The nose: it provides a sense of character and facial balance, but for some, it also can be a source of breathing problems and even aesthetic embarrassment.
Yet, whether the concern is form, function or a combination of the two, rhinoplasty—also known as a “nose job”—can help free breathing, alter the size and shape, and improve the way you look and feel about your face’s most central feature.
Rhinoplasty: Then and Now
In the 70s, rhinoplasty took a much more “cookie cutter” approach with patients. Most noses that underwent surgery looked the same—transforming unique facial features into tiny, turned-up noses that simply didn’t suit every patient.
Fortunately, today there is no one-look-fits-all rhinoplasty solution for patients. Qualified plastic surgeons understand how important it is to analyze a patient’s nose, ask them what they like and don’t like, and work to marry surgical skills to correct problem areas on a case-by-case basis.
We also examine the chin and neck at this time. A recessed chin, for instance, can make a nose look bigger. A double-chin can also affect the way the nose appears. Balance becomes the key to an effective rhinoplasty.
If we don’t feel we can achieve a look that balances naturally with the patient’s face, or if surgery would impair proper functioning, then we explain that rhinoplasty may not be a good fit for that patient.
Technology Meets Technique
One way to help us understand what a patient likes and doesn’t like about their nose, while demonstrating what the nose could look like after rhinoplasty, is with computer imaging.
Because the facial profile is two-dimensional, it’s easy to generate and morph photographs into helpful Before and After shots. This ensures we’re on the same page with the patient, and helps us achieve the most successful results.
The Rhinoplasty Process
Rhinoplasty typically takes from an hour to an hour-and-a-half, and it’s performed under local sedation. Patients feel no pain during the procedure. They leave our office with a small amount of packing in each nostril, and a little plastic splint on the nose itself.
The packing is removed in one to two days, and the splint comes off in a week.
That day, makeup may be needed to cover any remaining bruising under the eyes, but often patients can return to work, safely run errands, go out to lunch, and other routine events with little to no makeup, and without anyone even knowing they had surgery.
One word of caution—it does take a full six weeks from the day of surgery for the nose to heal. So rhinoplasty patients must remember to avoid contact sports and any other activity which might cause impact to the surgery.
But if a bump, bulbous tip, air intake issue or other related problem is affecting how you feel about yourself, rhinoplasty is a wonderful solution to improve your appearance and your breathing.
Contact us today to schedule your personalized evaluation.
