Nasal vestibule wall elasticity: interactions with a nasal dilator strip

Abstract

We studied the effect of an adhesive external nasal dilator strip (ENDS) on external nasal geometry in 20 healthy Caucasian adults (10 men, 10 women; age 21–45 yr). The recoil force exerted by ENDS was estimated by bending the device ( n = 10) with known weights. In the horizontal direction, a small/medium-sized ENDS in situ exerted a unilateral recoil force of 21.4–22.6 g. Application of ENDS resulted in a displacement of the lateral nasal vestibule walls that had both anterosuperior and horizontal components and that was maintained over an 8-h period. The resultant unilateral nasal vestibule wall displacement at the tip of the device was at 47.6 ± 2.0° to the horizontal (as related to the plane of the device when in situ) and had a magnitude of 3.5 ± 0.1 mm. ENDS increased external nasal cross-sectional area by 23.0–65.3 mm2. Nasal vestibule wall compliance was estimated at 0.05–0.16 mm/g. Thus ENDS applies a relatively constant abducting force irrespective of nasal width. Variable responsiveness to ENDS may be related to differences in elastic properties of the nasal vestibule wall.