What does Septoplasty treat?
A crooked septum is common. But when it’s severe, a deviated septum can block one side of your nose and reduce airflow, causing difficulty breathing through one or both sides of your nose. Septoplasty straightens the nasal septum by trimming, repositioning, and replacing cartilage, bone, or both. If you experience symptoms — such as difficulty breathing through your nose — that affect your quality of life, you may consider surgery to fix a deviated septum.
What to expect with Septoplasty
Septoplasty straightens the nasal septum by trimming, repositioning, and replacing cartilage or bone. The surgeon works through incisions inside the nose. Occasionally it is necessary to make a small incision between the nostrils.
If the nasal bones are crooked and pushing the septum off to one side, it may be necessary to make cuts in the bones of the nose to reposition them. Spreader grafts are small, reinforcing strips of cartilage that can be used to help correct a deviated septum when the problem is along the bridge of the nose. Sometimes these are necessary to effectively straighten the septum.