Functions
Along with nasal cavity, helps warm and humidify air. Normally first contact body has with cold, external air. It is thought that olfactory ‘perception’ can occur when each nostril is presented with a different smell.
Anatomy
One of two channels of the nose; where the nasal cavity opens exteriorly. Externally ‘comma’ shaped; usually 7-9mm wide, but can be wider with heavy breathing; nasal dilators can be used if small or collapsing nostrils cause problems. It is subject to the ‘nasal cycle’, a physiological congestion and decongestion of alternating nostrils.
Separated by the nasal septum (ethmoid and vomer bones).
Supplied by the facial artery via the lateral nasal branch; innervated by nasociliary nerve, a branch of the ophthalmic nerve.
Clinical
Deviated septa can occur either congenitally or with trauma. While rarely a medical issue (as in occluded airway) it is often a cause for aesthetics surgery.
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