Find out what to expect before and after a rhinoplasty directly from specialists

For many people the undesirable shape of the nose can be a source of deep anxiety. Changing how the nose looks can actually transform your entire face. A nose job or rhinoplasty is one of the most popular surgeries performed to change your nose’s appearance or the way it functions. Not only can it give you a more balanced appearance, but also helps improve your breathing.

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, “nearly 220,000 rhinoplasties are performed yearly, making this the most common facial plastic surgery procedure.”

Rhinoplasty Surgery

You might be a candidate for rhinoplasty if your nose looks crooked or disproportional or it has some abnormality or defect. Dr. White says that “this is a common enough problem for those who have had some sort of injury or accident.” The bone and the cartilage of the nose from the injury may not always heal together leading to a crooked nose. Or it can simply be a result of pure genetics. Rhinoplasty or a nose job can help correct such issues.

It is often very difficult to know what exactly it is that your nose needs. The ‘cookie cutter’ nose for example, will suit only a few people. According to Dr. White, “to get the best results for patients, plastic surgeons are using different computerized imaging techniques like Morphing Surgery Imaging. These are extremely helpful in getting one-on one feedback and discussion on what type of procedure is good for you and how less invasive it can be.” 

Every patient is a unique individual. So if you want a well-sculpted nose, then really it will have to be customized for you! It is very helpful to have detailed consultations with your doctor about your options. Dr. White’s own rhinoplasty treatments begin with healthy discussions with his patients about the possibilities of the procedure. The focus in these discussions should also be on the problems that they may encounter along the way. 

Liquid Rhinoplasty May Not be that Good After All!

Instagram has made it popular for users to choose to have non-surgical, liquid fillers to augment the shape of their nose. These liquid fillers have attracted a lot of attention, mainly because they help you avoid going under the knife. They appear to be a hassle free way to get a well-shaped nose. 

But both Dr. White & Dr. Kopelman say that this method of injecting liquid fillers from outside, directly into the blood vessels of the nose, can be quite dangerous. These blood vessels can be destroyed leading to the death of a good number of cells in the nose.

In some cases of badly injected fillers, blindness has also been reported. Injecting fillers without a good surgical procedure can result in the liquid going back into some of the blood vessels of the eyes and causing blindness. It may appear to be the easier way out, but to get your nose augmented through these fillers may not be such a great idea after all!

The Intricacies of a Nose Job or Rhinoplasty

A well shaped nose adds to the natural harmony of the facial features. The goal of a good rhinoplasty surgeon is always to restructure noses in a way that they look very natural.

To get the best out of your nose job, you must know a little about what procedures are used by doctors to perform rhinoplasty. The two most common ways of performing rhinoplasty are:

The Closed Approach

More commonly employed, this approach involves working from inside the nostrils. The doctor makes tiny incisions from inside the nose which leads to much less swelling and virtually no scars. It is often performed on patients who have very minor concerns like a tiny bump or something.

The Open approach

For slightly more crooked noses, the procedure involves correcting the alignment of the tip and overall rotation of the nose. The open approach is better in such cases and is used sometimes in combination with the closed approach. Doctors make sure to work very carefully with the septum of the nose, which is the central tissue and also the cartilage of the tip.

Dr. Kopelman says that plastic surgeons specializing in ENT can have a deeper understanding of the functionality of the nose. This can help a lot with getting you a good and safe nose-job procedure done.

Gender and Age Matter a lot in Rhinoplasty

A person’s age and gender are two extremely important factors to be taken into account before performing nose-surgeries. Dr. White says that “doctors have to take extreme care when it comes to age. When a person is under 16 years of age, the face and the body both keep growing and have not yet become stable.” Most surgeons do not perform surgeries for anyone less than 16.

Also, different procedures are chosen for both men and women. For example, a woman may have her nose operated upon, but it can be either too long or too short for the chin. The doctor will then have to use fillers to augment the chin in a way that it looks feminine. During rhinoplasty doctors can also use Hyaluronic acid fillers for enhancing the appearance of the chin, to create a beautiful aesthetic balance with the transformed nose.

The Need for Nose Job Revisions

15% of the total number of nose surgeries done require some sort of revision, according to Dr. White. So if 100 people in the country get rhinoplasty done, 15 of them might have to go for revisions. The reasons may vary, but most commonly it is due to variability in the process of healing for those 15% of the people. Having said that, a good surgeon with immense experience can work on several techniques to avoid causing any fall-outs to your nose job. Let us say that revisions are not so common today, and thankfully so!

The nose is a very complex organ composed of many different types of tissues and every person has their individual expectations in terms of what they want to achieve for their facial profile. To change the shape of a crooked nose, a good rhinoplasty surgeon has to work around all of these layers using some very complex and elegant procedures. Ultimately nothing should deter the main function of the nose which is breathing. In the end, it is most important to be the happiest and healthier version of yourself!