Dear Rae,
We are not very familiar with any plastic surgeons in Las Vegas who specialize in African American rhinoplasty but here in LA there are a few options you may want to consider especially as it is not so far away.
African American rhinoplasty is a nuanced procedure that really requires a surgeon with experience. We see a number of ethnic patients every month who tell us they’ve had a hard time finding a surgeon who seems to make a practice of doing ‘ethnic plastic surgery’. Why?
Well, in our opinions, there are a few reasons for this:
1. The aesthetic is different. We now know that there is tremendous variation in anatomy among and between ethnicities and an equally wide variation in the desired aesthetic.
When it comes to rhinoplasty, which is by far the most popular facial surgical procedure among ethnic minorities, the nuances of ethnic differences in facial structure and aesthetics require a different type of surgeon: one who moves beyond the “one size fits all” model to tailor results.
If a surgeon is not experienced with the nuance of ethnic rhinoplasty, this can be hard to accomplish in a natural-looking way. Which brings us to the final point…
2. The procedures are different. For a typical rhinoplasty in patients of European ancestry, the focus is usually on making the nose smaller, reducing a bump, etc. and so we trained to remove some tissue in order to accomplish this. Ethnic noses can tend towards thicker skin, softer tip cartilage, weaker septal cartilage, excessive nostril flare, and sometimes lower nasal bridges. For these patients, the emphasis is typically on narrowing and adding to the bridge, refining and supporting the tip, and on specialized procedures such as alar base reduction (nostril narrowing).
Please let us know if we can be of any further help.
Regards,
Peyman Solieman, MD
