Rhinoplasty is a term used to describe reshaping the nose. Rhinoplasty is performed for either functional or cosmetic reasons or both. Functional rhinoplasty is required when a patient has significant problems associated with breathing through their nose. The goal of a functional rhinoplasty is to improve the nasal airway and usually doesn’t cause much alteration in the appearance of the nose.
Cosmetic rhinoplasty involves reshaping the nose whilst maintaining structure. The individual goals of a cosmetic rhinoplasty differ greatly between patients and it is important to ensure that you discuss with your surgeon exactly what you would like the goals of your operation to be. Common goals that patients would like to achieve include:
- Removal of hump
- Smaller nose
- Refinement of tip
- Better profile
- Straighter nose
Cosmetic rhinoplasty can be performed in conjunction with functional rhinoplasty. Cosmetic rhinoplasty techniques have made significant advances over the last 5 years. One of the most significant advances has been to ensure that patients now achieve results which last the test of time. In years gone past rhinoplasty could be performed that would look good initially and then start to change significantly over the course of several years. To ensure that this does not happen, our surgeons utilize a group of techniques referred to as open structured rhinoplasty.