How young is too young for rhinoplasty?
My daughter is a teenager and wants a nose job but I am concerned that she may be too young. Any thoughts?
Asked by: Anonymous
Answers (4)
Because the chin and the nose are usually the last structures to reach adult size, you want her to wait until she has fully grown. This is usually between 15 ands 16 for girls and 17 and 18 for boys.
Facial Plastic Surgeon
Rhinoplasty can be performed on age 16 for females and 18 for males. The nasal bone growth plates have not finished growing until that point, thus cosmetic Rhinoplasty surgery should be withheld until the face is fully developed.
Cosmetic rhinoplasty shouldn't be done before you're done growing
In general you would not want to perform a cosmetic rhinoplasty ("nose job") on someone whose face has not stopped growing.
In general, most people finish growth in the midface where the nose sits around the age of 15. Surgery prior to this time period may negatively affect growth in other areas of the face creating problems in facial harmony. Hope this helps.
Considerations for rhinoplasty and septoplasty
Facial Plastic Surgeon
We are often asked to perform rhinoplasty in young adolescents. Nasal surgery on children has long been a focus of discussion in the medical literature. As experts in rhinoplasty and nasal surgery, at Profiles we believe that discussion regarding nasal surgery in children has to be divided between functional surgery and cosmetic rhinoplasty.
When dealing with children with functional problems, surgery such as septoplasty can be done as early as necessary in order to restore nasal function and to prevent the consequences that may arise due to misplaced anatomic structures. In these patients, extra care must be taken to preserve as many structural supports and as much septal continuity as possible in order to insure normal nasal growth.
When considering cosmetic surgery of the nose, we generally believe surgery should be delayed until the nose is fully grown. This commonly means rhinoplasty can be done on girls when they have had their period for at least 2 years and in boys when they are at least 14 years old.
Another good indicator of nasal growth is the patient's height compared to their parents. If the patient is as tall as their tallest parent, then they are probably finished growing and so has their nose. Exceptions for younger children are made for those patients who have a significant anatomic deformity and a very strong desire for surgery to correct it.
The problem with operating on patients earlier than these target ages is that the nose may continue to grow in an unpredictable fashion. So, despite creating a balanced nose after the rhinoplasty, the continued nasal growth can distort the proportions that were created.
Finally and perhaps more important than the physical maturity, we also believe that all our adolescent patients must have the emotional maturity to deal with their surgery. It is very important that the patient himself/ herself is interested in having the surgery and that it is not only being done because the parent wants surgery.
With all of this said, we believe that the psychological benefit that rhinoplasty can afford during puberty, a very critical time in emotional development, is significant and should be considered for the right patients.
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