Break or Not to Break Nose During Rhinoplasty?

Most commonly the bones are shaved down over the dorsum and the hump is removed. Once this is done the base of the bones have to be broken to move the base of the bones inward to close the nose down into a pyramid. I would not overly concern your self with the detailed parts of the surgery as if it is necessary it needs to be done.

The osteotomies or re-breaking of the nasal bone is performed to narrow a wide bridge. Once the large hump has been taken off the bridge the osteotomies and re-breaking of the nasal bones have to occur; otherwise, an open roof deformity will result, which will look like a flattop nose. If a small hump is present, these can be simply filed off and re-breaking of the nose will not need to occur.

Breaking the nose is usually done when a large hump is removed from the bridge of the nose or if the nose is too wide. Small humps can be gradually shaved down without the need to break the nose. Although, breaking the nose post-operatively is pretty well tolerated and it can give you a fantastic result. Good luck!

Breaking the nose bones is called "osteotomy" and is done with more or less, a surgical mallet and chisel. The nose contains bone and cartilage components for the skeletal support. Only the bones are addressed this way. Osteotomy is used to narrow the bony part of the nose, and to straighten the bony pyramid. If these maneuvers aren't needed, no osteotomy is performed.

The great majority of patients presenting for rhinoplasty are unhappy because their nose is either too wide or has a " bump" ( best seen on profile). Impossible to get a satisfactory result without breaking the bones and moving them towards each other. If the bones are not so managed, the nose will look flat, even wider and not natural. Even when only the lower half of the nose, particularly the tip needs narrowing, it is usually wise for the surgeon to move the nasal bones ever... more

Not all rhinoplasty procedures require the breaking of the nasal bones, this is known as a lateral osteotomy. There are several reasons to perform this fracture. If a large nasal hump has been removed it is necessary to perform this controlled fracture in order to close the gap created when the hump was removed. The widest portion of the nose should typically be within a line drawn down from the corner of the eyes. This will narrow the nasal base and create nicer aesthetic lines.... more

Usually during a rhinoplasty, the bone is shaved down a bit, and this will flatten the dorsum of the nose. The bones are infractured to re-create the pyramid shape of the nasal bones and as a result the bones are a bit narrowed as well. If the dorsum is minimally shaved, then the dorsum is not flattened and infracture is not necessary.

The two main reasons that your nasal bones would need to be broken during a rhinoplasty are to either narrow the width of the nose or to reconstruct the dorsum after a large hump has been removed ("closing an open roof deformity" in technical terms). Therefore, there are some patients that do not need to have the bones broken as part of their individual procedure, but many do. Many patients are quite concerned about this part of their rhinoplasty, and fear that it may be... more

Osteotomies (breaking the nose) is the essential part for narrowing the bony part of the nose. When a nasal hump is reduced, oseteotomies are needed to narrow the nasal bridge. If you are getting only the tip worked on, then osteotomies are not needed. Regards

Hi Mary, Good question. What is the difference between breaking or not breaking the nose during rhinoplasty? A loud cracking sound with, just kidding. Most noses require cutting the nasal bones (breaking) to narrow the upper 1/3, and to close the roof of the nose which was uncovered by the removal of the dorsal boney hump. Some noses do not require cutting of the nasal bones. Individual noses need to be examined, the goals of the rhinoplasty need to be set, and then the plan to achieve... more

As with everything else in rhinoplasty, all you need to do is describe the top three things you want improved in the appearance of your nose. Your ABPS Board Certified Plastic Surgeon will then help you decide if you need this done to achieve what you want out of the operation. It makes a big difference if you do it or not for your recovery. I find this step in the operation to be one of the major determinants of how your recovery will be. Without breaking the bones, the recovery is a... more

Generally the question is likely referring to the activity of lateral osteotomies where we move the nasal bones inward. This is easily done in most cases and is necessary when removing a large "hump" from the bridge of the nose or when the upper portion of the nose is wide or crooked. This portion of the procedure takes only a few minutes. Most of the time spent on a rhinoplasty is spent on the nasal tip and perhaps the septum.

The nasal bones comprise the upper third to half of the nose. Many times when removing a hump, the bones are broken near the junction with the cheek to avoid having a flat dorsum (or front) of the nose. When the bones are broken and moved towards the middle, it helps to make the front of the nose rounder and not flat from the hump removal, and also narrows the nose in the upper part Depending on what you may want as a result, you may require breaking the bones to give you an ideal result. more