Rhinoplasty patients should consider variables

Dear Dr. McCollough: I am interested in nasal surgery as my nose is crooked from a previous sports injury. What can you tell me about the surgery?

Dear Reader: Rhinoplasty is the name of the operation that reconstructs and reshapes the nose. The operation can have both cosmetic and reconstructive, or functional, components. Insurance often helps defray the costs of functional or reconstructive surgery. The patient is responsible for any cosmetic changes.

Most of the work is done from the inside of the nose through the nostrils. There are two exceptions. If it is necessary to make flaring or wide nostrils smaller, an incision can be made in the crease where the side of the nostril adjoins the upper lip and cheek. Because this is located in a natural body fold, the scar is practically invisible within a few weeks. In severely deformed noses or revisional (secondary) rhinoplasty, a small incision may be made below the tip of the nose in the central portion, between the nostrils. With time these incisions become inconspicuous.

Patients should remember that in any nose surgery there is a limit to the corrective procedures possible or recommended. The surgical goal is improvement in the existing conditions, not to match the ideal which might be present in one's mind. Some of the limiting factors in rhinoplasty are:

1) The existing size and shape of the nose.

2) The contour and shape of the face.

3) The texture and thickness of the skin.

4) The inclination of the chin, lip, and forehead.

5) The depth of the angle between the forehead and the nose.

6) The height of the individual.

7) The healing powers of their tissues.

8) The facial asymmetry or differences between the two merged sides of the face.

Noses that have been severely injured, as from athletic injuries or an accident, those which are markedly crooked, or those which have had a previous operation which left the patient with an unsatisfactory result are technically more difficult to correct.

I would suggest that you send pictures to me so that I can analyze your situation specifically. Please send the pictures to info@mccolloughinstitute.com.