a slight ringing in my ear for months, on and off, usually when I wake up in the morning. By the time I'm up and about, it's typically gone, and doesn't return again until the next morning for a while. My ENT was having me come in every few days for treatments and put me on a weak antibiotic and gave me Allegra to help it if it was allergies causing it (most likely). I did the next dreaded google search only just yesterday, which led me not only to joining this forum, but also to going to another doctor for a second opinion today.

The new doctor was someone I'd seen last year for a nasty head bug, and he was just as gentle and reassuring this time as he was then. He sent me to get a CT scan done and have a look at my sinuses. Not a thing wrong with them. He then jammed all the usual crap up my nose and down my ear to see what was going on - and lo! - the sinister polyp was spotted once again! I told him about how terrified I was that it might be some kind of creeping cancerous growth, rather than a polyp (I just went through a year long cervical cancer scare and treatment cycle, and am apparently still reeling with health anxiety from it). He totally understood, and just reconfirmed for me, "Yep, it's just a polyp. It's not cancer." patted me on the head and sent me on my way. There's nothing really to be done for it. It'll either go away on its own or stay there. It's in a place where it doesn't need surgery, so I might just have to learn to live with the eustachian tube dysfunction for a while, which I"m guessing is probably either caused by the polyp being near its opening, or just plain allergy inflammation that'll go away as soon as the cold weather kicks in and the pollen blows away or gets rained on.

So yeah! If you have a single nasal polyp on one side of your nose - it's very possible that it's not cancer at all! You don't have to have a nose riddled with the things. It is possible to have only one, and have it still be just a polyp. Don't let Dr. Google scare you the way it scared me and at least 2 others who have written about it online! You'll most likely be fine! Just get a CT scan done and trust your ENT. He or she deals with people's nasal polyps all day long, and would certainly know the difference!

AND - even if it somehow looks a little strange and your ENT wants to biopsy the thing (don't be afraid of the word biopsy - it just means they'll take a tiny little sample of the skin to test it), chances are good it still won't be anything cancerous.

AND - even if it somehow turned out to be cancerous - surgery is done on the things all the time! Doc will pop the thing off and it'll be gone! It seems more likely that you'd start having some major swelling and facial disfigurement going on by the time it got to the point where it had spread anywhere, so as long as you visit your ENT while it's still confined to a little ball hanging from the back of your nose - they can get rid of it!

So please don't worry about your unilateral nasal polyp. Sometimes, and I bet the vast majority of the time, a polyp is just a polyp. Your ENT has got you covered, so kick Dr. Google to the side, and listen to what your actual doctor has to say!