Atlanta Hawks Guard Kyle Korver Suffers Broken Nose

Image Source

LeBron James suffered a broken nose early last year. This time, it's Kyle Korver's turn when he suffered the same injury March 15, 2015 after taking an offensive foul from Ed Davis. He reported that this was not his first broken nose, but his third. [link]

Regardless of whether you are an NBA player or not, treatment of most nasal and even facial fractures do NOT require surgical repair.

However, in Mr. Korver's case, he did undergo a closed nasal reduction later that same week whereby the surgeon moved the broken nasal bone pieces back into straight alignment.

The key elements that lead towards a decision for facial and/or nasal fracture surgery are the following (not all-inclusive, but general pointers):

- Any functional deficit (i.e., inability to open and close the jaw)
- Change in occlusion (the way teeth come together).
- Double vision (blurry vision does not count).
- Cosmetic deformity due to nasal/facial fracture (bruising and swelling does not count).
- Nasal obstruction not due to swelling.

In any case, when a nose is broken, steps should be taken to further minimize trauma to the nose. For athletes, that usually means wearing a facial mask such that any hits to the face does not connect with the broken nose.

Although LeBron James had his facial mask custom made by Marvel and Kyle Korver had something similarly custom made, for us mere mortals, you can buy one on Amazon.

Source:
Kyle Korver Injury: Updates on Hawks Star's Broken Nose and Return. Bleacherreport.com