Why choose to get Rhinoplasty?
Rhinoplasty, or surgery to reshape the nose, is one of the most common of all cosmetic surgery procedures. Rhinoplasty can reduce or increase the size of your nose, change the shape of the tip or the bridge, narrow the span of the nostrils, or change the angle between your nose and your upper lip. Rhinoplasty may also correct a birth defect or injury, or help relieve some breathing problems.
Initial consultation
At your initial visit, Dr. Rau will likely ask you to describe in detail what you would like improved. Be specific about what you would like done. After examining your nose, Dr. Rau can give you an idea of what improvements can be made on your particular nose. Dr. Rau considers your entire face when planning the operation. Some patients choose to have chin augmentation along with rhinoplasty.
Rhinoplasty procedure
Nasal surgery can change your nose by recontouring the underlying cartilage and bone. Dr. Rau can make your nose larger, shorter, smaller, straighter, or thinner. Most of the incisions for reshaping the nose are made internally and scars will not be visible.
How thick or thin your skin is plays a big role in the results of the operation. Thick skin will not “drape out” as well over the new underlying structure as thin skin. But, thick skin will hide small irregularities of the cartilage and bone better than thin skin.
The rhinoplasty operation normally lasts about 1-2 hours. The surgery will either be performed under local anesthesia with heavy sedation, or under general anesthesia.
Common changes from Rhinoplasty
* Tip of the nose: corrected by adding or excising cartilage at the tip and stitches the cartilage together. A low tip of the nose can be raised by adding cartilage to support the tip, removing excess cartilage in the septum, or repositioning the cartilage.
* Dorsal bone: the hump of the bridge can be corrected by removing (with a chisel or rasp) excess cartilage and bone, then brings the nasal bones together.
* Wide bony portion of nose: corrected by breaking the bones of the nose and repositioning them inward.
* Wide base of the nose: corrected by removing tissue at the base of the nose and the nostrils moved closer together.
* Nostrils too wide: corrected by removing small wedges of skin from their base and bringing them closer together.
* Angle between nose and lip: corrected by trimming the septum.