What is a septal perforation?
The nose is divided by the septum, a wall made of cartilage and bone that separates the right side of the nose from the left. A perforation is a hole or opening. Septal perforation is a hole in the septum. Trauma (whether from an accident or repeated nose picking) and nasal surgery are the most common causes of septal perforations but other causes include cocaine drug abuse. Location and size of a septal perforation makes a big difference. If a septal perforation is small and posterior (close to the face), oftentimes it causes no problems and a patient may even be unaware they have a septal perforation. If a septal perforation is anterior (towards the tip of the nose), air passing through the opening can make a distracting whistling sound. Because airflow is disturbed by the communication between the two sides of the nose, patients complain of nasal airway obstruction. Septal perforations can result in chronic crusting which compounds airway obstruction and creates a maintenance proble
