Rhinoplasty, or as it is colloquially known, a nose job, is a plastic surgery procedure in which a patient’s nose is structurally corrected and/or altered in some way via surgical techniques. A rhinoplasty procedure can be reconstruction procedure, which means that it is a procedure designed to restore the function/form of a certain part of the body, in this case the nose. However, rhinoplasty procedures are popularly understood as mostly cosmetic procedures- procedures designed to aesthetically enhance the appearance of a certain part of the body, which again, in this case is the nose.

 

 From a reconstructive standpoint, rhinoplasties can potentially alleviate breathing issues caused by birth defects, nasal injuries, and general nasal problems, such as deviated septum’s (a condition of the nose that occurs when the nasal septum- the passageway that separates the left nostril from the right nostril- has shifted away from the midline of your face, causing the halving of the nasal cavity, and therefore, difficulty breathing). As a cosmetic procedure, rhinoplasties can be used to remodel the tip of the nose, minimize the appearance of large and upturned nostrils, and repair nasal asymmetries. For patients who want to reproportion the size of their noses relative to the size of their faces, resize the bridge of their nose, reshape their nostrils, change the contour of their nose profile, or do all of the above, a cosmetic rhinoplasty procedure is likely right for you.

Rhinoplasty procedures can now be performed one of two ways: as an open rhinoplasty or as a closed rhinoplasty. The essential difference between an open rhinoplasty and a closed rhinoplasty is that a closed rhinoplasty procedure is designed in such a way that all the incisions that are made during the surgery are endonasal (within the nose) while an open rhinoplasty is designed to incorporate both the incisions made during a closed rhinoplasty and additional incisions made on the patient’s columella (the fleshy exterior at the end of the nasal septum) in order to bring about the nasal corrections that the patient desires.

According to statistics released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, South Bay rhinoplasty was the second most sought after surgical cosmetic procedure in 2011, with about 244,000 of the nose reshaping procedures performed that year. The popularity of the nose job can perhaps be explained by the combination of growing societal acceptance of cosmetic rhinoplasties- and of plastic surgery procedures in general- and modern developments within the field of surgical techniques and instruments that have made virtually all plastic surgery procedures safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective.

Despite all these positive benefits and safer nature of modern rhinoplasties, patients will need to have a thorough and frank consult with their West Hollywood plastic surgeon before committing to a rhinoplasty procedure.