Things to Know if You Are Interested in Rhinoplasty

You’ve probably heard the expression that someone had a “nose job.” In fact, you may be considering having one yourself and would like to have a little information about this cosmetic surgery. If you don’t like the nose you have, rhinoplasty can give you one you will like better.

Cosmetic surgery of the nose is technically known as rhinoplasty. This plastic surgery may involve reshaping the nose, making the nose larger or smaller, removing a hump or bump in the nose, making the span of the nostrils more narrow, altering the angle between the upper lip and nose, reshaping the bridge or tip of the nose, or surgically reshaping and correcting nasal abnormalities that block nasal passages.

People have rhinoplasty for various reasons. The most common reason is cosmetic, that is, to alter the appearance of the nose for appearance sake. In fact, cosmetic rhinoplasty is the fourth most common type of surgery in the United States. More than 150,000 rhinoplasty surgical procedures were done in the US last year alone!

The two types of rhinoplasty most commonly performed: open rhinoplasty and closed rhinoplasty.

Open rhinoplasty, which is a more complicated procedure than closed rhinoplasty, is better suited to making drastic changes to the nose. Small incisions are made between the nostrils, as well as inside the nose. Many plastic surgeons prefer the open rhinoplasty method because it affords more visibility of the entire nose.

In closed rhinoplasty, all incisions are made inside the nose. Skin is separated from the bone and cartilage, and then the bone and cartilage can be reshaped, augmented, removed or rearranged as needed. This type of facial cosmetic surgery of the nose is normally performed when the changes will be minor.

Rhinoplasty is usually done with the patient under general anesthesia as opposed to local anesthesia. The procedure ordinarily takes approximately only one to two hours, but more major treatments may take longer.

Following rhinoplasty, you can expect bruising, swelling and being unable to breathe your nose initially, until the swelling decreases. The average rhinoplasty patient can go back to work within a week or two, unless his or her job is extremely physical.