Nasal septum facts for kids
The nasal septum is like a dividing wall inside your nose. It separates the left and right sides of your nose, creating the two nostrils you breathe through. This important part of your nose helps guide the air you breathe into your lungs.
What Is the Nasal Septum Made Of?
The nasal septum isn't just one piece! It's made of a mix of bone and cartilage. Cartilage is a strong, flexible material, like what's in your ear or the tip of your nose. Bones are harder and give your body structure.
The main parts of the nasal septum are:
- The ethmoid bone: This is a bone located at the top of your nose, between your eyes.
- The vomer bone: This bone is found at the bottom and back of the septum.
- The quadrangular cartilage: This is a flexible, four-sided piece of cartilage that makes up the front part of your septum. It's what you can feel if you touch the tip of your nose.
The very front, fleshy part of the nasal septum, which you can see between your nostrils, is sometimes called the columella.
Common Nasal Septum Problems
Sometimes, the nasal septum isn't perfectly straight. This can happen if it grows a little crooked or if you have an injury to your nose.
- Deviated Septum: If the septum is off-center, it's called a deviated septum. This can make one side of your nose smaller than the other, which might make it harder to breathe through that nostril.
- Septum Perforations: A perforation is a hole that can develop in the septum. This can sometimes happen due to an injury or, in rare cases, from too much nose-picking.
If a deviated septum causes breathing problems, doctors can perform an operation to fix it. This surgery is called a septoplasty. During a septoplasty, a surgeon carefully reshapes or repositions the septum to make breathing easier.
Images for kids
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This picture shows the Vomer bone, which is part of the nasal septum.
See also
In Spanish: Septo nasal para niños
