ArthroCare ENT USNasal airway obstruction is a serious annoyance. Blocked nasal passages force you to breathe through your mouth, making simple, everyday activities such as eating, speaking, and sleeping more difficult. Often the cause of nasal airway obstruction is enlarged turbinates. Turbinates are small, bony structures located in the nasal passages that are covered with mucous membranes.
Nasal turbinates facilitate the conduction, filtration, heating, and humidification of the air we breathe. Allergies or environmental irritants (such as smoke or household chemicals) are the most common cause of irritation, inflammation, and enlargement of turbinates, resulting in blocked nasal passages. Additional causes of turbinate enlargement include anatomical causes (such as a deviated septum) and hormonal changes (such as those that occur during pregnancy). Turbinate size can also fluctuate throughout the day, especially depending on head position (i.e. standing up versus lying down).
Adult and pediatric patients with nasal obstruction caused by enlarged turbinates may experience one or more of the following symptoms:
- General nasal congestion and/or obstruction
- Positional nasal congestion (such as when lying on one side while sleeping)
- A persistent clear runny nose
- Nasal headache and/or facial pain
Treatment for Nasal Airway Obstruction
Traditional medical therapy, including allergin/irritant avoidance and/or use of nasal medications, may be sufficient to address turbinate enlargement. In some cases, however, turbinate enlargement is unresponsive to medical management. Surgical procedures, such as Coblation® turbinate reduction, that reduce the size of the obstructing turbinates can not only improve symptoms, but can also allow medical management to be more effective.
Coblation is an advanced technology that quickly and effectively removes and shrinks soft tissue inside the turbinates using gentle radiofrequency energy and natural saline to aleviate nasal obstruction in adult and pediatric patients. Coblation is not a heat-driven process. As a result, surrounding healthy tissue is preserved allowing for a fast and easy recovery. This quick outpatient procedure takes less than 10 minutes. Patients typically return home shortly after the procedure, and can experience a 50% reduction in nasal airway obstruction within one week.
Contact a doctor to find out if a Coblation turbinate reduction procedure is right for you.
