Breathe Easy

It’s frustrating and frightening to experience difficulty breathing from one or both of your nostrils. You may resort to breathing through your mouth and using over-the-counter remedies to find temporary relief. Simple, everyday activities such as eating, speaking and sleeping can be difficult.

• Sometimes, the cause of a chronic stuffy nose is enlarged turbinates…the small, bony structures located in the nasal airway which are covered with mucous membranes.
• Sometimes the cause of nasal stuffiness is a deviated nasal septum – the displacement of the bone and cartilage that divides your two nostrils.

Having some deviation of the septum is common. But when a deviated septum is severe, it can block one side of your nose and reduce the airflow to one or both of your nostrils. The exposure of a deviated septum to the drying effects of the passage of air through your nose may also contribute to crusting or nose bleeds.

If you are experiencing breathing symptoms that are affecting your quality of life, it may be time to consider surgery to correct a deviated septum – one of the most common reasons our patients have non-cosmetic nasal surgery.

• Septoplasty is the technical name for the surgical procedure which corrects a deviated nasal septum.
• During septoplasty, your septum is straightened and repositioned to the center of your nose.
• Septoplasty straightens your septum by trimming, repositioning and replacing cartilage, bone or both.
• A septoplasty is usually performed with no visible incisions and can take two to four hours, depending on the patient and severity of the deviation.
• A septoplasty may also be performed together with a rhinoplasty (“nose job”) to improve not only the function of your nose, but its appearance as well.

When planning your septoplasty, your surgeon will consider your symptoms, the physical structure and features of your nose and what a septoplasty can achieve for you.

If you are experiencing problems with nasal breathing and would like to learn more about septoplasty, call to schedule a consultation, today: (508) 334-5990.