Candela Reybaud, a 35-year-old Argentine nutritionist and influencer with 105,000 Instagram followers, made a remarkable medical discovery at the end of November 2025 that explained her lifelong struggles with chronic respiratory issues. After a series of recurrent sinus infections, a CT scan conducted post-sinus infection revealed a foreign object lodged in her right nasal septum, which was surgically removed after 35 years of silent obstruction.
Respiratory Issues Normalized Since Childhood
Since her birth in 1990, Candela primarily breathed through her mouth, with minimal airflow through her right nostril during inhalation. This made activities such as sports, sleeping, and daily tasks significantly more difficult. Accustomed to this discomfort, she did not seek help from an ENT specialist, viewing it as her own “personal normality,” despite its detrimental effect on her quality of life. Following a sinus infection in 2024, which was initially treated without a CT scan due to local limitations, her symptoms—including pain in her right cheek and increased obstruction—intensified sharply, finally prompting her to pursue a thorough examination.
The Unlikely Discovery from the Scan
The imaging revealed a small foreign object, just a few millimeters in size, encapsulated within the nasal septum, forming a rhinolith over decades. The doctor removed it via endoscopy, a process that took nearly two hours: it turned out to be a piece of adhesive tape that had become crumpled and calcified over time. “At first, we didn’t understand what it was,” Candela recalls, before the surprising object was clearly identified as the cause of her long-standing airflow obstruction.
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Potential Origin Linked to Her Birth
Candela’s mother recalls a moment of respiratory distress in the neonatal unit, during which a nasal tube had been placed for ventilation. It is possible that the adhesive tape used to secure the equipment may have detached and remained lodged during removal. “This is the only logical explanation we’ve managed to find,” Candela explained, emphasizing the unlikelihood yet coherence of this hypothesis in light of the absence of other obvious causes.
A New Breathing Experience and a Call for Awareness
Following the extraction, Candela stated she is “breathing better each day,” finally experiencing the sensation of unobstructed nasal passages at 35 years old, which has dramatically improved her daily life. Her Instagram video has gone viral, urging others not to overlook chronic symptoms: “If my experience helps someone seek treatment in time, it will have been worth it.” This rare case underscores the importance of examinations in the face of persistent, even habitual discomfort.
Candela Reybaud’s extraordinary story illustrates how the body can silently adapt to unsuspected anomalies, sometimes for an entire lifetime. Her “baffling” journey serves as a reminder that persistent symptoms should never be ignored, even when they appear to be part of our “normal.” By sharing her experience, she aims to challenge the trivialization of certain ailments and encourages everyone to listen to their body’s signals.
