Unusual cause of man's nose being blocked for YEARS
WARNING – GRAPHIC CONTENT: Doctors have found an unusual cause behind why a man had trouble breathing out of his nose.
The man, 38, went to an otolaryngology clinic in New York after he spent years struggling to breathe out of his right nostril, according to his case in the New England Journal of Medicine.
He told doctors he had no history of facial trauma but something was blocking the right nostril and affecting his breathing.
Doctors noticed he had a deviated septum.
“On rhinoscopy, a hard, non-tender, white mass was observed in the floor of the right nostril,” researchers wrote.
“Computed tomography of the paranasal sinuses showed a well-defined, radiodense mass consistent with an inverted ectopic tooth in the nasal cavity which was thought to explain the obstructive symptoms and septal perforation.”
Doctors were correct in their assessment. It was indeed a tooth blocking his nose.
“The tooth was removed and was found to be 14mm in length,” researchers wrote.
“There were no postoperative complications. At follow-up three months after surgery, the patient’s symptoms of nasal obstruction had resolved.”
Teeth growing in the nose 'rare and unusual'
It is not clear exactly how the tooth ended up in the man’s nostril but it does happen.
An article published in the Indian Journal of Otolaryngol Head Neck Surgery in 2015 found teeth growing in nasal cavities is rare and unusual.
Researchers cited three separate examples of it.
As for what causes it, researchers wrote it could be caused by osteomyelitis, which is also known as a bone infection of the upper jaw bone.
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