Ask the Doctors
Ask the Doctors By Dr. Andrew Ordon Can nasal surgery help solve breathing problems? To understand how undergoing surgery of the nose can help with better breathing, it helps to know a little bit about the physiology of the nose and how air moves through it. Our nasal cavity has a wall or partition in the middle that divides it into two equal air passages, which helps air flow better and also serves to filter and warm the air as it goes in and out. You want that partition, called the septum, to be as straight as possible because that makes breathing more efficient. The septum is made up of both bone and cartilage, and either one or both of those components can be crooked, making it difficult to breathe through the nose. When we do septal surgery, typically we’re manipulating and straightening the cartilage, the bone or both. There are two other parts of the nose we also address in surgery: the turbinates, which are like little shelves on the outer wall of the nasal cavit...