The nasal septum is the narrow and flexible part located in middle of the nose and acts as a pillar. In normal conditions, this septum must be unruffled and quite in the middle of two nose vestibules but in 80% of people, the septum is a little deviated. Nasal septum deviation might not be superficially apparent but it may have consequences if ignored.
How to recognize nasal septum deviation?
If we look at the deviated nose from coarser view, it is visible that one of vestibules is fully open and the other seems a little blocked. The reason for blockage is the nasal septum deviate from the center. This problem often causes air flow disorder inside the nasal cavity which might result in nasal septum atrophy and sometimes cracking the septum and permanent runny nose.
The signs of nasal septum deviation:
- Snoring at sleep
- Palatal atrophy during sleep
- Breathing disorders
- Disturbance in olfaction system
- Nose bleeding
- Abnormal runny nose
- One sided nasal blockage
- Sinusoidal infection
The reasons of nasal septum deviation:
- Fast growth during puberty
- Impacts to nose
- Nose surgery
Treating nasal septum deviation
One of the effective methods to recover nasal deviation is by using moistening sprays. It is notable that this method is effective only in insignificantly deviated nasal septum cases. Otherwise, the surgery is final solution of treating such disorder.
How is nasal septum deviation surgery performed?
For this process, beforehand, a small cut is created in deviated part of nose and then a portion of septum is either removed or modified. The surgery duration in this case is 30 minutes and patient can go back to work after 3 days. The patient has to clean up intranasal environment using saline solutions.
Most of people think that deviated nasal correction surgeries will also adjust the nose appearance, but this surgery is related to inter-structure of the nose and only aimed to disentangle the air flow inside the nose. If patients wants to correct some nasal superficial disorders along with nasal septum deviation correcting surgeries, two distinct operations must be performed on their noses. This surgery is called “septo-rhinoplasty”.
On what age one can have a nasal septum deviation surgery?
Nasal septum deviation might be congenital or created due to an impact. In case of congenital disorder, it is better to postpone the surgery to post-puberty ages. But in adults, if the disorder is sever and causes breathing problems, the surgery is necessary.