You may have heard the term before, but you may not know the details of this face procedure: What exactly is a rhinoplasty? We use rhinoplasty to improve the shape of the nose. Patients may perceive that their nose is too large, too small, too short, too long, or crooked. They may be happy with their nose save for one or two subtle features that they would like corrected.
What to Expect from Rhinoplasty
The appearance of the nose is influenced by ethnicity, gender, and other pre-existing facial features, such as the position of the chin and upper jaw. Rhinoplasty requires a careful assessment of functional and cosmetic goals, as well as a clear understanding of a patient’s expectations and how they relate to what the surgery can reasonably achieve.
Dr. Mahabat will assess your nose and how it relates to the rest of your face to determine the best approach to achieving your goals for nose surgery. Occasionally non-surgical rhinoplasty can be done with injectable fillers to camouflage deformities and change the shape of the nose. This can last several years and be done with no anesthesia or downtime.
A rhinoplasty can be performed through an open or closed approach. Each technique has merit and is chosen on the basis of what your surgeon plans to do to try to meet your goals with your rhinoplasty.
The open rhinoplasty approach involves a small incision made on the structure known as the columella, which is the tissue that separates the nostrils. The surgeon can then peel back the skin covering the nose. With the bone, cartilage, and other tissues exposed, visualizing both the problem and the solution is a matter of directly seeing what needs to be corrected. When the work is done, the tissue will be re-draped, and the incision closed. The most modern techniques are used to ensure any scar is as minimally noticeable as possible.
The closed rhinoplasty approach avoids the small incision of the columella, instead consisting of internal incisions that will leave no marks that can be seen. Since no skin is peeled back, there is no direct visualization of the internal structures.
As noted above, each approach has its own merits, which can be discussed at an initial consultation.
With the approach determined, the rhinoplasty surgery itself may involve removing small amounts of tissue, repositioning tissue, or even grafting tissue harvested from other areas of the body. The goal is not to create an entirely “new” nose, but to create a structure that looks like it fits well with the rest of the face.