Have you ever heard the phrase, “breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth?”
This phrase is actually based on science.
When you breathe in through your nose, many things happen including humidification of the air.
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Humidification occurs as the air travels across 3 to 4 conchae.The conchae are also calledturbinates.
Many tiny blood vessels within amucous membranecover the conchae.
These conchae form three nasal passages for air to flow through.
Each of these passageways, that are separated by conchae, have openings to your sinus cavities.
Between the lower concha and the bottom of the nasal cavity is the nasolacrimal duct or tear duct.
In the middle passageway is the opening to both the maxillary and frontal sinuses.
While the upper passageway has the opening to the sphenoidal sinus.
Overview
Concha bullosa is also known as the pneumatization of the middle turbinate.
This just means that there is an air pocket in the middle concha.
Concha bullosa is a very common anatomical deviation that does not always result in you having sinus problems.
However, enlarged turbinates and concha bullosa may cause a blockage which can prevent your sinuses from draining properly.
Sinuses without adequate drainage can result in frequentsinus infections.
Concha bullosa may also predispose you to have adeviated septum.
Symptoms
Symptoms of concha bullosa are related to the amount of air present in the middle turbinate.
Treatments
Most of the time, concha bullosa symptoms are not severe enough to require treatment.
However, if treatment is necessary, surgery is the only option to eliminate the air pocket.
The three surgical methods include crushing, resection, and turbinoplasty.
Crushingis a commonly used method to treat concha bullosa.This is done under general anesthesia with an endoscope.
Ifsinus surgeryis also needed, the sinuses will be operated on first.
The crushing method has a high success rate with minimal complications, though bleeding after the operation is possible.
Crushing also carries the least risk for affecting your sense of smell.
Turbinate resectionis the surgical removal of part of the concha or the complete removal of the concha.
This allows for improved airflow and removes the concha bullosa.
The remaining tissue is then cauterized and nasal packing inserted to reduce bleeding.
Turbinoplastyinvolves cutting pop kick open the turbinate and removing tissue and a small amount of bone.
Once the tissue is sufficiently removed the incision is closed.
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