Septum deviation
The nasal septum is the partition that separates the left and right sides of your nose. It is rarely completely straight, minor abnormalities are very common and usually don’t cause any problems.
In some cases the deviation of the nasal septum is significant and can have a negative effect on breathing. Then septoplasty to correct the deviation might be the solution.
Symptoms & treatment
Congested nasal breathing, chronic nosebleeds and chronic sinus infections might be symptoms of a septal deviation that needs to be treated. Nasal steroids spray is one way to treat these problems. The spray is used to reduce inflammation and decongest the nose to facilitate breathing. If medication does not help, surgery is often required. This surgery may involve straightening the septum, i.e. septoplasty. If the external appearance of the nose also needs to be fixed along with the septum to get a good airway the procedure is called a septorhinoplasty.
During surgery nasal splints are placed in the nose to hold the newly corrected septum in place. These splints stay on for about a week after surgery and have a hole down the middle so that you can breathe through your nose after surgery.
Atos Medical provides nasal splints and other aids in septoplasty, rhinoplasty and septorhinoplasty.