A Deviated Septum
A Deviated Septum occurs when your septum, the cartilage and bone that separates the two side of your nasal airway, is crooked over to one or both sides. This can cause blockages of the airway that can contribute to difficulty breathing through your nose, chronic sinus problems, recurrent nosebleeds, obstructive sleep apnea, snoring, and many other associated problems. An ENT doctor can evaluate your septum with a nasal endoscope, a tiny camera place in the nose, and/or with a CT scan to evaluate your septum, nasal cavity, and sinuses.
Most people have some degree of a deviated septum, but if yours is causing you symptoms and problems and this fails to improve with medical management, surgery may be recommended to straighten out your septum. Depending on the degree of septal deviation, sometimes this can be accomplished under local anesthesia, and sometimes it may require outpatient surgery to correct the obstruction.