Your nose is important to your health. It filters the air you breathe, removing dust, germs, and irritants. It warms and moistens the air to keep your lungs and tubes that lead to them from drying out. Your nose also contains the nerve cells that help your sense of smell. When there is a problem with your nose, your whole body can suffer. For example, the stuffy nose of the common cold can make it hard for you to breathe, sleep, or get comfortable.

Many problems besides the common cold can affect the nose. They include

• Deviated septum - a shifting of the wall that divides the nasal cavity into halves
• Nasal polyps - soft growths that develop on the lining of your nose or sinuses
• Nosebleeds
• Rhinitis - inflammation of the nose and sinuses sometimes caused by allergies. The main symptom is a runny nose.
• Nasal fractures, also known as a broken nose

Disorders of the nose, general or unspecified.

The nasal bone is one of two small bones that articulate (join) with each other to form the bony base (bridge) of the nose. They also support the cartilages that form the lateral walls of the nose (see Figure 7.11). These are the bones that are damaged when the nose is broken.

Figure 7.11 Sagittal Section of Skull This midline view of the sagittally sectioned skull shows the nasal septum.

Epistaxis - Bleeding from the nose.

The partition separating the two nasal cavities in the midplane. It is formed by the septal nasal cartilage, parts of skull bones (ethmoid bone; Vomer), and membranous parts.

Focal accumulations of edema fluid in the nasal mucosa accompanied by hyperplasia of the associated submucosal connective tissue. Polyps may be neoplasms, foci of inflammation, degenerative lesions, or malformations.

A granulomatous disease caused by klebsiella rhinoscleromatis infection. Despite its name, this disease is not limited to the nose and nasopharynx but may affect any part of the respiratory tract, sometimes with extension to the lip and the skin.