Question: Hi Dr. Kumar! You were so kind and reassuring in answering a recent question of mine concerning some left sided-pain I have been experiencing in my upper teeth, ear and jaw region, and I thought I'd consult you again with another somewhat related question. I did have a CT scan of my maxillofacial structures done, and am attaching a copy of the same. Today I just followed up with my ENT doctor, and she performed a full exam. She indicated that the mucous cyst and mucousal inflammation in the sphenoid and ethmoid sinuses on the left side could account for the left-sided pain which I am experiencing; I had actually visited my dentist two days ago and he also did a full exam and feels that my masseter and jaw muscles are extremely tight and constricted, and that could be causing the pain. My question, however, pertains to a lesion in my left nasal vestibule, which showed up on the scan and which my ENT looked at today. From what she could see, she indicated something about "inverted" and wants me to have it removed by an ENT surgeon. Apparently it is 11 by 5 mm. I have no pain in that area, no nosebleeds or congestion, etc. As a matter of fact, when I last visited the ENT three months ago, she did not even see it. Unfortunately, I cannot even get into the ENT surgeon for two and a half months. In the meantime, I saw there is something called an inverted papilloma and think that may be what she was referring to, and I saw that they can progress to squamous cell cancer and tend to reoccur even after removal. Obviously, we don't even know for sure what it is at this point, but I am super worried after googling some of these nasal cancers. Based upon my history, the CT scan report, and my lack of symptoms in my nasal area, is there any reassurance or information which you can give me? Thank you so very much!

Hi Dr. XXXXXXX ..thank you so very much for your kind and reassuring response! I actually have an appointment with an ENT surgeon in two weeks, as my regular ENT would like to have the lesion in my nose removed. I’m sending you a picture, although I’m sure it doesn’t show the area in question. My ENT had just mentioned inverted something or other and that she saw capillaries in it and would like it removed as it has a propensity to turn dangerous. I actually have another crazy question, as my googling of inverted papilloma said it can be caused by the HPV virus. I’ve had plantar warts for years now, and this past January my podiatrist tried a new treatment of autoimplantation therapy, where she cut a piece of the wart and transplanted it into the inner side of my foot, hoping to stimulate an immune reaction to kill the warts. Well, unfortunately it did not work, but now my anxious mind has me wondering whether it could have somehow caused this papilloma in my nose...can you (hopefully) tell me that isn’t possible? Thank you again for everything!!