Nose reshaping surgery is a delicate, complex procedure designed to change the shape of the nose, its size or both. Patients often feel the size of their nose is disproportionate compared to their other facial features, and it can make them feel very self-conscious.
Surgery is a common option to modify the size, shape and overall appearance of the nose. There are four main ways to reshape a nose and it is important to have a clear idea of which part of the nose you want to have altered:
It is common for some patients to have the tip and the bridge of their nose altered at the same time. As always, we will carefully discuss every option and procedure with you during your consultation.
Men and women over the age of 18 are good candidates, as are people who have previously undergone nose reshaping, as long as the previous surgery has not been done within the past year.
Rhinotip is performed as a day-case procedure and, in some cases, under local anaesthetic. Full Rhinoplasty and Septorhinoplasty are performed under general anaesthetic and involve an overnight stay in hospital. If you’d like your flared nostrils reduced, we can do that at the same time as any of the above procedures.
The two main approaches are open and closed rhinoplasties. As it suggests, closed rhinoplasty means all the work is done through the nostrils, whereas more involved cases will be approached by making a small incision under the nose to expose the bony asymmetry.
For all procedures we place a small plaster cast or dressing over the nose. You should leave this on for 7-10 days.
The most common side effects are bruising, swelling, feeling like you have a heavy cold, and a headache. You may also experience a nosebleed in the immediate post-operative period, which means it’s important not to do any excessive exercise or bend during the first 4 weeks after the operation.
This is not an exhaustive list of potential side effects. There are more to think about. We will discuss all the risks and benefits in full at your initial consultation, and we always give our clients an out of hours contact number just in case they have any post-operative concerns or worries about their recovery.
Recovery times vary depending on which kind of rhinoplasty you have, but it is usually anything from 1-3 weeks. You will have a post-operative appointment to attend at 1 week, 2 weeks, 6 weeks and 3 months after the operation, to monitor your on-going progress.
This type of operation requires patience. You won’t see the final results for 6-9 months, the amount of time it can take for the swelling, particularly at the tip of your nose, to subside.
Rhinoplasties results are very variable and your expectations have to be realistic. It is important to communicate your expectations very clearly from the start, so the surgeon can determine whether or not your aims can be achieved. Sometimes we need to carry out a secondary rhinoplasty if there’s a lot of work to do or it is a particularly complex case.
