Will septoplasty alone straighten my nose at all? (Photo)

 Septoplasty is a procedure aiming to straighten the midline partition of the nose for mostly breathing purposes. It has a minimal effects on the bony vault (top third) of the nose and in some cases, considering its attachments to the cartilaginous vault of the nose it can have a noticeably positive effect on straightening the lower two third of the nose. As such, in order to fully address the external deformities of the nose a septorhinoplasty procedure is essentially needed.

Thank you for the question and photos.  While fixing a deviated septum may improve breathing, I feel your deviation involves the nasal bones and upper lateral cartilages.  I would do both the septoplasty and rhinoplasty for best chance at correction.

Deviation of the nose usually is multifactorial including the nasal bones deviation, nasal septal cartilage deviation and deviation of other cartilages.  Fixing the nasal septum alone can help the deviation in only a small number of cases.RegardsDr. J

  No, a septoplasty will not straighten the external appearance of the nose.  A septoplasty is performed for medical necessity  when there is twisted cartilage and bone  in the back of the nose blocking airflow.  A rhinoplasty was performed to straighten the crooked nose.  This involves osteotomies placed in the nasal bones and of cartilaginous spreader graft placed on the concave side in the midportion of the nose to straighten the upper lateral cartilages as well.  A balloon procedure is performed to remove sinus polyps which is completely different than a septoplasty and a rhinoplasty procedure.  Chronic nasal polyps  cause chronic sinusitis, for which a balloon procedure or functional endoscopic sinus surgery is done to help with sinus related issues.  The sinus related issues and a deviated nasal septum with airflow obstruction are usually performed for medical necessity and billed to the patient's medical insurance.  A rhinoplasty is considered cosmetic and must be paid for by the patient themselves.  Both functional and cosmetic surgery on the nose can be performed together, but be prepared to pay for the cosmetic component yourself.  Rhinoplasty is a very difficult endeavor, so choose your surgeon very wisely based on extensive experience straightening crooked noses.  For more information about the differences between the 2 procedures and many before and after examples of straightening the crooked nose, please see the link and the video below