For years, doctors said she just had allergies—until one finally discovered the real problem in her brain
It might be hard for doctors to figure out the cause behind a certain symptom at times. A woman was going through the same predicament after the doctors couldn't find the reason behind her constantly runny nose. Many doctors had also dismissed it as an allergy or some other common concern. However, the symptom that she had faced for around two years was making the woman, Kendra Jackson, really uncomfortable. Eventually, the doctors were able to find out that there was something wrong with her brain, per KETV.
The woman was always coughing, sneezing, or blowing her nose and hadn't found a moment of comfort in a long time. The doctors had given her many reasons, but none of those were convincing enough for the discomfort she felt. "Everywhere I went, I always had a box of Puffs, always stuffed in my pocket," Kendra shared. Her issues had started around 2015, two years after she experienced a car accident in 2013. Her face had hit the dashboard pretty hard during the accident. However, she didn't think that her runny nose could be related to the accident. "It was like a waterfall, continuously and then it would run to the back of my throat."
Eventually, the doctors at Nebraska Medicine found out that Kendra was suffering from a brain fluid leak during those two years. She was losing half a pint of fluid through her nose every single day, according to the doctors. The fluid leak had also caused chronic headaches and constant sleeplessness. "I couldn't sleep, I was like a zombie." Such a leak might have caused a serious infection if it had been left untreated. According to the Cleveland Clinic, a CSF leak (cerebrospinal fluid leak) can cause a serious infection like meningitis, which can be life-threatening. As the CSF forms a protective layer around the brain, its drainage could also make a person more prone to serious brain injuries or head trauma.
Thankfully, the doctors were able to find it and treat it at the right time. They also didn't have to perform a surgery and could fix the issue with a less invasive method back in 2018. "We go through the nostrils, through the nose. We use angled cameras, angled instruments to get us up to where we need to go," Nebraska Medicine Rhinologist, Dr. Christie Barnes, said, detailing the method. She explained that she would use Kendra's fatty tissue to fix the source of the leak, which was a really small puncture between her skull and nostrils.
The surgery was successful and the doctors were able to cover up the source of the leak for the woman. Kendra revealed that she was feeling much better after her surgery and her nose wasn't that runny anymore either. The procedure had also brought about a huge change in her day-to-day life. "I don't have to carry around the tissue anymore and I am getting some sleep," Kendra remarked. She was supposed to have a few follow-up appointments after the surgery to check the pressure in her head and was expected to heal well after the procedure.