Causes

Sometimes, people are born with a deviated septum. And some people have it after injury or trauma to the nose.

Symptoms

Symptoms may include nasal congestion, with one side of the nose being more congested, along with difficulty breathing. Repeated sinus infections may also be a sign of a deviated septum. Other symptoms:

• Nosebleeds
• Headache
• Facial pain
• Loud breathing and snoring during sleep

A deviated septum may also cause sleep apnea, in which a person stops breathing during sleep.

Treatment

Deviated septum can be treated with medicines. If medicine doesn’t work, a surgical practice known as septoplasty may be required to mend a crooked septum and improve breathing.

The Procedure

During septoplasty, a surgeon, makes a small incision in the septum and then eliminates the surplus bone or cartilage necessary to even out the breathing space of the nostrils.

A rhinoplasty or nose job can be combined with septoplasty to get better appearance of the nose. This procedure is called septorhinoplasty. Septoplasty can also be combined with sinus surgery.

The surgery is generally done as an outpatient setting under local or general anesthesia. The surgery takes around one to one and a half hours, depending on the amount of work to be done. You can go home after three to four hours of surgery.

If a septoplasty is the only procedure done, there should be little or no swelling or bruising after surgery. But, if a septorhinoplasty is also done, a week or two of swelling and bruising is normal after the procedure.

There are new methods available these days that use balloon septoplasty techniques to avoid actual surgery and they are done in the office setting. These techniques work for milder cases.