American model, actress, and singer Paris Jackson has revealed she has a perforated septum due to drug use.
The 27-year-old, daughter of the late Michael Jackson, showed fans the perforation in a video using a phone torch, stating it was her first time revealing the injury.
Jackson explained the condition, differentiating it from a deviated septum.
She told her followers: “I realise I have never actually addressed this, and it can sometimes be very noticeable. I have a really loud whistle, if you go back to videos, you can hear it when I breathe through my nose, and that is because I have what is called a perforated septum.
“Slightly different from a deviated septum, and that is, it’s what you think it’s from, don’t do drugs kids or I mean do, I mean everyone’s going to have the experience they need to have with life, I’m not going to tell anyone what to do, but I don’t recommend it because it ruined my life.”
Despite its impact, Jackson has chosen against surgical correction, explaining: “I don’t want to get plastic surgery to fix it, because I’m almost six years sober, and so you have to take pills when you do a surgery that gnarly, and I don’t want to f*** with that.”
She added the condition, present since she was about 20, is “a b***h when you’re in the studio recording vocals, and I can actually stick a spaghetti noodle (through) and do that with it.”
Earlier this year, Jackson spoke openly about becoming “clean and sober” for five years in an Instagram post, where she said she had been “an alcoholic and a heroin addict”.
She added: “It’s because I’m sober that I get to smile today, I get to make music, I get to experience the joy of loving my dogs and cat, I get to feel heartbreak in all its glory, I get to grieve, I get to laugh, I get to dance, I get to trust, I feel the sun on my skin and it’s warm. I’ve found that life keeps happening regardless of whether I’m sober or not, but today I get to show up for it.”
The NHS states a perforated septum can result from various factors, including cocaine use, or inserting objects like cotton buds or fingers into the nose.
