How Visible Will Rhinoplasty Scars Be?

The Open approach to rhinoplasty is a wonderful way for the Facial Plastic surgeon to gain exposure to the nasal anatomy.  It is the approach I prefer to use most often.  You may be concerned about the scar left after open rhinoplasty, however there is nothing to worry about. With proper closer of the incision, no one will ever see the scar as it heals beautifully.  We have not yet needed to revise a scar in this location. I have included a short video to show how... more

The two major types of rhinoplasty are the open and closed rhinoplasty. In the closed rhinoplasty, there are no incisions made on the nose unless the base of the tip is narrowed. If this is done (it is done in open rhinoplasties also), then the scars should be located in the nasal-cheek crease at the sides of the nasal bases. These are usually well hidden in the crease and not noticeable. In the open rhinoplasty, an incision is made across the column between the two nostrils near the... more

Depending upon the surgeon, some open rhinoplasty scars are quite visible from across the room. If the surgery is performed as a closed rhinoplasty, there would be no external incisions. It also depends upon how much columellar show patients have as to whether or not this can be noticed. It is probably not advisable to have an open rhinoplasty if there is only a minor refinement of the nasal tip that needs to be done. This can be easily done through a closed rhinoplasty by the proper... more

Rhinoplasty after a properly performed open rhinoplasty are often quite hard to see postoperatively.  However, a large percentage of my practice is revision rhinoplasty (revising other surgeon's rhinoplasty work) and I do notice poor scar formation is quite common.  Some common errors in scar planning in open rhinoplasty: Placing incision too high along columella- If the incision is too close to the soft tissue triangle it will disrupt a natural border and can... more

The external incision in an open rhinoplasty procedure is made in the skin of the columella,between the nostrils. Using this technique for over 30 years, I have had to revise two of these scars. There is minimal risk of this complication.

I am assuming that you are going to have an open rhinoplasty. The incision is usually very small crossing the columella between the nostrils.  It usually heals extremely well.  Good luck!

Open Rhinoplasty scarring heals fine. A good doctor who has a lot of experience will be able to tighten your tip with minimal scarring. My patients ususally can hide the scar after 5 days.