At a Glance
A deviated septum can potentially worsen sleep apnea symptoms, but it’s not a root cause of sleep apnea. Both can cause breathing problems, and having the conditions simultaneously can make nighttime breathing particularly difficult. You can’t cure sleep apnea by fixing a deviated septum, but you may be able to make CPAP therapy more effective and tolerable.
Roughly 80% of the population has a deviated septum, where one nasal passage is smaller than the other. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) isn’t as common, but it still affects between 25% and 30% of men in the U.S. and 9% to 17% of women. Both conditions can impact breathing, and they share some common symptoms.
Many people with a deviated septum are asymptomatic, while OSA is often underdiagnosed despite significant health consequences.
Below, we’ll explain the connection between a deviated septum and sleep apnea and offer tools to help you better understand them both. We’ll also provide symptoms and signs to look for and let you know when it may be time to seek treatment and a physician’s advice.
What Is a Deviated Septum?
Internally, a nose has a long piece of cartilage called the septum, which is what separates your nostrils from one another. Most peoples’ nasal cavities aren’t totally symmetrical, and there’s a deviation in size between the two. Small size differences are normal and go largely unnoticed. Large deviations in the septum can create breathing problems that can be serious enough to require surgery.
Severity ranges from mild deviation with no symptoms to significant obstruction that affects breathing, sleep quality, and sinus drainage.
What Is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that causes people to stop breathing during sleep. OSA occurs when the upper airway collapses or becomes blocked, reducing airflow and oxygen levels. When untreated, it can have serious side effects and health implications, including higher risk for developing heart disease, diabetes, depression, and high blood pressure (hypertension).
OSA also contributes to daytime sleepiness, impaired concentration, and increased risk of accidents.
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Can a Deviated Septum Cause Sleep Apnea?
A deviated septum itself cannot cause sleep apnea, but it can create severe nasal congestion that may, in turn, lead to OSA. Researchers know that OSA and deviated septums are linked. One long-term study found that people with deviated septums were more than four times more likely to develop OSA than those without deviated septums.
However, deviated septums usually aren’t the only factor contributing to OSA. Body mass index (BMI), neck circumference, facial anatomy, and jaw shape can all lead to the upper airway collapse that causes OSA.
OSA is a multifactorial condition, and nasal obstruction alone is usually insufficient to cause clinically significant disease.
Symptoms of a Deviated Septum
Headache is a common symptom of a deviated septum. Facial pain, frequent congestion, nose bleeds, sinus infections, snoring, high blood pressure, and loud breathing are also symptoms. Some people with a deviated septum have a harder time breathing out of one side of their nose than the other. Breathing problems may be worse or more noticeable during exercise.
Nasal blockage, difficulty breathing through one nostril, and chronic congestion are among the most common complaints.
Deviated septums can occur naturally or as a result of trauma to the nose, following a break or injury. Often, naturally occurring deviated septums are shaped like a C or an S. Deviated septums that form as a result of trauma are more likely to be irregularly shaped.
Chronic nasal obstruction can also contribute to poor sleep quality and increased nighttime awakenings.
Symptoms of Sleep Apnea
People with sleep apnea often gasp, snort, or choke during sleep. Their breathing may also pause or stop entirely for seconds at a time. Many partners of people with sleep apnea report loud snoring. Untreated sleep apnea can lead to daytime sleepiness, irritability, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and other serious conditions.
Additional symptoms include morning headaches, dry mouth upon waking, frequent nighttime urination, and difficulty concentrating during the day.
Does Fixing a Deviated Septum Help Sleep Apnea?
Getting a septoplasty, or the surgery that fixes a deviated septum, may help improve certain sleep apnea symptoms, but it’s unlikely to cure sleep apnea. OSA is caused by an obstruction in the oral breathing passage that causes upper airway collapse. A deviated septum causes obstruction in the nose, not the mouth. It can make nose breathing harder for a person with OSA, but it isn’t typically the root cause of upper airway collapse.
Septoplasty is best viewed as an adjunctive treatment that may improve breathing comfort rather than a standalone solution for OSA.
However, fixing a deviated septum can improve snoring, and it may make using a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine easier and more comfortable. Improved nasal airflow can lower required CPAP pressure and enhance adherence to therapy.
When to See a Doctor
If you suspect that you have a deviated septum and experience related symptoms like facial pain, chronic headache,repeated sinus infections, or trouble breathing, you may want to speak to your doctor.
Persistent nasal obstruction that affects sleep or quality of life warrants evaluation by an ear, nose, and throat specialist.
Since many symptoms of OSA and a deviated septum are similar, it may be helpful to take a home sleep test or see a sleep specialist to determine whether you have OSA. An ear nose and throat doctor (ENT) can help diagnose a deviated septum.
Frequently Asked Questions
A deviated septum can cause snoring. When there’s a nasal obstruction or difference in size between the two nasal passages, it can make it harder to get a full breath. Snoring is one of the most common symptoms of a deviated septum. Some people with significantly deviated septums may choose to get a surgery called a septoplasty, which can help improve snoring and other related symptoms.
A severely deviated septum can cause sinus problems, including sinusitis and rhinosinusitis, the terms often used for sinus infections. In a deviated septum, there can be blockages in the nasal passage, which can cause problems with drainage and congestion. When the sinuses are inflamed, it can lead to headache, facial pain, and infection.
A septoplasty can help improve some sleep apnea related symptoms like snoring, but it can’t fix or cure sleep apnea. A septoplasty straightens out the septum and repairs any deviation within the nasal passage. It can improve breathing and it may make using a CPAP easier. However, it doesn’t fix upper airway collapse or obstructions in the oral breathing passage, which are the primary causes of sleep apnea.
If you have OSA as well as a deviated septum, you can use a CPAP machine. CPAP machines deliver pressurized air to breathing passages to prevent upper airway collapse. This air can be delivered orally or nasally using different masks. Full-face masks may work better if you have trouble breathing through your nose.
A titration test can also help ensure you get the right pressure settings for your deviated septum. Keep in mind that a CPAP machine requires a prescription and a sleep apnea diagnosis.
Medical Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult a health care provider prior to starting a new treatment or making changes to your treatment plan.
Written by
Cassandra Burns, Contributing WriterCassandra is a health writer who writes about sleep products and reads emerging research to develop science-based articles that help demystify the connection between health and sleep. She's happy to report that she sleeps well most nights, which is probably thanks to her energetic dog and her other work managing a family-owned whitewater rafting business in Upstate New York.
Reviewed by
Lulu Guo, MD, Medical ReviewerDr. Lulu Guo is a board-certified sleep medicine and family medicine physician who specializes in diagnosing and treating sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, and other sleep-related breathing conditions. She is known for taking a patient-centered approach to sleep care, helping individuals improve their overall health and quality of life through better sleep.
