What Is A Deviated Nasal Septum?
A deviated nasal septum is an infirmity in which the nasal septum is the bone, and cartilage that separates the nasal cavity of the nose in half. It is significantly off-center, or crooked, causing breathing difficulty. Most people have some kind of inequality in the size of their breathing ways. In fact, assessments indicate that 80% of people, most unknowingly, have kinds of misalignment to their nasal septum. Only the more difficult imbalances cause vital breathing problems and require treatment.
Causes of Deviated Nasal Septum
Damage to the nose can cause a deviated septum. Nasal damages may occur due to:
- Sports
- Falls
- Car accidents
- Getting kicked in the nose during an accident or fight
A deviated septum may also be congenital or being at birth. The variation may be from a difficult birth or connective tissue disease. It may also be a consequence of normal development. As the nose develops, the septum also develops and can sometimes grow towards one side. This is typically the common cause to have a deviated septum.
Symptoms of Deviated Nasal Septum
What are the symptoms of Deviated Nasal Septum? Most septal deformities appear in no symptoms, and you may not yet know you have a deviated septum. Some septal damages, however, may cause the following warnings and symptoms:
Obstruction of one or both nostrils
This blockage can make it hard to breathe through the nostril or nostrils. You may mark this more when you have a cold or allergies that can produce your nasal passages to swell and narrow.
Nosebleeds
The surface of your nasal septum may become dry, raising your risk of nosebleeds.
Facial pain
There is some discussion about the potential nasal cause of facial pain. A probable cause of one-sided facial pain could be a seriously deviated septum in which surfaces within the nose touch and cause pressure.
Nose breathing during sleep
A deviated septum or swelling of the intranasal tissues can be one of the many causes of noisy breathing during sleep.
Awareness of the nasal cycle
It is common for the nose to alternate being obstructed on one side, then switch to being obstructed on the other. This is named the nasal cycle. The nasal cycle is simple, but being aware of the nasal cycle is not normal and can indicate nasal obstruction.
Preferences for sleeping on a particular side
Some people may favor sleeping on a particular side in order to optimize existing through the nose at night if one nasal section is narrowed.
Treatment of Deviated Nasal Septum
Managing symptoms
Initial treatment of a deviated septum may be directed at relieving your symptoms. Your doctor may recommend:
Decongestants
Decongestants are medications that reduce inflammation of the nasal tissue, which aids to keep the airways on both sides of your nose open. Decongestants are easily available as a pill or as a nasal spray. But the nasal sprays with precautions. Frequent and regular use can create dependency and cause symptoms to be worse after you do not use them. Oral decongestants have a stimulant effect which may cause you to be jittery as well as make your blood pressure and heart rate to rise.
Antihistamines
Antihistamines are medications that help prevent allergy symptoms that involve a stuffy nose or also runny nose. They can also somehow help nonallergic conditions likewise those occurring with a cold. Some antihistamines cause drowsiness and can affect your capability to do tasks that require physical coordination, such as driving.
Nasal steroid sprays
Recommended nasal corticosteroid sprays can decrease the severity of swelling in your nasal passage which can help along with drainage. It normally takes from one to three weeks for steroid sprays to reach their maximal effect, so it is necessary to follow your doctor’s advice in applying them.
Medications is the only things that can treat the swollen mucous membrane and won’t correct a deviated septum.
Surgical Repair
If you still have symptoms despite having regular medical therapy, you may require surgery to correct your deviated septum which is called septoplasty.
Septoplasty is the way to repair a deviated septum. During septoplasty, your nasal septum is straightened and repositioned for the normal in the center of your nose. This may need your surgeon to cut and reduce parts of your septum before reinserting them in the proper position.
The level of improvement you can expect with surgery depends on the severity of your deviation of the nose. Symptoms due to the deviated septum particularly nasal obstruction could fully go away. However, any other nasal or sinus condition you have that affects the tissues of the nose such as allergies which can not be treated with only surgery.
