What is septal surgery?
The septum is a thin piece of cartilage and bone inside the nose between the right and left sides. It is about 7 cms long in adults. In some people this septum is bent into one or both sides of the nose, blocking it. Sometimes this is because of an injury to the nose, but sometimes it just grows that way. We can operate to straighten the septum.
Why have septal surgery?
If you have a blocked nose because of the bend in the septum, an operation will help. Sometimes we need to straighten out a bent septum to give us room to do other things, such as sinus surgery. The operation is not meant to change the way your nose looks. In some cases a bent septum may occur with a twist in the outside shape of the nose. In these cases septal surgery may be combined with nose re-shaping surgery (septorhinoplasty) to straighten the nose.