Does the skin become thinner after nose surgery?
Question: I’ve seen on message boards where patients looking into revision rhinoplasty mention thin skin. Does the skin become thinner after surgery or are these people who originally have thin skin? How does this affect the surgery?
Answer: Most patients that mention thin skin started with thin skin before they had their rhinoplasty. Often times after a rhinoplasty that did not turn out as good as they desired, there are areas that are too prominent or areas that have sharp edges that are able to be visible through thin skin and this essentially makes the skin look even thinner. The nose also has a healing effect where the soft tissue over the cartilage tends to contract around the remaining cartilage and this can also give the appearance of thinner skin than they started with before the rhinoplasty. Ultimately, there are camouflaging techniques that can be performed in a revision rhinoplasty that will help give the appearance of slightly thicker skin, and there are a variety of techniques that we can perform to help create an overall softer look to the nose.
