There are exciting new, minimally invasive procedures to help you breathe better. Breathing well through your nose contributes greatly to your quality of life. If you have sleep apnea, treating nasal obstructions can help tolerance of CPAP and oral appliance treatment. There are several places where the nose can be blocked and prevent airflow. Frequently the center strut or septum of your nose can block air flow if it is crooked. This can be treated with a surgery to correct the crooked parts. There are tissue swellings that hang from the side of your nose called the inferior turbinate that can take up space. These can make you stuffy worse with allergies or laying down at night. Frequently people have more than one area of blockage. There are some newer procedures to treat narrowed internal nasal valves. If your nose is narrow, you may have this issue contributing to problems breathing. Radiofrequency energy can be applied to gently and subtly reshape the angle inside your nose to allow more airflow. This normally has little to no cosmetic change in the nose but can dramatically help with breathing. There is a new device called the RhinAer device designed to apply this energy.
The outside of your nose can sometimes be missing some support to hold it open. People may notice a collapse when then breathe in. The RhinAer device can help with this. There is a surgical implant called Latera that can lend support and help prevent this collapse as well. These are both minimally invasive procedures that can be tolerated in the office or done in an operating room setting.