Filing down the dorsal hump?

Patients with a dorsal hump are ideal candidates for closed rhinoplasty.  A dorsal hump is usually comprised of both bone and cartilage.  To remove a hump, an incision is made on the inside of the nose and a rasp is used to "file" the bony portion of the hump. If there is a cartilaginous... more

If your only issue is a dorsal hump, a closed rhinoplasty can be a great way to treat the contour of the dorsum with rasping. Rhinoplasty surgery is very complicated and the balance, shape and integration of the structure of your nose with the rest of the face is a critical consideration when planning what... more

As one of my colleagues below touched on, the problem with "only" rasping down the nasal bones is that the nasal bones and cartilage are quite thin--a few millimeters, really--so that anything more significant than a tiny hump will require rasping right through those thin plates of bone and cartilage... more

A nose is a three-dimensional object in the shape of a three sided pyramid. If you adjust only one aspect of the nose, you may create disharmony. In your situation, unless your bump is extremely small, shaving it down may actually cause the middle one-third of your nose to look wider. This will give your... more

Shaving down the 'hump' only may create a flat appearing nose if you have a significant hump.  This may create an 'open roof' deformity.  Many patients benefit from 'breaking' of the bones following hump reduction to create improved nasal harmony.

The nasal hump is composed of bone and cartilage.  Most small humps can be reduced with rasping and removal of cartilage using an endonasal (closed) approach.  Most good rhinoplasty surgeons will assess the profile and determine if - after removing the hump - osteotomies are require to... more

If you have a small hump and filing the hump does not cause your nose to be too wide after the hump is taken down, then you can avoid other procedures.  Most of the time, however, the hump will create an open area near the area of where the hump was located which will need to be closed.  To close the... more

Hi Star Yes a dorsal hump can be approached effectivly through a closed approach. If it is mild then it may not have to be "broken." if you want just a small amount reduced it can be done with a rasp, which looks much like a file. Or what I have had great success with is using a rotating... more

Correction of a small hump on the nose can be as simple as just filing the area down gently with a rasp under local or IV anesthesia. However, in some patients if it is a larger hump a flattening effect to the dorsum may result called an "open roof" and this might require breaking or infracturing the... more

If the bump is small, as you say, the answer is yes, and you don't have to do anything else to the nose. If that is all that bothers you, you don't have to do the "whole nose"!