A Deviated Nasal Septum Makes My OSA Worse

I turn 35 this September and I just found out that I have a deviated nasal septum. This explains so much to me. I always hated how it doesn't feel like I'm getting enough air through my nose. Especially, these last 3 years. While reading up on what a deviated nasal septum is and what that means for me, I learned that it can make obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) worse.

Deviated nasal septum

Normally a deviated nasal septum is discovered in infancy and dealt with at that time. I don't know if the doctors were aware or if it was that my mom decided to opt out of corrective surgery. I personally think that, when I was 5 and had my adenoids removed, it definitely should have been noticed at that point.

Maybe the surgery wasn't done because they didn't think it was much of an obstruction at the time. I talked to my dad about it, but he doesn't remember that at all. Maybe, if I can get a hold of my medical records from birth to age 7, it will shed light on the situation. I lived in another province, so I don't currently have access to that information.

ENT helped

Thankfully, I am seeing an Ear, Nose, and Throat (E.N.T) for an unrelated issue so I can talk to him about my nose and having surgery to fix my nose. The thought of having surgery on my nose brings about fear and unease.

I remember when I got my nose pierced, it hurt really bad and I cried. Now, my fibromyalgia likes to hijack the pain I am experiencing and amplify it. Pain killers and opioids don’t really work for me so I've no idea how this is going to go. I am hoping that he agrees it is something that needs to be fixed.

Hopeful surgery helps OSA

I don't know how much of an improvement it will have overall on my obstructive sleep apnea, but to me, any little bit helps. Having the ability to fully breathe through my nose will be wonderful. I am sure it is 1 of those things that many take for granted.

I am still waiting on having that second sleep study done, hopefully, it will be either this month or next. I will talk to them about my deviated nasal septum and see what they have to say.

Infections are common

I also read that it is common to get lots of infections in the nose. This is another thing that makes sense because I ended up battling a staph infection in my nose for 3 years. It took a lot of antibiotics and several different steroids to finally kill off the infection.

During that time, it was extremely difficult to breathe through my nose. There were even many times that it was impossible to breathe through my nose.

Deviated nasal septum made OSA worse

While I am not exactly sure how long I've had obstructive sleep apnea, having a staph infection causing breathing issues on top of my deviated nasal septum, I imagine my sleep was really rough.

Do you also suffer with a deviated nasal septum? Please comment below: