Nose Surgery
[Rhinoplasty]
Also known as rhinoplasty, nose surgery improves the appearance and proportion of your nose, enhancing facial harmony and self-confidence. Surgery of the nose may also correct impaired breathing caused by structural abnormalities in the nose. While the shape of your nose is usually the result of heredity, the appearance may have been altered in an injury or during prior surgery.Surgery of the nose is performed either using a closed procedure, where incisions are hidden inside the nose, or an open procedure, where an incision is made across the columella, the narrow strip of tissue that separates the nostrils. Through these incisions, the soft tissues that cover the nose are gently raised, allowing access to reshape the structure of the nose. This procedure is usually performed in the outpatient setting (ambulatory surgery) under General or local anesthesia with intravenous sedation. Two weeks may be necessary for mild bruising and swelling to resolve.
Plastic surgeons usually recommend that patients wait until they are at least 14 or 15, and possibly older for boys, before undergoing rhinoplasty. This is because the nose may not be fully developed at a younger age. If you are a teen, your plastic surgeon will want to be certain that you have thought carefully about surgery and that the desire to change your appearance is based on your own feelings rather than those of your parents or friends.
Assuming you are in good health, there is no upper age limit for having your nose reshaped. Rhinoplasty is sometimes performed in conjunction with a facelift or other facial surgeries to correct the aging changes of the nose, such as a drooping tip. Sometimes certain breathing problems related to the internal nasal structures can be corrected at the same time as nose reshaping is performed. Your plastic surgeon will be able to help you determine whether these structures should be modified along with reshaping your nose.
Where are the rhinoplasty incisions placed?
Alterations may be made to increase or decrease the nasal bridge, reduce the size or width of the nose, narrow the nostrils, change the angle between the nose and upper lip, or reshape the tip.
Small wedges of skin, as shown, are removed to narrow the base of the nose or reduce the width of the nostrils. The surgical techniques employed will depend primarily on the goals established by you and your plastic surgeon. In many instances, all of the incisions will be placed inside your nose, where they will not be visible. If the base of the nose is narrowed or the nostrils reduced, small wedges of skin at the base of the nostrils will be removed. Incisions are hidden in the natural crease where the nostril joins the cheek.
Sometimes a very short incision is made across the vertical strip of tissue that separates the nostrils, called the columella. This technique is called an "open rhinoplasty." Whatever incisions are used to reshape your nose, they will ultimately be very inconspicuous.
