Broken septum?

Went to ENT today for an unrelated concern to sleep apnea, and informed him, I have sleep apnea. Of course, he wants to check me out, sticks this uncomfortable scope up my nose, and then shows me it is bent at the tip, instead of straight. He said that my septum is broken (his terminology) inside my nose. He prescribed some sort of steroid spray, then said check in a month if it helps my breathing, otherwise, I might want to get it fixed. (Surgery ) I don't know if it is a great concern to get it fixed, you'd never know looking at me, my nose is straight, not sure how it happened. Only time I really remember getting hit in the nose was in middle school, pickup football, someone's knee to my nose, that hurt!

He also starts talking about other procedures about cutting out tonsils, and parts of the neck, etc, in conjunction with a dental device to lower my AHI, and maybe not use a CPAP. From reading this board, it doesn't seem like that has ever worked for anyone, and in some cases, made their apnea worsen.

Just curious, has anyone had a broken septum and gotten it straightened? Did it help with breathing? For Apnea pressure, or just for daily quality of life? He said he noticed me mouth breathing, which I guess I do sometimes, but only use a nasal mask at night. My AHI is <1.

are you having trouble breathing in the daytime? do you get constant sinus infections? any other daytime symptoms from the septum issues?

with an AHI of less than 1, I guess my take would be "if it aint broke, why fix it?"

sound like your dentist has a new car payment to make. sorry, but my suspicions are raised.

I'm glad you've researched well enough to be wary of the surgical recommendations.

I don't particularly hold it against ENTs: it's a surgical specialty, and when the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. And they don't ever really deal with the unsuccessful follow-ups, since people move on to other therapy, creating a further confirmation bias for ENTs who aren't on top of all the literature. Think of the ENT's recommendations as "here are the things that I'm able to do" and nothing more.

I was lucky with the ENT I saw, who said my airway looked great and she didn't see any benefit from surgery. (Still no explanation for my hypopnea, though.)

I'm sorry to take issue with the previous. Yes, I had mine fixed about 9 years ago. Fact is, not only for the sake of the sleep apnea, but also, cold and flu season are just around the corner. I noticed in my case, that it was easier to ward off the sneezes and in conditions where the bug is located in the chest, it is much easier to breathe through the nose when the airways in the sinus are working properly. My feeling is, if you have doubts, why not get it fixed?

It is a relatively easy operation. It takes about 45 minutes in the doctor's office and he will administer a medicine to numb your nose and a sedative that will not place you entirely out of consciousness. The nose will be wrapped up for about a week, and you will not be able to breathe out of it. In my case, I chose the week that I did not have many obligations, because I did not especially want to mingle with curious onlookers in public with all the bandages in that spot. You cannot mess with the bandages in any way, and the doctor warned me that most importantly I could NOT sneeze, because it could potentially cause a bleed so bad that if I did not get to the emergency room on time, it could be fatal. He didn't have to tell me but once! Other than than scary thought, I was glad I had it done and over with. You will see a difference in the breathing.

I think if it were me I would be looking for a second opinion.... this guy kinda sounds "cut" happy

very informative post ,thanks for sharing

Thanks for the responses, appreciate all points of view. Gonna try the steroid spray for a while, wait til winter if I decided to get my septum straightened.