Deviated Nasal Septum

The nasal septum is the cartilage and bone in your nose. The septum divides the nasal cavity into the right and left sides. When the septum is off-center or leans to one side of the nasal cavity, it has “deviated.”

A deviated septum occurs when the septum, the cartilage and bone that separates the nasal cavity, is off-center. Some people are born with a deviated septum. For others, a nose injury causes it. A badly deviated septum may cause breathing problems, congestion, and headaches.