How To Detect If You Have A Deviated Nasal Septum

Only a handful, lucky people have aquiline, straight noses. Even though your nose looks straight and good from the outside, you might still have a slightly deviated nasal septum. The nasal septum is the wall that divides your nose into two airway chambers or nostrils. Ideally, it should be located smack in the middle, giving you identical nostrils. Measuring your nose won’t help you determining if indeed your septum is off-centred. After all, the cartilage is covered with sufficient layer of skin. If your nose is not bothering you, then you should do well in leaving it the way it is. A deviated nasal septum could present several health hazards. Again, you don’t need to measure your nose or nostrils, there are telltale deviated septum symptoms that will indicate if indeed your nose is crooked. Below are some signs of a deviated nasal septum. 1. Nasal congestions - Sinusitis, excessive sneezing and rhinitis and other nasal infections are just some of things to consider in detecting if your septum is straight. The infections are caused by the trapped mucus and other substances inside the nasal cavity. These seemingly normal cold-like symptoms could mean trouble to your nose. 2. Nose Bleeds - Unexplained nose bleeds could really be scary. It could mean a severely deviated nasal septum with infection. If the central nose bone heavily favours one side, it’s bound to stretch some muscles and squash the others. 3. Pain and Headaches - Chronic headaches originating from the nose is another deviated septum symptom. This prolonged condition will cause headaches as it diverts from the normal physiological structure and functions of the body. 4. Difficulty in Breathing - Deviated septum and sleep apnea has long been associated. A severely deviated septum will create bigger and smaller nasal airways. The deviation would also create blockages making breathing difficult. This is doubly hard when the person is sleeping. This would result to breath gaps and pauses, snoring and noisy breathing and gasps and choking during sleep. If you have one or more of the above symptoms, you are more likely to have a deviated nasal septum. You would need to see a doctor to help you straighten your nasal cartilage. Failure to address the problem might lead to more serious problems that could prove fatal. Sinusitis and rhinitis might ruin your daily life as it will force you to stay away or limit the activities that you would otherwise enjoy. This could mean no carefree outdoor nature picnics and hikes. Chronic headaches could wreck havoc on your productivity at work and at school. This could easily lead to moodiness, irritability and depression. There are several harmful effects from a deviated septum and sleep apnea. Sleep apnea brings the same effects to not sleeping at all. The most treacherous of all is the EDS or the difficulty of staying awake during the day. Excessive daytime sleepiness can cause a person to drop off to sleep anytime, anywhere. People with sleep apnea and who are driving are in a very dangerous position. Again, check the symptoms, if you have them immediately seek a doctor to mend your deviated nasal septum, otherwise, let your nose be.