Treatment

Managing symptoms

Initial treatment of a deviated septum may be directed at managing your symptoms. Your doctor may prescribe:

• Decongestants. Decongestants are medications that reduce nasal tissue swelling, helping to keep the airways on both sides of your nose open. Decongestants are available as a pill or as a nasal spray. But use nasal sprays with caution. Frequent and continued use can create dependency and cause symptoms to be worse after you stop using them.

  Oral decongestants have a stimulant effect and may cause you to be jittery as well as make your blood pressure and heart rate go up.

• Antihistamines. Antihistamines are medications that help prevent allergy symptoms, including a stuffy or runny nose. They can also sometimes help nonallergic conditions such as those occurring with a cold. Some antihistamines cause drowsiness and can affect your ability to perform tasks that require physical coordination, such as driving.
• Nasal steroid sprays. Prescription nasal corticosteroid sprays can reduce swelling in your nasal passage and help with drainage. It usually takes from 1 to 3 weeks for steroid sprays to reach their maximal effect, so it is important to follow your doctor's directions in using them.

Medications only treat the swollen mucous membranes and won't correct a deviated septum.

Surgical repair

If you still experience symptoms despite medical therapy, you may consider surgery to correct your deviated septum (septoplasty).

During a typical septoplasty, the nasal septum is straightened and repositioned in the center of the nose. This may require the surgeon to cut and remove parts of the septum before reinserting them in the proper position.

The level of improvement you can expect with surgery depends on the severity of your deviation. Symptoms due to the deviated septum — particularly nasal obstruction — could completely go away. However, any other nasal or sinus conditions you have that affect the tissues lining your nose — such as allergies — can't be cured with only surgery.

Reshaping your nose

In some cases, surgery to reshape the nose (rhinoplasty) is performed at the same time as septoplasty. Rhinoplasty involves modifying the bone and cartilage of your nose to change its shape or size or both.