Male Rhinoplasty
All You Need to Know about Male Rhinoplasty including different procedures, risks, costs, and recovery.
Male rhinoplasty is surgery to reshape the nose and is one of the most common cosmetic surgery procedures. Rhinoplasty is most commonly employed to reduce the size of the nose as well as to reshape it, yet the nose can also be built up - rhinoplasty augmentation. Procedures focus on the shape of the bridge or tip, the span of the nostrils, and the angle between the nose and upper lip. Scarring is typically minimal and is often internal, while the procedure usually only takes and hour or two and can be performed under local or general anesthetic. Patients who have rhinoplasty surgery may experience temporary discomfort and bruising around the eyes and nose after surgery and can return to work within a couple of weeks.
Although male rhinoplasty can be performed under local anesthetic (where the patient remains awake and numbed), it is generally performed under a general anesthetic (while unconscious). There are two main types of rhinoplasty techniques: closed and open. The closed procedure is performed inside the nostrils via tiny incisions and thus has non-visible scarring, while the open technique involves a slit made between the nostrils allowing for better access and more intense surgery. The surgeon first separates the skin from the bone and cartilage and proceeds to reshape them (and possible even the soft tissues) to give the best result.
Rhinoplasty surgical options
- Shaving the upper cartilages and septum to reduce the height of the nasal bridge
- Removal of part of the septum to decrease the nose length
- Rounded appearance reduced by removing part of the alar cartilage
- Narrowing of the nostrils by skin excision
- Narrowing of the bridge by removing part of the nasal bone and pushing the remaining bones together (infracture)
- Highlighting bridge or nasal tip by grafting cartilage from septum, ear or ribs
Risks/side effects of having rhinoplasty
- Scarring - minimal
- Bleeding and haematoma for a few hours
- Dark circles under the eyes – can be corrected with cream
- Skin problems through the tape used with the splint
- Broken capillaries or small thread veins
- Decreased sense of smell - rare
- Infection - rare
- Eye injury - rare
- Intracranial complications, such as meningitis - rare
Although male rhinoplasty only takes an hour or two, it will generally require an overnight stay in the clinic or hospital, barring all but the most minor of corrections where the patient could return home the same day after spending a few hours in a recovery room. The nose will ache for a time after surgery and there may be some bleeding, along with bruising/swelling around the eyes for up to three weeks. Pain medication will be prescribed to ease the pain. Any dressings, splints and stitches will usually be removed after the first week and patients can often return to work after about 10 days, yet should not perform and strenuous activity for at least two or three weeks. The final appearance of rhinoplasty may take a year or more to be apparent.
