Cosmetic nose surgery, also known as rhinoplasty, can improve the appearance and proportion of your nose – enhancing facial harmony and self-confidence. Nose surgery may also improve a breathing problem or correct abnormalities caused by trauma or a birth defect, and the procedure can change your nose’s overall size, tip, bridge and nostrils.

Surgeons at La Visage Beauty Center offer refined cosmetic nose surgery techniques that can positively transform the most defining characteristic of your face.

How is cosmetic nose surgery performed?

To reshape the nose, surgery is performed either using a closed procedure, where incisions are hidden inside the nose, or an open procedure, where an incision is made across the columella, or the narrow strip of tissue that separates the nostrils. The rest of the incision is similar to the closed technique. Through these incisions, the soft tissues that cover the nose are gently raised, allowing access to reshape the structure of the nose.

Nose surgery can reduce or enlarge nasal structures with the use of cartilage grafted from other areas of your body. Typically, pieces of cartilage from the septum (the division in the middle of the nose) are used for this reason. Occasionally, a piece of cartilage from the ear and, rarely, a section of rib cartilage can be used.

If your nose’s septum is deviated, it can be straightened and the projections inside the nose reduced to improve breathing. Once the underlying structure of the nose is sculpted to the desired shape, nasal skin and tissue is redraped and incisions are closed. Additional incisions may be placed in the natural creases of the nostrils to alter their size.

Your cosmetic surgeon may place splints to support the nose as it begins to heal for a week following surgery if the septum is operated on. Nose surgery usually takes one to two hours to complete, although it may take longer based on the procedure being completed.