Although rhinoplasty has benefited from the same technological advances as other facial surgical procedures , such as better surgical techniques that lead to quicker and better wound healing, and has even seen a non-invasive cosmetic treatment rhinoplasty alternative develop, the most important advance in rhinoplasty has nothing to do with technology. Instead, it is related to the attitude behind rhinoplasty that ensures people today receive much better results from their rhinoplasty surgery than people in the past ever did.

An Artistic Precedent

During the Renaissance, art saw a revival as artists re-discovered the work of classical artists. Greek and Roman sculpture, in particular, helped European artists break away from the two-dimensional paradigm of medieval art. The bad side of this was that classical artists were so revered that it verged on idolatry as they slavishly sought to imitate the classical forms. However, the greatest of what we currently think of as Renaissance art, the work of Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo, is noteworthy because it breaks out of mere emulation into seeking the highest possible achievements in the creation of individual character and emotional expression in a movement sometimes known as "Mannerism."

In like fashion, cosmetic surgery used to stick to a strictly classical notion of what made a nose attractive. Rhinoplasty was governed by angles and proportions that were considered as mystic as the principles of the Pythagoreans. The bridge of the nose was supposed to have an angle of 115-130 degrees from the vertical, with the nose as a whole a 3-4-5 right triangle we all remember from high school trigonometry.

The New Paradigm

Nowadays, though, the best cosmetic surgeons recognize that all faces are not identical, and that the best results for your rhinoplasty are determined by the interaction of the shape of your nose with the rest of your face. The proportions of your nose following your rhinoplasty should not be governed by mathematical ratio that came to a long-dead philosopher after days of involuntary fasting or a night of heavy drinking. Instead, they should be governed by an attempt to enrich the unique character of your face.

A Higher Standard

There is one major caveat to this new development. Without the governance of pure mathematics, a plastic surgeon must rely on his or her innate sense of aesthetics in performing a rhinoplasty. This makes it extra important that you are careful in your selection of a plastic surgeon . Choose one with a demonstrated record of successfully judging what makes a nose harmonize properly with the rest of the face, someone with experience and training behind him or her.