Overview

A rhinoplasty, or more commonly known as a nose job, is a surgery performed to change the way your nose functions and looks.

According to a survey conducted by The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) on aesthetic and cosmetic procedures, there were 954,423 rhinoplasty operations performed in 2015 throughout the world just in the top 10 countries, making this the most common facial plastic surgery procedure.

The structure fo the nose is made up of bone (upper portion) and cartilage (lower portion.

Rhinoplasty can change bone, cartilage, skin, or all three, and it can simultaneously help you improve breathing and achieve a more balanced appearance.

Reasons For Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty can change the size, shape, or proportions of your nose. It may be done to treat abnormalities due to an injury, birth defect, or improve the patient’s breathing difficulties.

Possible changes that your surgeon can make to your nose through rhinoplasty include:

A change in size
A change in angle
Straightening of the bridge
Reshaping of the tip
Narrowing of the nostrils

Candidates

You may be a good candidate for rhinoplasty if:

You are otherwise physically healthy
Your facial growth is complete
You don’t smoke
You have a positive outlook and realistic goals in mind for the improvement of your appearance

If your rhinoplasty is being done to improve your appearance rather than your health, you should wait until your nasal bone is fully grown. For women, this is about age 15. Men may need more time as their features are still growing by that age. However, if you’re getting surgery because of breathing complications, rhinoplasty can be performed at a younger age.

How To Prepare

Discussing Your Motivations: You will initially meet with your surgeon to discuss whether you’re a good candidate for rhinoplasty.

Your doctor will ask you about the results you want to achieve, and your motivation for the surgery.

Reviewing Medical History: Your doctor will also ask questions about your medical history — including a history of nasal obstruction, surgeries, and any medications you take. If you have bleeding disorders that can affect the surgery, such as hemophilia, you may not be eligible for rhinoplasty.

Physical Exam: Your surgeon will perform a physical exam, looking closely at your facial features and at the skin on the inside and outside of your nose to determine what kind of changes can be made. Your surgeon might order blood tests or other lab tests.

Taking Photographs: This consultation also includes photographing your nose from various angles. These shots will be used for before-and-after assessments, reference during surgery, and long-term reviews.

Other Discussions: Your surgeon will also consider whether any additional surgery should be done at the same time. For example, some people also get a chin augmentation, a procedure to better define your chin, at the same time as rhinoplasty.

Later, in preparing for rhinoplasty surgery, your surgeon might ask you to:

Take certain medications or adjust your current medications.
Stop smoking. Smoking can slow down your healing process after surgery and may increase the risk of post-operative infections.
Avoid taking aspirin or ibuprofen, anti-inflammatory drugs, herbal supplements, and other over the counter medications as these can increase bleeding.

Rhinoplasty may be performed in an accredited office-based surgical facility, a licensed ambulatory surgical center, or a hospital.

For the first few days after anesthesia, you may have memory lapses, slowed reaction time, and impaired judgment, so make sure to arrange for a friend or a family member to drive you to and from surgery and to stay with you for at least the first night following surgery.

Rhinoplasty Procedure Steps

Rhinoplasty does not have an arranged series of steps. Each surgery is unique and altered for the particular anatomy, structure, and objectives of the patient having the medical procedure.

Depending on how complex your surgery is and what your surgeon prefers, rhinoplasty may be done under general anesthesia, or local anesthesia and sedation.

Generally, your surgeon will perform these steps during your surgery:

1) The incision

Rhinoplasty is performed either using a closed procedure, where incisions are hidden inside the nose or an open procedure, where an incision is made across the columella -the narrow strip of tissue that separates the nostrils.

Your doctor will make the incisions, and though them, will gently lift the skin that covers the nasal bones and cartilages. This will give them access to reshape the structure of the nose.

2) Reshaping the nose structure

If you have an overly large nose, your surgeon will reduce the shape by removing bone or cartilage.

Sometimes, during rhinoplasty, your surgeon may need to add cartilage grafts to your nose. Usually, doctors use the cartilage from the septum – the partition in the middle of the nose – for this purpose. Other times, cartilage from the ear or rarely a section of rib cartilage can be used.

4) Correcting a deviated septum

If you have a deviated septum – where the wall between the two sides of the nose is bent or crooked – it can be straightened and the projections inside the nose reduced to help with your breathing.

5) Closing the incision

Once your doctor is satisfied with the sculpted shape of the underlying structure of the nose, they will cover back the nose with your nasal skin and tissue, and lastly, close the incisions.

Recovery And Healing Process

After your surgeon finishes with the sutures, they will place a kind of packing inside your nose and a splint or bandages on the outside. This is done to support and protect the new shape during initial healing.

After the surgery, you’ll be in a recovery room, where the staff will monitor you until you wakeup. Depending on your overall health, you might leave later that day, or stay longer.

At Home after-care

For your home recovery, you will be instructed to rest in bed with your head elevated higher than your chest, to reduce any swelling or bleeding.

You may feel like your nose is blocked because of swelling or due to the splints placed inside your nose during surgery. They are usually removed after 7 days.

Your doctor also tapes a splint to your nose for protection and support and will be removed after one week.

You might have absorbable stitches, meaning they’ll dissolve and won’t require removal. If the stitches aren’t absorbable, you’ll need to see your doctor again a week after surgery to get the stitches taken out.

For a few days after your surgery, you might experience drainage and bleeding.

To absorb the blood and mucus, you will have a drip pad – a piece of surgical gauze – taped below your nose. Your doctor will tell you how often to change your drip pad, and not to place the pad too tight against your nose.

You might get headaches, your face will feel puffy, and your doctor might prescribe pain medication.

Your doctor may tell you to avoid the following for a few weeks after your surgery:

Running, jogging, swimming, and other strenuous physical activities
Extreme facial expressions that require lots of movement, such as smiling or laughing
Blowing your nose
Excessive chewing
Pulling clothing over your head
Resting eyeglasses on your nose, for at least four weeks after the surgery
Vigorous tooth brushing
Exposure to sun, as too much sun, may cause permanent irregular discoloration in your nose’s skin.

You should be able to return to work or school in a week.

While initial swelling/bruising goes down within a few weeks, it may take up to a year for your new nasal shape to fully show itself. During this healing time, you may notice gradual changes in the appearance of your nose as it refines to a more permanent outcome.

For the first year after your surgery, you may experience some swelling in the morning.

Follow-up care is important after rhinoplasty. Be sure to keep your appointments and follow your doctor’s instructions.

Risks And Side Effects

Like all major surgeries, rhinoplasty can also carry some risks. These include:

Bleeding
Infection
An adverse reaction to the anesthesia

Other possible side effects of rhinoplasty surgery can include but are not limited to:

Difficulty breathing through your nose
Permanent numbness in and around your nose
The possibility of an asymmetrical nose
Pain, discoloration or swelling that may remain
Scarring
A hole in the septum (septal perforation)
A need for second or additional surgery

If you have additional inquiries about your treatment, you can ask for the help of our team of medical experts, by asking your questions and concerns through our free medical consultation services.

Results

Although rhinoplasty is a relatively safe and easy procedure, healing from it can take a while.

You might be fully recovered in a few weeks, but some effects of the procedure can persist for months.

Your final results can take up to one year to fully showcase themselves, so be patient, and don’t forget to schedule follow-up appointments for your post-operative care.

Here at Medgo, we offer cost-effective rhinoplasty procedure plans, where you can choose the grade of your clinic, your hotel, and many other services to fit your individual needs!

You can choose a plan today.

Frequently Asked Questions (Faqs)

Is rhinoplasty painful?

Not really. Following the surgery, many patients rate the pain between 0-4 the next day.

Will I need to stay in the hospital?

Nearly everyone who has rhinoplasty can safely leave the hospital the same day after surgery.

In rare cases, your doctor may keep you in the hospital for one night. This only happens if you have nausea or other health-related issues that should be monitored by the staff.

Is there a difference between rhinoplasty and septoplasty?

Yes. Rhinoplasty and septoplasty are both plastic surgery procedures that are performed on the nose, but they are not the same.

Rhinoplasty aims to improve the visual aesthetic look of the nose, but septoplasty is done to correct structural complications that are inside of the nose, including breathing difficulties.

The 2 types of surgeries can often be performed simultaneously to optimize both the form and function of the nose for the future.

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