Nasal Bone Manipulation with an Ear, Nose and Throat Consultant

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Nasal Bone Manipulation with Miss Emma Hoskison, MUMS ENT Consultant.

Nose trauma can happen because of a fall, a sports injury, an assault, or other accidents at home or in the workplace. The injury can cause the nasal bones to break (also known as a “fracture”) and can cause bruising or swelling to the face. It can result in your nose appearing deviated to one side or affect your breathing. Sometimes there may be a bump on the bridge of your nose or a cut to the skin. With more severe injuries, the other bones of the face can also be affected, while some injuries result in damage to the septum (the partition between the right and left nostril). This can result in a deviated nasal septum, which can affect breathing through your nose.

When you arrive at MUMS you will be checked in by our receptionist and asked to take a seat in the waiting area. You will be assessed by who will review what happened to you, how it has affected your breathing and how your nose appears. Emma will look inside your nose with a light and sometimes with a camera (a procedure known as an ’endoscopy’). We can usually assess if you have broken your nose by examining you and most people don’t need any X-rays or scans.

This is a “see and treat” clinic, which means that if you need a procedure to straighten your nasal bones, we will go ahead and do it on the day. This means that all your treatment is done on one visit.

After the procedure you may remain in the room or be asked to take a seat again in the waiting room while you recover.

We offer a nose bone manipulation to re-align the broken bones to allow them to heal in as straight a position as possible. Nose bones take several weeks to heal, so we try to do this one to three weeks after the injury. This allows us to align the broken bones before they have had the chance to heal into an abnormal position. The manipulation is mainly to correct the appearance of your nose, but in some cases, it may also improve the breathing.

You will be in a comfortable position lying down and we will use a small local anaesthetic injection to the skin on the outside to make your nose numb. We let this work for a few minutes and then we use gentle pressure on the nose bones to push them back into the correct place.

This is a straightforward procedure, and most patients don’t have any problems. You may have a small nosebleed which will stop after a few minutes. Occasionally some people find it too uncomfortable to complete the procedure. Sometimes it may not be possible to push the bones back into a satisfactory position and some people may feel the nose still looks twisted or that the breathing isn’t right. In that instance, we recommend waiting two to three months for all the swelling to go down before making a final judgement. 

The alternative would be to do nothing and let the bones heal into the position in which they are. Often this is just a cosmetic problem, which some people are not concerned about. Occasionally, if you do nothing, you may find breathing through your nose is affected long term. 

You should avoid alcohol for 24 hours before and after the appointment. As smoking is very harmful to the lining of your nose, we strongly recommend that you try to stop smoking. We can give you information on support for this if needed. It is helpful if you can bring a family member or friend to accompany you home. If this is not possible, it will not stop us treating you.

Will I feel any pain? 

An element of discomfort is expected but, if it is too painful, we can add more anaesthetic, and most people will manage to complete the procedure.

What happens after the nose manipulation? 

You will need to wait on the unit for a period of time immediately after the procedure while our HCAs monitor you.

We have ample parking and great reviews.

You can call us on 0121 704 2669 if you have any more questions.