Nasal dilator with columella retainer for resisting withdrawal and adjustable sections for optimizing fit, comfort, and breathing performance

A nasal dilator configured to be inserted into a user's nostrils for dilating said nostrils to facilitate breathing and increase the volume of airflow, where said user has a nasal septum having a bottom or lower end terminating in a columella having a bottom surface and a pair of shoulders facing upwardly in said user's respective nostrils, comprising:

• (a) an elongated, flexible, elastic member having a generally U-shaped configuration with two upwardly extending sides, each upwardly extending side having a top section comprising an arm and a bottom section comprising a leg, and a bottom base section connecting said bottom ends of said legs and having a bottom side and a top side, each leg having an inside surface facing the other leg and an outside surface facing away from the other leg,
• (b) said bottom base section having a top side facing upwardly and a bottom side facing downwardly when the legs of said U-shaped member are inserted into the user's respective nostrils,
• (c) said upwardly extending sides each being (1) substantially longer than said bottom base section, (2) generally vertically oriented, (3) having a free upper end with a widened portion or pad on its outside surface, and (4) shaped and sized so that when said upwardly extending sides are inserted into the respective nostrils of the user having a nose anatomy within a predetermined range of sizes, said top side of said bottom base section will contact said bottom surface of said user's columella and each of said widened portions or pads at the upper end of each arm will engage and urge an outer side of its respective nostril outwardly to dilate said nostril,
• (d) each of said legs having a protrusion extending toward the other leg, said protrusion having an underside spaced from said top side of said bottom base section by a predetermined distance so that when the sides of said U-shaped member are inserted into the respective nostrils of the user having a nose anatomy within a predetermined range of sizes and said top side of said bottom base section contacts said bottom surface of said user's columella, said underside of said protrusion will overlie an upper side of said user's columella so as to cause said dilator to resist withdrawal from said user's nostrils, and
• (e) each of said legs and said protrusion being shaped and sized so that they do not exert any pinching or horizontal force against said user's septum, the other leg, or the other protrusion, whereby said dilator will resist withdrawal from said user's nostrils;
• wherein each of said legs has inside and outside surfaces and a pair of edges connecting said inside and outside surfaces so as to define the widths of said inside surfaces, each protrusion having an elongated shape and having the same width as said inside surfaces so that each protrusion extends to said pair of edges, each protrusion having top and bottom lateral sides that taper to said inside surface of its respective leg.

A nasal dilator configured to be inserted into a user's nostrils for dilating said nostrils to facilitate breathing and increase the volume of airflow, where said user has a nasal septum having a bottom or lower end terminating in a columella having a bottom surface and a pair of shoulders facing upwardly in said user's respective nostrils, comprising:

• (a) an elongated U-shaped flexible member having a substantially flat bottom or bight section with a front edge and a back edge and two elongated sides that extend up from said bottom section so that said elongated sides can be inserted into said user's respective nostrils, said bight section having bottom and top surfaces,
• (b) said member having a ribbon configuration, said elongated sides each having two opposing parallel sides that are relatively close together and that join said two opposing edges, said two opposing edges being relatively widely spaced, one of said sides being designated an outwardly facing side and the other being designated an inwardly facing side, said elongated sides each (1) being substantially longer than said bottom section, (2) being generally vertically oriented, and (3) having a free upper end having a widened section or pad, (4) shaped and sized so that when said elongated sides are inserted into the respective nostrils of the user having a nose anatomy within a predetermined range of sizes, said top side of said bottom base section will contact said bottom surface of said user's columella and each of said widened portions or pads at the upper end of each elongated member will engage and urge an outer side of its respective nostril outwardly to dilate said nostril,
• (c) each elongated side having a bottom section that sandwiches the user's columella when said elongated members are inserted into said user's nostrils and said top surface of said bottom or bight section contacts said user's columella, said bottom section of each elongated side including retention means comprising a protrusion facing the other of the two elongated sides such that, in use, the protrusions overlie said shoulders of said user's columella without exerting a pinching or a horizontal force against said user's septum so as to resist withdrawal of said dilator from said user's nostrils without pinching said user's septum;
• wherein said protrusion has a semi-spherical shape.

A nasal dilator configured to be inserted into a user's nostrils for dilating said nostrils to facilitate breathing and increase the volume of airflow, where said user has a nasal septum having a bottom or lower end terminating in a columella having a bottom surface and a pair of shoulders facing upwardly in said user's respective nostrils, comprising:

• (a) an elongated U-shaped flexible member having a substantially flat bottom or bight section with a front edge and a back edge and two elongated sides that extend up from said bottom section so that said elongated sides can be inserted into said user's respective nostrils, said bight section having bottom and top surfaces,
• (b) said member having a ribbon configuration, said elongated sides each having two opposing parallel sides that are relatively close together and that join said two opposing edges, said two opposing edges being relatively widely spaced, one of said sides being designated an outwardly facing side and the other being designated an inwardly facing side, said elongated sides each (1) being substantially longer than said bottom section, (2) being generally vertically oriented, and (3) having a free upper end having a widened section or pad, (4) shaped and sized so that when said elongated sides are inserted into the respective nostrils of the user having a nose anatomy within a predetermined range of sizes, said top side of said bottom base section will contact said bottom surface of said user's columella and each of said widened portions or pads at the upper end of each elongated member will engage and urge the outer side of its respective nostril outwardly to dilate said nostril,
• (c) each elongated side having a bottom section that sandwiches the user's columella when said elongated members are inserted into said user's nostrils and said top surface of said bottom or bight section contacts said user's columella, said bottom section of each elongated side including retention means comprising a protrusion facing the other of the two elongated sides such that, in use, the protrusions overlie said shoulders of said user's columella without exerting a pinching or horizontal force against said user's septum so as to resist withdrawal of said dilator from said user's nostrils without pinching said user's septum;
• wherein said bottom portion of each of said elongated sides has inside and outside surfaces and a pair of edges connecting said inside and outside surfaces so as to define the widths of said inside surfaces, and wherein each protrusion has an elongated shape and the same width as said inside surface of each leg so that each protrusion extends to said pair of edges, each protrusion having top and bottom lateral sides that taper to said inside surface of its respective leg.

A method of adjusting an insertable nose dilator to fit and conform with the shape of a user's nose so that it is comfortable in use yet is able to dilate said user's nostrils, where said dilator comprises an elongated, flexible, elastic member having a generally U-shaped configuration with two upwardly extending sides and a bottom base section, each upwardly extending side having a top section comprising an arm and a bottom section comprising a leg, and a bottom base section connecting said bottom ends of said legs, said bottom base section having a front edge and a back edge, a top side facing upwardly and a bottom side facing downwardly when the sides of said U-shaped member are inserted into the user's respective nostrils, said upwardly extending sides each being (1) substantially longer than said bottom base section, (2) generally vertically oriented, (3) having a free upper end with a widened portion or pad on its outside surface that is initially parallel with the pad of the opposite upwardly extending side, each pad having a front edge and a back edge, and (4) shaped and sized so that when said sides are inserted into the respective nostrils of the user having a nose anatomy within a predetermined range of sizes, and said front edge of said base section is to said user's front side and said back edge of said bottom base section is to said user's back side, said top side of said bottom base section will contact said bottom surf ace of said user's columella and each of said widened portions or pads at the upper end of each arm will engage and urge the outer side of its respective nostril outwardly to dilate said nostril, each of said upwardly extending sides having a protrusion extending toward the other side, said protrusion having an underside spaced from said top side of said bottom base section by a predetermined distance so that when said upwardly extending sides are inserted into the respective nostrils of the user having a nose anatomy within a predetermined range of sizes and said top side of said bottom base section contacts said bottom surface of said user's columella, said underside of said protrusion will overlie an upper side of said user's columella so as to cause said dilator to resist withdrawal from said user's nostrils, and each of said upwardly extending sides and said protrusion being shaped and sized so that they do not exert any pinching or horizontal force against said user's septum, the other leg, or the other protrusion, said method comprising:

• (a) comparing said pads of each upwardly extending side with said user's nostrils and, if said user's nostrils are at an angle to each other, bending said front edges of said pads toward each other so that their angle to each other substantially matches the angle of said user's nostrils,
• (b) comparing a vertical orientation or vertical angle between said pads with the angle between outer sides of said user's nose and bending a top edge of each pad toward a top edge of the other pad so that a vertical angle between said pads matches the angle between said outer sides of said user's nose,
• (c) comparing a separation between said pads with a separation between the outer edges of said use's nostrils and bending said top sections of said pads outwardly so that said separation between said pads is wider than said separation between outer edges of said use's nostrils,
• whereby said upwardly extending sides can be bent toward each other so that said pads and said upwardly extending sides can be inserted into said user's nostrils until said bottom base section contacts said user's columella, whereafter said upwardly extending sides can be released to allow said upwardly extending sides to spread apart from each other so that said pads will urge the upper portions of said user's nostrils to spread apart or dilate so that said user will be able to breathe more freely and said dilator will resist withdrawal from said user's nostrils.