Xrays are notoriously bad at picking up nasal fractures, so most ENTs and plastic surgeons do not bother getting one. Generally, we can tell if the nose has been fractured on physical examination alone. Sixteen days after injury may be a little late to reset the bones through a closed reduction. It may still be possible depending on how mobile the bones are at that point. There is a good chance, though, that the surgeon will recommend an open reduction under anesthesia and possibly a septoplasty if you’ve also fractured your septum. Good luck.

Thanks for your question and sorry to hear about your recent trauma. It really depends on what your surgeon means by closed reduction. In the traditional sense, this means pushing on the broken bones to try to straighten them. The chances for this being successful are diminished at two weeks after the fracture in our opinions. However, your surgeon may be intending to do osteotomies if necessary, which means breaking and re-setting the bones. Check with him to be sure.

My question is whether it will be too late by then to perform a closed reduction. I keep reading online that I cannot wait more than 14 days, it will be 14 days by the time I have the surgery. I’d like to trust in my doctor’s word, but reading otherwise online isn’t very assuring.

If your septum is crooked, this causes abnormal air flow through your nose that can make some areas of the lining over the septum prone to dryness and occasional nosebleeds. Surgery can often improve this issue as well. If the deviation is severe enough to cause obstructed breathing as it seems with you, it will often be covered by insurance. All the best.

my names Jenn, I broke my nose a few years ago, i had a really bad cold and I blow my nose and pushed to hard with my thumb and my cartilage snapped my doc told me it would move back but it never did and he didn’t fully believe me about how i broke it but its true, it sticks out through the skin in my nose and I can’t breath well with it….they couldn’t even get a camera up the one side cause it hurt to much to try and get it in, i gave up working out for a while because I can’t use my nose so I used my mouth and its not easy. I was just wondering if ppl are covered for that with ohip to get it fixed or? And what does it mean if every so often my noses starts bleeding but only one side? as it is i can’t breath and that makes it worse….to the point where I have troubles laying down because i can’t get air that well through my mouth when my nose bleeds:S makes it harder to sleep because i can’t get enough air. Thank you.

I’m sorry to hear about your assault and I hope there were no other serious injuries. On the question of your nasal fracture, it is sometimes not useful to consider pushing the bones back initially (called a closed reduction) since there is a lot of swelling and it can be hard to see if the procedure has made the nose completely straight. For that reason, many patients who have had a closed reduction still find once things heal that the nose looks a little crooked and many go on to require an open reduction in the operating room. After about a week, the bones start to set and a closed reduction becomes much more difficult if not impossible. Now that swelling is down, it should be possible to evaluate what needs to be done to restore your nose to its preinjury appearance. All the best,

My name is Anand, i was assulted by couple of people last week. when the guys started attacking me, i lost blance and fell down on my face hitting the ground. My eyes and nose was sowllen up and was bleeding from my nose, when i got to the hospital, the doctors took x-ray of my face and had a little quick look at my face. They told me not to blow through my nose and told me to come back after a week, beacuse the swelling was kind of big and was around my nose and eye. In these last couple of days my swelling around the eye and nose have gone down and i was able to breathe through my nose but now i notice the shape of my nose is’nt how it was use to be, the right side of the nose bridge has gone abit flat(like i lost weight on one side of the nose compare to the other side of the nose) I went back to see the doctor today(after a week) where i had an appointment with some facial surgery doctor, i explained to him about the inncident and also told him when i am eating food and when i bite i feel pain around my nose areas. The doctor inspected my face(around my nose area) he then told me there are some fractures around my nose and it should heal in time, and also my nose is deviated. He said evrything seems to be fine but if i need a surgey to strighen my nose it could be done after 3months, apart from that dont blow my nose or play any contacting sports and eat slow deit food. The thing what worries me is that he also said when i first whent hospital the doctor should have been pushed my nose back into place there and then. Isit still possible for me to push my nose back into place? is there any other way of getting my nose back into streight? sorry for taking too much space on your page. Hopes to hear from you soon.
Thank you.

A fracture of the nasal bones is sometimes accompanied by a fracture or dislocation of the septal cartilage and/or bone. A healed septal cartilage fracture is likely what you are feeling inside your nose. If it is bothering you enough, you might consider consulting with a rhinoplasty surgeon to explore further and hear more about your options for correction if desired.