Many patients opt for summer to undergo nose surgery for a number of reasons. Younger patients are out of school, allowing for elective procedures and recovery. Plus, nasal trauma requiring correction occurs more often in people who are involved with outdoor activities. Rhinoplasty can also improve your breathing and your appearance whether the intent is reconstructive or cosmetic.

Cosmetic rhinoplasty involves reshaping the nose to balance other features of the face. The procedure may make the nose larger or smaller, flatten out a nasal hump, diminish the size of the tip or adjust the size and shape of the nostrils. The specifics of the procedure depend on your anatomy and goals, as well as your physician’s evaluation. Prospective patients should wait until they are fully grown to have surgery, which typically is around 17 years of age for females and 18 for males.

Repair of nasal trauma can involve correction of issues caused to the nose due to trauma, as well as straighten bone and cartilage to improve breathing. Often, the same techniques used in cosmetic nasal surgery carry over for correction of nasal and septal fractures.

Finally, rhinoplasty can be done to correct breathing. The surgery may simply straighten the septum, which is the wall inside the nose separating the two nostrils. Alternatively, it may build up nasal structures to better support the nose, which improves breathing much like an internal Breathe Right strip. With nasal trauma and correction of breathing rhinoplasty, insurance may cover functional nasal surgery.

The specifics of your rhinoplasty procedure will vary according to your circumstances and Dr. Taghizadeh’s expertise, but there are two primary types of this surgery:

• Closed Rhinoplasty: There are no external incisions, so the patient will not experience any visible scarring. Instead, the procedure begins with an internal incision just inside the nostril.
• Open Rhinoplasty: Dr. Taghizadeh may determine that an open procedure is best for you, in which case there will be a very small incision on the exterior of the nose.

The next step in rhinoplasty will depend upon the desired goals of the surgery, which you’ll discuss with Dr. Taghizadeh during a consultation prior to the procedure. During the first visit, he will inform you of the type of procedure that will achieve optimum results. Options for the goals of surgery include:

• Whether you’d like to increase or decrease the size of the nose or individual nostrils
• Adjusting the shape of the nose tip or bridge
• Changing the angle between your nose and upper lip

In most cases, cartilage or bone will be trimmed or shaved from the nose area in order to reach the intended cosmetic results.

After the surgery and for a period of 48 hours, you may experience certain side effects, including slight bleeding, bruising, discomfort, headaches, and swelling. Dr. Taghizadeh advises all rhinoplasty patients to keep their heads elevated and get as much rest as possible. One week post-procedure, you will attend a follow-up visit with the doctor. If any packing was inserted during the operation, this material would be removed.

Between one and two weeks after the procedure, you will notice considerably less discomfort and can return to your normal activities. Still, your nose tissues need time to fully heal, which may take as long as one year.

At Arizona Facial Plastics, PC, our medical spa services help with:

• Anti-aging, such as reducing fine lines and wrinkles
• Skin rejuvenation
• Skin resurfacing
• Acne, uneven pigmentation, and other flaws
• Vascular and pigmented lesions
• Acne scars