Endoscopic Turbinoplasty

If you have trouble breathing through your nose, a simple, in-office procedure called endoscopic turbinoplasty may be able to provide significant relief. Turbinates are bony plates within the sinus cavity which normally enlarge and shrink. In some people, however, the turbinates are so enlarged that it’s hard for them to breathe through their nose.

Endoscopic turbinoplasty is a quick, painless procedure that permanently shrinks the turbinates. The short- and long-term improvements in the ability to breathe through your nose can be dramatic.

Endoscopic turbinoplasty

Nasal obstruction

Patients use a variety of terms to describe this problem – stuffy nose, sinus congestion, nasal congestion, and others. Diminished nasal airflow or nasal obstruction is a common problem and is usually caused by either a deviation of the nasal septum or enlarged turbinates.

The nasal septum is a midline partition of the nose that separates each side into an individually functioning air passage. If the septum is sufficiently crooked, it may block airflow. Contrary to popular belief, one does not have to have suffered a “broken nose” in order to have this problem. Some people are born with a deviated septum, or slowly acquire this problem over time.

The turbinates are thin eggshell strips of bone which run the length of the lower third of the nose – they function to regulate airflow like bellow-valves and to increase the surface area of the nose. They are made of spongy tissue which can intermittently or chronically become engorged and block airflow or decongest and allow air to pass through the nose. When they swell, airflow decreases; when they shrink, airflow resumes. When one rolls over in bed at night and experiences a shifting of airflow from one nostril to the other, this is the turbinate effect. Many factors can affect the amount of turbinate swelling, including anatomical factors, sinus infections, allergies, non-allergic environmental triggers or chemicals, age, hormones, and even body position.

In the absence of a severe septal deviation, most nasal airflow obstruction is caused by turbinate swelling. In this case, REGARDLESS of the cause – allergy or not – nasal airflow can be restored permanently and painlessly through office based treatments. While most otolaryngologists perform turbinate reduction in the operating room under anesthesia using cutting and tearing techniques that require nasal packing, our physicians have developed a minimally invasive endoscopic turbinate reduction technique called “Endoscopic Turbinate Reduction” that is performed under local anesthesia and is painless, involves no packing, and incurs no downtime. A patient can literally go bowling immediately following the procedure.

In many cases, nasal obstruction can be caused by both septal deviation and turbinate swelling. In most cases, however, septoplasty (surgical correction of the septum) can be avoided with this office technique.

Often the main symptom of allergy and sinus problems is nasal obstruction. Often, patients will be taking two or even three prescription medications for relief of nasal obstruction. A major benefit of Endoscopic Turbinate Reduction is the strong likelihood of getting off prescription medications, which can be expensive, inconvenient, and only marginally effective for nasal obstruction.