Your Nose: Form and Function

    LOS ANGELES, CA, July 01, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Your nose does more than just sit in the middle of your face and present a good metaphor for everything obvious. Your nose is essential to breathing, smelling, and protecting your body from dehydration and infection.

Nasal Breathing

Nasal breathing should be the normal method. Mouth breathing is reserved for when you're running for your life or trying to make a creepy phone call. Nasal breathing performs a number of important functions:

- Conditioning the air: Your nose warms incoming air and adds humidity to protect your throat and lungs
- Filtering the air: nasal hair and mucus strain out foreign particles before they reach the throat and lungs
- Smelling: smell is an important sense that tells you about the quality of the air you are breathing
- To accomplish these functions, your nose controls the flow of air through the nostrils so that it is exposed to a maximum amount of nasal surface area. To create this effect, the nostrils are divided into a number of narrow channels. Unfortunately, sometimes these channels can be too narrow, leading to interference with nasal breathing.

Structures that Interfere with Breathing

Virtually any part of your nasal structure can be implicated in breathing problems. However, the most common culprits for obstructed breathing are:

Septum: the wall that divides the nostrils from each other. A deviated septum can constrict one or both nostrils.
Turbinates: the structures that divide each nostril into several channels. These contain mucus membranes and olfactory cells, but if enlarged they can restrict air flow
Nasal valve: the nasal valve is the narrowest part of the nostril. If it is too narrow, it can restrict the flow of oxygen.
These structural defects can be diagnosed by an ear, nose, and throat specialist. If serious, they can be corrected with surgery.

Rhinoplasty: Improving Form and Function

Rhinoplasty is used to reshape your nose to improve its appearance. However, it can be combined with surgical procedures to improve the function of your nose. Finding the right doctor to perform a combined procedure can be challenging, since many have experience with only one area or the other. Before committing to one surgeon, talk to several about their training and experience in performing this type of combined surgery.

If you are considering rhinoplasty to improve the form and function of your nose, visit the website of Los Angeles plastic surgeon Dr. Eugene Kim to learn more at www.ekimplasticsurgery.com.

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