How to Perform a Deviated Septum Self-Test

A deviated septum self-test can hint that the wall between your nostrils is off-center, but it cannot confirm it: only a clinician can diagnose a deviated septum. The most useful at-home check is simple, hold one nostril closed at a time, breathe in, and compare the airflow. About 8 in 10 people have a septum that is at least a little off-center, and most never notice [1]. This guide walks through three self-checks, the symptoms worth watching, and how a blocked nose can affect your snoring and sleep.

Deviated Septum Self-Test at a Glance

• Best home check: close one nostril, breathe in, and compare each side; repeat when your nose is clear, not congested [1].
• What it means: a suggestive result only, not a diagnosis; roughly 8 in 10 people have some deviation [1].
• Can you feel it with a finger? Usually no; you cannot feel the internal septum by touch, though a severe deviation may show as an external bump [1].
• Confirmed by: an ENT exam with a nasal speculum, sometimes nasal endoscopy or a CT scan [1].
• Why it matters for sleep: nasal blockage feeds mouth breathing and snoring and can make CPAP harder to tolerate [3][5].

What Is a Deviated Septum?

Your septum is the wall of bone and cartilage that separates your nasal cavity into two passages. A deviated septum happens when that wall is crooked or off to one side, which makes one nostril smaller than the other [1][3]. The nose warms and moistens the air you breathe before it reaches your lungs, so when one side is narrowed, airflow and comfort suffer, especially at night when nasal obstruction is more noticeable.

A deviation is extremely common. Cleveland Clinic notes that about 8 out of 10 people have a septum that is a little off-center, and many never realize it because they have no symptoms [1]. When a deviated septum does cause chronic congestion or blocked breathing, it can disturb sleep and worsen snoring, which is where it starts to overlap with sleep apnea.

Deviated Septum Warning Signs

Knowing the symptoms helps you decide whether a self-test and an ENT visit are worthwhile. Common warning signs of a deviated septum include [1][3]:

• Nasal obstruction, often worse on one side, that does not fully clear with decongestants.
• Difficulty breathing through your nose, particularly during exercise or when lying down.
• Frequent nosebleeds, because a drier, exposed septum surface is more prone to bleeding.
• Noisy breathing or snoring during sleep, a frequent sign in adults and children.
• Facial pain, headaches, or a reduced sense of smell.
• Recurring sinus infections, rhinitis, or sinusitis.
• Needing to sleep on one particular side to breathe more easily through the more open nostril [3].

This list is not exhaustive, and many of these symptoms overlap with allergies or a cold. Snoring in particular has several causes, so a deviated septum is only one possible contributor [2]. That is exactly why a self-test can point you in a direction, but only a clinician can confirm the cause.

What Causes a Deviated Septum? Can It Develop Later in Life?

There are two main causes. Some people are born with a deviated septum, which can happen during fetal development or from a difficult delivery. Others develop one from an injury that pushes the septum out of place, such as a broken nose from sports, a fall, or a car accident [1][3].

It can also change over time. Aging affects the structures inside your nose, so a septum that was only slightly off-center can become more deviated and more symptomatic as you get older [3]. In other words, a mild deviation you never noticed at 20 can start to block breathing decades later.

Deviated Septum Levels: Mild, Moderate, and Severe

Doctors do not use a single official scale, but deviations are generally described by how much they narrow the airway and how much they bother you:

• Mild: a small offset with little or no noticeable effect on breathing. Most of the "8 in 10" fall here and need no treatment.
• Moderate: a clear, often one-sided blockage, more congestion, and snoring or disrupted sleep.
• Severe: a significant obstruction that interferes with daily breathing, sleep, and quality of life, and is the level most likely to be considered for surgery.

Severity, not the deviation alone, drives the decision to treat. A self-test can suggest which end of this range you are on, but imaging and an ENT exam are what actually grade it.

How to Perform a Deviated Septum Self-Test at Home

You cannot diagnose yourself, but you can gather clues before you see a provider. One rule first: do not test when you are congested from a cold or allergies, and remember that the nose naturally alternates which side is more open every few hours (the nasal cycle). Test when your nose is clear, and try more than once at different times of day [1]. The video below walks through the basic check.

Here are the three at-home methods below, from the most useful check down to informal observations. Only the first is described by a medical authority; the other two are casual and cannot confirm anything:

Close one nostril at a time and breathe deeply

This is the check an authority actually describes. Using your finger, hold one nostril closed, breathe in, and notice the airflow; then switch sides and repeat. If breathing is clearly harder through one or both nostrils when your nose is not congested, you could have a deviated septum [1]. Do it a few times and focus on the difference between sides rather than on either side alone.

Run your hand along your nose to check for bumps

Treat this one as informal only. Start at the top of the bridge and gently run your fingers down it, feeling for a bump or a shift. Be aware of the limits: in most cases you cannot tell whether you have a deviated septum just by feeling it, because the septum sits inside the nose, and an external bump is really a nasal-bridge concern rather than proof of a deviation [1].

Look with a light, mirror, or phone camera

Also informal. Under good light, tilt your head back (a friend with a narrow flashlight, a mirror, or a photo taken from below all work) and look at the columella and the septum behind it for anything that seems off-center. It loosely mirrors what a doctor does with a lighted nasal speculum, but a home look cannot see far enough back to be reliable, so use it only as a rough observation, never as a verdict [1].

Can You Feel a Deviated Septum With Your Finger?

Usually, no. In most cases you cannot feel a deviated septum with a fingertip, because the part of the septum that deviates sits deep inside the nasal cavity where you cannot reach it [1]. People with a severe deviation may be able to feel that their septum is off-center, and an old nasal injury can leave a visible or touchable bump on the outside of the nose. For the self-test, the finger is there simply to close off one nostril so you can compare airflow, not to feel the septum itself.

Is It Safe to Do This Without a Doctor Present?

The airflow and visual checks are safe as long as you are gentle. Your nasal lining is delicate and easy to injure, so never insert objects into your nose to test for a deviation, and do not press hard on the bridge or sides of your nose. Use a light hand, move slowly, and stop if anything hurts.

Most important, keep the result in perspective. A self-test is suggestive at best. The only surefire way to know if you have a deviated septum is a diagnosis from a healthcare provider, who examines the inside of your nose with a nasal speculum and may use a nasal endoscopy or a CT scan to see how far the septum is deviated [1]. If your self-test and symptoms line up, that is your cue to book an ENT, not to self-treat.

A Few Final Words

If there is one piece of advice for a deviated septum self-test, it is to be patient and gentle, and to treat what you find as a starting point for a real evaluation. A home check can tell you whether an appointment is worth making; the final answer belongs to your doctor.

What Can Be Mistaken for a Deviated Septum?

Several conditions cause the same one-sided or chronic congestion and can be confused with a deviation, which is another reason a self-test cannot stand alone [1]:

• Enlarged turbinates (turbinate hypertrophy), the swollen shelves of tissue inside the nose.
• Allergic rhinitis, where allergies keep the nasal lining inflamed and blocked.
• Nasal polyps, soft growths that obstruct airflow.
• Chronic sinusitis, long-lasting inflammation of the sinuses.

Some of these can even occur alongside a deviated septum, so an exam matters to sort out what is actually blocking your nose.

How Is a Deviated Septum Treated? Without Surgery vs Septoplasty

You do not always need surgery. Mild symptoms are often managed conservatively with over-the-counter options such as antihistamines, nasal steroid sprays, and decongestants (do not use decongestant sprays for more than three days in a row), plus nasal strips or dilators and adjusting your sleep position [1].

The key distinction: those steps relieve symptoms, but they do not straighten the septum. The only way to actually correct a deviated septum is a surgical procedure called septoplasty; medicines can reduce swelling, but surgery is what fixes the deviation itself [1][3]. So "can you fix a deviated septum without surgery?" comes down to your goal, you can manage the symptoms without surgery, but correcting the deviation requires it.

Deviated Septum, Snoring, and Sleep Apnea

This is where a blocked nose starts to affect your nights. Nasal obstruction pushes you toward breathing through your mouth and can worsen snoring, and it contributes to (though it is not the sole cause of) obstructive sleep apnea [2][3]. Chronic mouth breathing also brings its own problems, from dry mouth to more disrupted sleep [3].

If you already use CPAP, a stuffy or deviated nose matters even more: nasal congestion is one of the most common CPAP complaints and can significantly hurt how well people tolerate therapy [5], and improving nasal airflow is linked to better CPAP comfort and adherence [6]. A few practical moves can help while you sort out the underlying cause:

• Warm, humidified air: a CPAP humidifier can ease the congestion and dryness that a blocked nose tends to make worse.
• The right mask: if one nostril is often blocked, a full-face mask may keep therapy more comfortable on your stuffiest nights, while a nasal pillow mask can suit clearer-breathing nights.
• Positional tweaks: the best masks for side sleepers help if you already sleep on one side to breathe.

Most important, do not assume a blocked nose is "just" a deviated septum. Loud snoring and daytime exhaustion can signal sleep apnea, which needs its own diagnosis, and a deviated septum can hide alongside it, including in people who have sleep apnea without snoring. Roughly a billion adults worldwide are estimated to have obstructive sleep apnea, and most are undiagnosed [4]. If you suspect it, an at-home home sleep test like the WatchPAT One lets you check for sleep apnea in a single night, or you can read how the home sleep study works. From there, a specialist can tell whether you need a CPAP or BiPAP and which pressure setup fits.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you check yourself for a deviated septum?

Gently close one nostril with a finger, breathe in, then compare with the other side. Do it when your nose is clear, not congested. Clearly harder breathing on one side is suggestive, but only an ENT can confirm a deviated septum.

Can you feel a deviated septum with your finger?

Usually not. The part of the septum that deviates sits deep inside the nose where you cannot reach it. A severe deviation or an old nasal injury may show as a bump on the outside, but touch alone cannot confirm it.

Do 80% of people have a deviated septum?

About 8 in 10 people have a septum that is at least slightly off-center, according to Cleveland Clinic. Most never notice because they have no symptoms. A deviation only matters when it blocks breathing or disturbs sleep.

Can a deviated septum develop or get worse as you get older?

Yes. You can be born with one or develop it from a nose injury, and aging changes nasal structures, so a slightly deviated septum can become more off-center and more symptomatic over time.

Can you fix a deviated septum without surgery?

You can manage the symptoms without surgery using nasal steroid sprays, antihistamines, decongestants, and nasal strips. But those do not straighten the septum. The only way to correct the deviation itself is a surgery called septoplasty.

What can be mistaken for a deviated septum?

Enlarged turbinates, allergic rhinitis, nasal polyps, and chronic sinusitis all cause similar one-sided or chronic congestion. Some can occur alongside a deviated septum, which is why an ENT exam is needed to identify the real cause.

Can a deviated septum cause sleep apnea?

A deviated septum can worsen snoring and contribute to obstructive sleep apnea, but it is rarely the sole cause. If you snore loudly or wake unrefreshed, get evaluated for sleep apnea separately, for example with a home sleep test.

References

1. Cleveland Clinic: Deviated Septum (reviewed 2025)
2. Kohler, Bloch & Stradling, European Respiratory Journal 2007 (the nose in OSA and snoring)
3. Mayo Clinic: Deviated septum, symptoms and causes (2025)
4. Cleveland Clinic: Sleep Apnea (reviewed 2025)
5. Wakayama et al., PLOS ONE 2016 (nasal obstruction and CPAP)
6. Georgalas, Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 2011 (nose, snoring and OSA)