Rhinoplasty: Everything you need to know

Aesthetic and Functional Nose Surgery

Aesthetic Rhinoplasty. The nose is the center of the face, it’s an esthetic and ethnic prime element. The profile of a person’s face is defined by the shape and projection of the nose.

The beautification and nasal profile esthetics have always been observed in all cultures. It has received great attention in the time of the great masters of the Italian Renaissance, when Da Vinci, Michelangelo and other greats placed emphasis in their works; both in paintings and sculptures.

Today, the movies industry and the media give more attention to the profile and shape of the nose, from Marilyn Monroe to Michael Jackson. Certainly icons of excess, always being the most convenient the natural results without displaying the “operated nose” evidence.

Anthropologically the nose is a distinctive element of each ethnicity or race; is why the Asians have it in one way; the Anglo-Saxons in another, the African Americans and the Latinos. In the case of our country we have mestizo noses with great variety of shapes and a great majority with basic features, such as wide orifices, flattened nasal dorsum, popularly called “ñato” as well as prominent wings and bullous or round tips.

Both men and women can change the appearance of their nose, in size and shape; the back height, orifice size, projection and definition of the tip, etc.

We also have cases of functional rhinoplasty, where the correction of the septal deviation, turbinate surgery and nasal reconstruction for traumas are included.

The rhinoplasty is worldwide one of the most performed cosmetic procedures; for example, only in 2013 in the United States were operated on more than 100,000 patients. 41% of those aged between 22 and 35 years, and 24% of those were men.

From 18 years old almost any individual is a candidate for rhinoplasty. The psychological aspect is of great importance, as well as patient expectations. It’s necessary to know the motivations of each individual as well as the results they expect; some might believe that we will remove their nose and another will be placed, which would be a distortion of the reality. Based on the nasal bone and cartilage structure plastic surgeons can dramatically improve the esthetic appearance of a person, giving them more self-confidence and a significant improvement in self-esteem.

The procedure is ambulatory, of about 1 hour where cartilage and bones forming the nasal structure are sculptured. In mild cases such as lifting of the tip or nostrils orifice reduction the time is half an hour and about 3 days later the patient returns to his normal life.

The discomfort or mild pain are rare and are treated with oral analgesics. After 10 days the patient leads his normal life.

It is of great importance to know that when it’s necessary to increase the projection of the nose, only two materials can be used; cartilage of the patient; or small silicone implants. We emphasize that any other substance, method or mechanism has not resulted safe and there are no studies showing successful results, as in the case of halogens, such as polymers or other substances of unknown origin.