Find out what septoplasty is, the reasons when to do it, the consequences, as well as contraindications and recommendations. So initially it was physiologically laid down that all living things in the world should breathe. A person has the ability to breathe at once through the nose and mouth. Nasal breathing is more acceptable and physiologically beneficial for any organism.
It provides us with many possibilities:
- provides air ingress into the nasopharynx and larynx;
- protects against external infections (mucus, which is in the nasal cavity, detains pathogens, removing them from the nasal passages);
- warms the air flow that we inhale through the nasal cavity;
- protects the respiratory tract from mechanical irritants: the hairs in the nose trap dust.
Violation of nasal breathing leads to the development of various pathologies, hearing impairment, asymmetry of the facial muscles, changes in the nasal septum. In the modern world, about 80% of people have problems breathing through the nose. It appears precisely through problems with a deviated nasal septum.
Causes of asymmetry and deformation of the nasal septum
- during childbirth, dislocation of the septum may occur in the baby or even during the development of the fetus in the womb;
- displacement of the septum in any direction or ridges and spines can form on it, with physiological curvature;
- there may be a traumatic deformity that occurs with fractures of the bones of the nose or severe bruises, which leads to displacement of the cartilaginous tissues;
- compensatory curvature - a simultaneous violation of several formations in the nasal region;
- heredity;
- during the period when the intensive growth of the adolescent begins, the mismatch in the growth of cartilage and bone tissue.
Consequences of asymmetry of the nasal septum
Violation in the placement of the nasal septum can lead to more serious problems, which are expressed:
- Heavy breathing.
- Persistent and prolonged rhinitis, sinusitis.
- Bleeding from the nasal cavity.
- Sinusitis.
- Rhinitis.
- Disposition to various colds.
- Constant or recurrent headaches.
In some of the above cases, rhinoplasty can help us - a surgical correction of congenital or already acquired defects and functional disorders of the nasal cavity. But rhinoplasty is aimed at aesthetic correction of problems, not physiological.
Well, it's a completely different matter when the functioning and health of a person depends on the operation. In such cases, one cannot do without medical intervention - septoplasty. Septoplasty is an operative surgical intervention that is aimed at correcting, aligning, or correcting the already deformed shape of the nasal septum, while preserving its bone and cartilaginous basis.
If there is only a curvature of the cartilage tissue, it is good to do the operation under local anesthesia. If nasal septum septoplasty is one of the stages of surgical intervention, general anesthesia is preferred.
Contraindications and recommendations for septoplasty
Reasons why septoplasty is not recommended:
- Poor blood clotting.
- Diabetes.
- Severe pathologies of internal organs.
- Oncological, infectious diseases, including VIL.
- The presence of various diseases during an exacerbation.
- Children under 18 years old, after all, approximately at the age of 13–18 years old, intensive growth and formation of cartilaginous and bone tissue of the face, including the nasal septum, falls.
An exception may be those cases when a person cannot breathe with his nose at all, and there is a deterioration of other vital organs, for example, hearing, due to this. Nowadays, the problems of curvature of the nasal septum are corrected in two ways: endoscopic and laser septoplasty.
Laser septoplasty proves to be one of the most popular methods of nasal septum correction. The effect of the laser makes it possible to do everything not only neatly, but also leads to a minimal risk of infection during the operation. The basis of this technique was the evaporation of deformed areas of tissue, or heating it to a state of soft plasticine. It is laser correction that can be carried out only in cases where only cartilage is distorted, but with all this, they were not broken. After all, if there was a fracture, or even a curvature of the bony part of the nose, then the laser can no longer help.
This operation is almost bloodless, for its performance the surgeon with the help of a laser can easily control the depth of laser penetration into the cartilage tissue. In the course of an operation, this apparatus, cutting through the tissues, cauterizes them almost simultaneously, thereby minimizing the opening of bleeding. Those areas of cartilaginous tissue that need to be removed warm up to a certain temperature and you can either remove or "mold" a correct and even partition from them. When the operation has come to an end, the nasal septum is fixed in the required position using gauze tampons and a plaster cast.
Endoscopic septoplasty is a minimal damage to cartilage and tissues, allows you to preserve the aesthetic effect and makes the rehabilitation period as short and easy as possible. The operation is performed using an endoscope, which allows the surgeon to display all changes in the nasal cavity on the screen and perform a high-quality operation. When performing such a septoplasty, the integrity of the nasal septum is fully preserved. Only those areas and fragments of tissue are removed that interfere with the correct position, shape and function of the nose. The essence of such a surgical intervention is that soft tissues and perichondrium are exfoliated, cartilage is separated from the bone base, and curvature is removed.
In some cases, in order to improve the patient's airways, part of the bone tissue is generally removed, and the cartilage itself takes the correct shape and does not need to be removed. After the septum has been properly shaped, the doctor fixes the result with the help of splints - special plates that prevent the septum from displacing, through which you can breathe, they will be removed after one or two days.
After removing tampons, or splints, the patient is prohibited from picking his nose, blowing his nose or sneezing. By the end of the first week, the wounds begin to heal. After 3-4 weeks, breathing is completely normalized.
Learn more about septoplasty in this video:
