I went out dancing with friends last night and slipped on the dance floor. How Do I Know if my Nose is Broken?
Doctor Answers (3)
How to tell if her nose is broken
The best way to tell of the nose and fractured is to go in for an examination and consultation by a board certified ENT/ facial plastic surgeon. X-rays can determine whether or not it's been fractured. Only a fractured AND displaced nasal bones need to be reset. Also important to look at whether not the upper lateral cartilages have been fractured off the nasal bones and to see if there is a deviated septum present
Is your nose broken?
Diagnosing a broken nose.
Usually if someone breaks his/her nose it will bleed from the inside and usually quite vigorously for a few minutes. A nasal fracture also usually causes a person to develop black and blue bruising around the eyes that usually appears a day or two after the fracture.
Interestingly, x-rays are usually NOT helpful for diagnosing a broken nose. The reason is simple: if the nose is now obviously crooked and wasn't before, you know it's broken and you don't need the x-ray to tell you that, but if the nose is not crooked, it's irrelevant if it's broken since it will simply heal in position and be back to normal within weeks, so again an x-ray is useless.
The important thing after a possible nasal fracture, though, is to have a physician make sure the patient doesn't have a septal hematoma--a collection of blood in the septal space. Although rare, a septal hematoma can destroy the blood supply to the septal cartilage leading to loss of cartilage, possible infection, and collapse of the nose.
All the best,
Pearson Facial Plastic Surgery®
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These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911. These answers do not constitute or initiate a patient/doctor relationship.