The better are the conditions in which the air reaches the alveoli in our lungs, the better is the oxygenation of the blood and hence the greater is muscular efficiency and athletic performance.

Unlike what is commonly believed, also the external shape of the nose holds an importance in nasal functionality.

We can in fact see a linear profile, with a regular nose (Figure 1) along which the main air current is channeled and flows along the lower turbinate (organ mainly in charge of heating and moistening the air) and here may undergo all the physiological transformations necessary. 

In the case of a curved profile(Figure 2 – humped nose) the air currents are channeled to the olfactory zone, where there are structures assigned to condition the air and may damage olfaction. 

In the case of a depressed profile (Figure 3 – saddle nose) the air is channeled on the floor of the nose and also here cannot be purified.

Physiology teaches us that to function well the two nasal cavities have to be approximately the same and this result can be achieved through plastic surgery.

In cases like those shown in Figure 4, the regularity of the nasal cavities could not be obtained without plastic surgery. The procedure, therefore, entails the straightening of the septum internally, together with the external portion of the nose. 

The correct approach to this type of surgery is therefore an aesthetic/functional one where the two aspects (functional and aesthetic surgery) complement each other. Here we see a remarkable distortion of the septum, the bone and cartilage section of the outer nose. It is quite evident, as we mentioned earlier, that functional recovery entails the correction of both the septum (functional procedure) and nasal pyramid (esthetic surgery).