Septum Deviation

Nasal septum is a wall that divides the nasal cavity in half.  The front side of septum consists of cartilage that is solid but flexible; its back side is bone.  Ideally septum is located in the middle, right and left nasal cavities are in equal width.  In 80% of humans septum is not exactly in the middle and most of the time this situation does not cause any complaints nor health problems.

Sometimes septum is deviated from the middle line too much and this is called septum deviation and it bothers the person.  Formation mechanisms of septum deviation are various.  Rarely, some babies born with septum deviation because of curved development of septum in the womb.  Sometimes septum bends during baby’s passage from the birth canal.  Strikes, falling, sports injuries, traffic accidents in childhood and adulthood may cause septum deviation.  Septum deviations may form when bone and cartilage sections of septum develop at different rates in the adolescence.

What are the indications of septum deviation?

The most common indication of septum deviation is the difficulty of breathing through nose.  In general, nasal obstruction is on the side where septum is inclined, however it may cause varied difficulty of breathing, sometimes on the right and sometimes on the left.  Septum deviation may cause following problems:

• Uni- or bilateral nasal obstruction
• Throat dryness in the morning
• Recurrent nose-bleeding
• Recurrent sinusitis
• Sometimes pain in the face region, headache, post-nasal drainage
• Loud breathing in sleep (especially in children)

Indications are observed only during common cold in persons with mildly deviated septum.  Mild obstruction that is not noticed normally becomes apparent as a result of swelling of nasal tissues because of respiratory tract infection, and complaints disappear after recovery from common cold.

How is hoarseness evaluated?

Specialists shall listen to your complaints and ask you whether or not you had any trauma or surgery related with nose.  Then your physician shall control inside of your nose and position of the septum.  This procedure is performed by an instrument that opens wings of your nose without causing any disturbance or if necessary by optical devices called endoscope.  Usually there is no need for further examination for the diagnosis of septum deviation.  However, if your physician thinks that your complaints are related with other reasons such as sinusitis and allergy, he/she may request tests and laboratory investigations for the diagnosis of these diseases.

How are hoarseness, laser utilization in vocal cord cancer, paralysis of vocal cords, voice prosthesis evaluated?

Medical history is very important in the evaluation of hoarseness.  Duration of symptoms, way and frequency of voice usage, exposure to smoking, and whether or not there is any neurological disease should be carefully questioned in the medical history.  Examination should be realized after medical history.  Specific larynx examination must be realized after regular ENT and head, neck examination. After indirect examination realized by larynx mirror, flexible and rigid endoscopic examination should be realized.  Especially rigid laryngoscopy should be performed under stroboscopic light.  In this way each vocal cycle can be examined in detail.  Movements of larynx during talking can be dynamically evaluated by means of flexible nasofibroscopy.  If possible, objective data on voice parameters should be obtained by acoustic analysis in addition to all of these examination methods.

• If you are smoking, please quit it.
• Avoid factors such as alcohol and caffeine that leave your body without water.
• Do not become a passive smoker.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Humidify your house.
• Avoid spices and alcohol.
• Do not use your voice for a long time and severely.
• Receive professional voice training.
• If your voice is hoarse, avoid talking and singing.