The Forever Nose Job
Our New York rhinoplasty patients don’t often ask if their surgery will last forever, so we were a bit startled to see this question online recently. Our first reaction was, “yes!” Of course the results of a nose job last forever.
But on second thought, the answer is a little less black and white than that. Your nose doesn’t retain the exact same look throughout your lifetime—changes do occur. If you’re concerned about the appearance of your nose, or if you’re considering rhinoplasty surgery or revision, here are some things to keep in mind.
Time After Time
Your nose changes to some extent as the years pass, especially early in life. When you were an infant, chances are you had a cute button nose. As you grew your nose also grew, and now it’s more or less in proportion to the rest of your face.
According to Medline Plus, an online resource published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, your nose may lengthen slightly as you grow older. Due to changes in your mouth and teeth and normal bone loss in the jaw, your nose might also look bigger in relation to the rest of your face. Thinning skin with decreased skin elasticity, increasing cartilage laxity and the effect of gravity can also play a part in your nose seeming a bit larger as you age.
Most people who elect rhinoplasty aren’t bothered enough by slight age-related changes to seek additional surgery years after their first procedure (though some do). So, provided your initial nose job is successful—and you have made good choices about the look you want and avoid injury—you can expect rhinoplasty to last forever.
First Time’s the Charm
Did you notice that very important caveat? Getting it right the first time is especially important when it comes to nose jobs. Modifications to bone and cartilage, combined with inevitable scar tissue, make revision rhinoplasty a tricky proposition. Most plastic surgeons agree that nose surgery is challenging the first time and can be very difficult the second time around (though in the hands of a skilled plastic surgeon, most results can be improved).
If you’ve already had a nose job and are not sure you’re content with the outcome, our best advice is to wait several months or longer before you consider a re-do. Initial healing is usually relatively rapid, but it can take more than a year for your post-surgical nose to settle into its final new shape.
It’s Up to Your Plastic Surgeon AND You
Achieving “forever” results is a responsibility shared between your plastic surgeon and you. Your plastic surgeon should be board certified, have hundreds of rhinoplasty procedures under his or her belt, and have a track record of great results and a low revision rate.
Your responsibility includes performing adequate research, choosing your plastic surgeon with care, making sound decisions about the right nose for your face and ethnicity and following your doctor’s orders to the letter.
We’d like to share our thirty years of experience performing New York rhinoplasty surgery with you. Give us a call at 212-570-6080.
