Nose surgery (rhinoplasty) can be done for necessary reconstruction after an accident, to correct any negative inherited characteristics, or for cosmetic reasons, to enhance your facial appearance. The shape of the nose can be changed, its size changed, its width, profile, tip, angle between the tip and top lip, and any asymmetry corrected. Each “nose job” is customized and designed with your facial beauty in mind.

Your cosmetic surgeon would first talk with you to get an understanding of what you want from the surgery. Your overall health would be evaluated, your face examined, measured and photographed, and all the options discussed. Before you have any type of surgery, it’s important to understand exactly what is being done and why, what the risks are, and what to realistically expect. Your plastic surgeon would make sure you were clear on all this.

Anesthesia would be discussed too – nose surgery can be done on an outpatient basis or in a hospital, which means either local anesthetic with a sedative, or general anesthesia. Most cosmetic surgeons have surgery privileges at a local hospital and can use that facility when necessary.

When you both decided on what should be done and a date was set, you would need to stop smoking several weeks before that date, and avoid taking aspirin and any drug or supplement which has a side effect of thinning the blood.

The procedure
A rhinoplasty can be done using an open procedure, or a closed procedure. The difference is in where the incision is made.
• An open procedure has the incision made across the front of the small partition between the nostrils (the septum).
• A closed procedure has it inside the nose.

The nasal structures can be changed by using cartilage taken from another area of the body, perhaps from the ear or ribs. Often it’s taken from the septum. If the septum is deviated, (meaning that one nostril is wider than the other, making it more difficult to breathe through the narrow side) that will be corrected during your rhinoplasty.

Nasal shape can be reduced also, by removal of cartilage or bone. When the changes are done, skin and tissue is repositioned and the incisions are sutured closed, perhaps with dissolving stitches.

Afterwards
For the first few days you may have splints to support the nose and small tubes to drain fluid. There would be some swelling and soreness for a while. Your cosmetic surgeon would have given you written self-care instructions ahead of time, and a pain prescription which you can fill before your procedure.

The recovery period varies in length depending on how much work was done. It’s a time to rest at home quietly. You can set up some comforts for yourself ahead of time, such as a supply of videos and good books, pillows and blankets, and favorite foods, especially those which need no cooking. Make arrangements for the dog to be walked, mail brought in, children cared for, and certainly arrange time off work.

Plastic surgery such as rhinoplasty is done in a partnership spirit by the best surgeons , so that you will be well-informed ahead of time and well-pleased afterwards. Follow your self-care instructions closely and go for all your follow-up visits. The full results may not become evident for a few months, but gradually you’ll see your new profile and facial beauty emerging, and you’ll be delighted at the difference.