Nasal obstruction – causes, diagnosis, and treatment

Physiological breathing through the nose causes cleansing, warming, and moistening the air to the lungs. Clean nose protects the upper and lower respiratory tract against contaminants and pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Blocked nose prompts to form many pathological detrimental phenomena, including not only the respiratory system, but also the central nervous system, hypoxia, fatigue, changes in the structure of the chest and facial, speech and phonatory defects, as well as malocclusion. Inflammations of the mucosa of the nose and paranasal sinuses, polyps, abnormal anatomical morphology of the nasal cavities, malignant and benign tumors, congenital malformations, trauma, foreign body, adenoid hypertrophy can cause both unilateral or bilateral nasal obstruction. Modern diagnostics includes various methods of examination, such as endoscopy, imaging, and functional tests. In the treatment of nasal obstruction, in order to quickly open the nasal cavities and create conditions for further treatment, the application of sympathomimetic drugs in the form of nasal drops is recommended.