Question: I am a 34 year old Jamaican woman with extremely flared nostrils. Can this be fixed with ethnic rhinoplasty?

Answer: There are a variety of techniques available that can be used to reduce flared nostrils during an ethnic rhinoplasty.  I would recommend seeking out a very experienced rhinoplasty surgeon since these can be very complicated procedures with a high likelihood of a revision in inexperienced hands; furthermore, I like to discuss the limitations that certain techniques would have for each individual’s particular anatomy so that they do not have a higher expectation than can be achieved.  I have found that computer-generated imaging is imperative in situations like this so that the patient can see their nose on the computer with the expected postsurgical changes on their face.  This allows for them to have a realistic expectation regarding the appearance of the nose after surgery.

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Question: My father is Iranian and I’ve inherited his nose. I have a large hump and the tip hangs down very low. I imagine that removing the hump would make the tip hang even lower so how would this be addressed?

Answer: Simply removing the hump will not necessarily make the tip hang down any lower, but obviously we want to address all problem areas of the nose so that the nose has more harmony with the remainder of the face, and there are obviously different areas of the nose and we want each of these areas to have harmony with each other so that the nose has an overall pleasant appearance and fits the patient’s face and, therefore, does not draw attention to itself visually.  There are multiple different techniques that a surgeon can employ during a rhinoplasty to help improve tip support and rotate or lift a tip that is droopy.  Ultimately, I think it is extremely important to seek out a very experienced rhinoplasty surgeon to maximize the chances of you getting the result that you desire.   

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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. 

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Question: I’m Korean and interested in getting a nose job. Is there a difference in what would look good for me vs. someone who is Chinese or Japanese or Malaysian?

Answer: Since everyone’s nose is different and everyone’s face is different, we need to highly customize a rhinoplasty so that we create a nose that has good harmony with the remainder of the patient’s face.  With that said, there are obviously differences between different ethnic groups around the planet and, therefore, we are going to treat their noses slightly differently, but overall there is a universal agreement with beauty whether it be in an Asian culture, European culture, African culture, or American culture.  We all have a relative standard for what is considered beautiful, so creating a more proportionate and symmetric nose that has better harmony with the remainder of the face is a universal desire with rhinoplasty.  I really feel that computer-generated imaging is helpful in virtually all cases so that we can assess a patient’s nose, make changes to it on a computer, and assure ourselves that we are going to create a nose that enhances the patient’s overall facial aesthetics as well as satisfies their desires.

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Question: I think of my nose as a sort of Patrician nose. However, there is a slight bump towards the top that I’m bothered by. Can this be slightly improved while leaving the rest of my nose intact?

Answer: We can definitely customize a rhinoplasty to meet each individual’s goals, and I certainly have had many patients who did not want to alter the appearance of the nose in a striking way but more of in a subtle way and that is where computer-generated imaging really helps.  Patients may have an overly large nose with a small hump and though they would like to create a more harmonious nose with the rest of their face, they do not want to lose the overall character of their nose and we, therefore, can customize this not only on a computer screen but also in the operating room so that we ultimately give the patient the nose that they desire. 

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