Surgical Breathe Right Strips

Surgical Alternatives to Breathe Right Strips

Many people find that adhesive nasal strips (such as Breathe Right strips) relieve nasal obstruction — particularly at night or during exercise. These strips work by mechanically opening the upper lateral cartilages (internal nasal valve) and the lower lateral cartilages and skin (external nasal valve), widening the nasal airway.

If relief with nasal strips is marked, this is useful diagnostic information — it suggests that nasal valve collapse (dynamic narrowing of the airway on inspiration) is a significant contributor to nasal obstruction. This can be surgically addressed on a permanent basis.

Surgical Options

Several surgical procedures can replicate the effect of a breathe right strip permanently. The appropriate procedure depends on a careful assessment of whether the narrowing is dynamic (occurring only with inspiration) or static, and whether the problem involves the internal nasal valve, the external nasal valve, or both.

Assessment of the nose — including the Cottle test and careful inspection of the internal and external nasal valves — will determine which intervention is most appropriate in each individual case.

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