African American Rhinoplasty Q&A
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African American Rhinoplasty - Black Rhinoplasty

asked 4 years ago by anon
Latest answer by Mohsen Tavoussi, MD, DO
Question viewed 14,980 times
Tags: black, Caucasian, comparison, ethnic

How is an "African American rhinoplasty" (i.e nose surgery on blacks) different from a caucasian rhinoplasty?

26 answers to African American Rhinoplasty - Black Rhinoplasty

+8

Generalized ideas about African American Rhinoplasty that may not relate to you

The term "African American rhinoplasty" does not adequately reflect the significant diversity of nasal types that are often found within this population. The African American population comes from a wide background of countries and geographic regions of the world. Patients' noses and their overall appearance often reflect this multicultural history. However, most African American patients seeking rhinoplasty want a generalized narrowing of the nose, with more tip definition and a... more
Richard W. Westreich, MD

Manhattan Facial Plastic Surgeon
+7

African American Rhinoplasty is Augmentation Rhinoplasty

When people speak about African American rhinoplasty, in general they are referring to Augmentation Rhinoplasty, and by that we mean that rather than trying to make the nose a lot smaller, we try to refine and define the nose. But to narrow African American rhinoplasty to something so general is, in our opinion, missing the point. In general, people have always identified African American noses as ones with a wide, short nasal bridge with wide nostrils. However, in point of fact there is... more
Peyman Solieman, MD

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon
+3

What's Different about African- American Rhinoplasty?

Whether 'Black', 'White' or 'Asian', all Rhinoplasties are are unique. African -American nasal anatomy comes in all shapes and sizes. However, the 'Classic' issues that are involved in many African-American noses involve reduction in nostril size, narrowing of the base of the nose, elevating the height of the nasal bridge and defining the tip of the nose better. Having said this, these issues are not entirely unique to one ethnic group. Issues with tip... more
Jon F. Harrell, DO

Miami Plastic Surgeon

www.westonsurgery.com

+3

African American Rhinoplasty 101

African American Rhinoplasty is simply the name given to a nose job performed on an African American patient. The same general principles and techniques of rhinoplasty apply to African American rhinoplasty and other types of ethnic rhinoplasty. Rhinoplasty (including ethnic rhinoplasty) is highly individualized. Because no two patient and no two noses are the same, each rhinoplasty is different, the overall goal is the same -- to produce a nose that is in balance and harmony with the... more
C. Spencer Cochran, MD

Dallas Facial Plastic Surgeon
+2

African American versus Caucasian rhinoplasty

1) Differences in the anatomy: Stereotypically, African Americans tend to have a thicker skin envelope and thinner nasal cartilages than Caucasians. However, in today's society, there are many exceptions to these "rules" and every patient must be individually assessed. 2) Differences in the desired result: There is a greater push for preservation of ethnic features. Not everyone looks good with a Greco-Roman nose. I find it better to make subtle enhancements that maintain... more
Anand D. Patel, MD

Austin Facial Plastic Surgeon
+2

Afro-American rhinoplasty

The major difference in an Afro American rhinoplasty is that most work is strustural in nature and not reduction. Afro American noses in general have thick skin and weak underlying cartilages, The nasal  bridge is generally underprojected. Care must be taken to add support , along with osteotomies and the possible need for dorsal onlay grafts. Thinning of the skin ( safely ), Cartilage tip grafts to shape and project the nose is usually necessary, and medialization of the nostrils... more
Richard Galitz, MD

Miami Facial Plastic Surgeon
+2

African American rhinoplasty just another nose job.

For any qualified ,experienced rhinoplasty surgeon, its just another aspect of rhinoplasty. Any surgeon who ethically operates on patients should have the ability to do both an open rhinoplasty and an endo-nasal surgical approach. If you are able to use the above operating techniques you should have no problem operating on African American patients. The issues facing African American patients is as varied as any other ethnic group. Good Luck
Carlos Wolf, MD

Miami Facial Plastic Surgeon
+2

African American Rhinoplasty

African American Rhinoplasty is a specialized form of rhinoplasty that is becoming more and more popular among the African American Community. African American Rhinoplasty falls under the surgical category of Ethnic rhinoplasty, including Asian rhinoplasty and Hispanic rhinoplasty. African American rhinoplasty is unique because the anatomy of a black nose is different than a caucasion nose: General Characteristics of an African American Nose : Wide vertical and horizontal nostril... more
Oleh Slupchynskyj, MD

New York Facial Plastic Surgeon
+2

An African-American (AA) rhinoplasty is a nose performed...

An African-American (AA) rhinoplasty is a nose performed on a patient of that ethnicity. Everyone's nose is different, but there are some common characteristics in different races. The AA nose is commonly wide with large nostrils. The nasal bones are usually short, flat, and wide. The lower 2/3 cartilage structure is weak. The skin is commonly thick and oily. Therefore the procedure is usually performed through an external of "open" approach using the patients own nasal septal... more
Michael A. Persky, MD

Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

African- American Rhinoplasty or nose job for blacks

Nose surgery on African Americans is different than that on Caucasians, because most black noses do'nt have enough nasal bridge, and have flared nostrils. these points need to be addressed with the patient so to know what changes they specifically desire. Also, the facial plastic surgeon or plastic surgeon has to have had enough experience with rhinoplasty on African Americans.
S. Sean Younai, MD

Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon
+1

AFrican americn rhinoplasty

Every rhinoplasty is different as is not all african-american noses are the same.  A rhinoplasty proceudre is customized to each individuals needs whether it is dorsal augmentation or takedown or tip remodeling procedures.  Good luck.
Steven Wallach, MD

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon
+1

African American Rhinoplasty-Black nose surgery vs caucasian rhinoplasty

Black patients tend to have thicker skin.  This can cover up some structural irregularities pre and post op.  It also increases the amount of swelling and the healing time.  The bony part of the nose is often flatter.
Kenneth L. Stein, MD

Chicago Plastic Surgeon
+1

African-American Ethnic Rhinoplasty

Technically, a rhinoplasty operation is the same for any nose of any ethnicity in terms of the basic details of the procedure. The difference is in the planning of the rhinoplasty operation, which steps are done during the procedure, and the outcome of the operation. Many African-American nose patients seek nasal refinement through getting a higher bridge, making the tip less wide with more projection, and having the nostrils be less flared. It is important that the patient convey... more
Barry L. Eppley, MD, DMD

Indianapolis Plastic Surgeon
+1

African-American Rhinoplasty is Complex

Besides attention to appropriate proportion and aesthetics, technical challenges are in getting the skin to re-drape to show the changes from the surgery. It is important to choose a surgeon with good experience in this special area of Rhinoplasty.
Paul C. Zwiebel, MD

Denver Plastic Surgeon
+1

African American Rhinoplasty

With African American  we are augmenting the nose (eg adding a bridge, or increasing the projection of the tip). Other elements that are addressed is refine the width of the tip and nostrils. Often the thicker skin requires specific tip graft techniques to create a more refined tip shape.  
Amir M. Karam, MD

San Diego Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

African American Rhinoplasty

African Americans represent one of the largest variations seen in nasal shape, so it is difficult to generalize the difference between Caucasian noses.  In general, techniques used in African American noses are typically constructive, providing more shape to the nose, while generally speaking, Caucasian rhinoplasty procedures are reductive in nature.   The techniques used in the two procedures can be quite different. The consultation should focus on creating a nose which fits a... more
Anil R. Shah, MD

Chicago Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

African American Rhinoplasty

African American noses can vary greatly and there is no one particular charachteristic that makes it a classic Afr/Am nose.  The consultation is always detailed and addresses all aspects of the nose.  In general Afr/Am noses require more cartilage grafting and a more extreme narrowing of the upper part of the nose.   It is important to view before and after work of all surgeons that you are interviewing to perform your image change. Best, Tal Raine MD more
Talmage J. Raine, MD

Chicago Plastic Surgeon
+1

Augment of bridge and narrowing of tip common with African American rhinoplasty

This refers to a common set of cosmetic nasal changes requested by African American patients. Typically augmentation of the bridge and narrowing of the tip are desirable. This requires highly specialized surgical skills to create a natural looking nose while maintaining normal nasal function. In some cases synthetic material may be used to raise the height of the nasal bridge while the patient’s own cartilage (harvested from their septum) is commonly used to refine the nasal tip. A... more
Thomas Buonassisi, MD

Vancouver Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

African American Rhinoplasty is Specialized

African American Rhinoplasty requires different techniques than what would be used in most Caucasians. In Caucasian rhinoplasty the nose is usually too long with a bump on the bridge, and a long nasal tip. Usually doctors remove bone and cartilage to make a nose smaller. In African American rhinoplasty the nose lacks support and is usually too flat and wide. In African American Rhinoplasty we add cartilage to the nose to build up the bridge and nasal tip to narrow its width. This is a... more
Andrew Jacono, MD

New York Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

African American Rhinoplasty - Black Rhinoplasty

African-American rhinoplasty requires innovative techniques to achieve the desired result. The proportions of nasal components to each other and other facial structures are exaggerated and therefore, regular techniques used in caucasian rhinoplasty does not produce a good result as can be seen on the web. The thick skin needs to be thinned until it can redrape over teh new cartilagenous structure. The nasal base needs to be reduced much more than it is possible with current techniques,... more
Mohsen Tavoussi, MD, DO

Huntington Beach Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

African American Rhinoplasty –

The primary difference, (Rohrich, Rod. J. (2003). Rhinoplasty in African Americans, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Vol. 111, No. 3, 1322-1339.) is that it’s significantly more complicated because the skin is thicker and the dorsum is lower. The nasal bones are smaller as well as the nasal tip cartilages. Rhinoplasty in the African American patient is an augmentation procedure that includes all dimensions with correction of alar flaring as well. It requires a rhinoplasty surgeon... more
Rod J. Rohrich, MD

Dallas Plastic Surgeon
+1

How African American / Black rhinoplasty different

Rhinoplasty on African American patients typically involves more augmentation compared with Caucasian rhinoplasty (which is usually more reductive). Among African American noses there is a wide variety of specific features, but typically they are characterized by a low, wide nasal bridge, thicker skin, and an underprojected nasal tip with a wider nasal base. Cartilage grafting techniques can be used to address these issues. In some patients, a conservative nasal base... more
Thomas A Lamperti, MD

Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

AA rhinoplasty

This is a very different surgery from caucasian rhinoplasty because the skin is thicker and the cartilage underneath is weaker. Because of this the skin must be molded to fit the underlying cartilage. This will require the addition of cartilage, not to make the nose bigger as most people fear, but to sculpt the external skin.   Dr Siegel
Michel Siegel, MD

Houston Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

African American Rhinoplasty

There are lots of differences between AA noses and Caucasian noses. The skin is usually much thicker in AA noses. Swelling, as a general rule, takes much longer to go away in the AA nose. It may take several more months to see the final refinement in the AA nose. The cartilages, as a group, are usually much more flaccid in the AA nose and more rigid in the Caucasian nose. The AA nose is usually more cartilage and skin than bone; whereas the Caucasian nose usually has more bone when... more
Phillip Langsdon, MD

Germantown Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

African American Rhinoplasty Black Rhinoplasty

Concepts of beauty vary from culture to culture. It is very important to preserve one's ethnicity while achieving refinements. Occasionally I will see someone who will desire a westernized nose, most do not. Experienced rhinoplasty surgeons will recognize this, and offer suggestions to help maintain these features.  The computer imager is a great tool, that can allow the surgeon and patient an opportunity to go back and forth until the patients goals are demonstrated. This... more
Brian Maloney, MD

Atlanta Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

African American rhinopasty requires increasing tip support to refine the appearance

In general African American noses have thick skin and poor tip support so they require increase in tip strength and support to refine their appearance. This is not an absolute rule but probably about 95% accurate.
Jason B. Diamond, MD

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

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