The nasal septum – the wall between your nostrils – is a piece of cartilage that gives your nose its shape. But if it is bent or irregularly shaped, it can cause pain, difficulty breathing through the nose, sleep apnea, and chronic sinusitis, among other symptoms.

Some of the reasons our patients elect to have a septoplasty include:

• To relieve nasal airway obstruction and improve breathing
• To relieve uncontrollable nosebleeds, or to remove a blood clot
• In conjunction with a rhinoplasty (nose job) procedure, which itself may reduce the airway space in the nose

During a septoplasty procedure, your ENT surgeon will make an incision on one side of the nasal septum, lift the membrane away from the bone, and remove the obstructing bone and cartilage. A splint may be used to help support the nose during surgery.