Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty is a procedure that brings a great deal of satisfaction to both the patient and surgeon. Often in rhinoplasty patients, the face has very elegant proportions with the only exception being the contour of the nose. Performing a rhinoplasty allows the demensions of the face to be brought back into appropriate harmony.


The results from a rhinoplasty tend to improve over time. The result can continue to improve over twelve months.

At approximately the six month mark there is significant improvement in the amount of swelling the in the glabella as well as the nasal dorsum. The tip continues to have some swelling which will continue to improve over the next six months and up to and beyond one year.


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The Cute Nose

There tend to be several aspects in rhinoplasty that help to define what many people call a "cute" nose. I often encounter patients who have a nose that can be very appealing to begin with. Subtle changes in the relationship of two key characteristics are helpful in producing a nose that is "cuter" and more "youthful".

The first relationship is the angle of the nose from the upper lip. This angle is called the nasolabial angle. Slightly increasing the nasolabial angle can give the nose a more "cute" or "youthful" appearance. Another more subtle characteristic is the amount of tip projection or the distance the nose projects from the face. Slightly decreasing the projection can give the nose a "smaller" more youthful appearance.



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Rhinoplasty Healing

Rhinoplasty can take several months to up to one year or more to completely heal from. In fact, changes in the nose can occur several times over the course of a week status post rhinoplasty.

The nasal dorsum can be augmented with temporalis fascia and diced cartilage to allow the radix area and dorsum to have a gradual curvature. The nasal base can be narrowed with nostril sill excisions and the tip modified with suturing of the lower lateral cartilages and tip grafting.

In the weeks following rhinoplasty, the nose can change shape several times as the swelling subsides or increases or decreases with varying activity.

The images above reflect before, two weeks and four weeks post surgery.

At six months, the nose continues to show changes and begins to reach it's mature stage. The definition in the glabella and dorsum start to subside, still with some swelling int the nasal tip area.