What results can I expect from a rhinoplasty?

I tell my patients that if nose surgery is done skillfully, no one will realize that they have had the operation. People will know that something about them is different, but they will not realize what it is.

I sometimes bet patients that their own parents will not know what they have done when they are seen three weeks post-operatively. I have never lost the bet!!

Modern rhinoplasty surgery includes surgery to correct/change the external shape of the nose (aesthetic) as well as to improve nasal breathing (functional). Often, both can be performed at the same time. Certainly both should be considered during any rhinoplasty surgery. Experienced rhinoplasty surgeons understand all of these concepts.

The general classifications of aesthetic changes are (not all-inclusive; see my publications on these for more info):
•Dorsal hump reduction (reducing a 'bump on the nose')
•Narrowing the bridge (requiring osteotomies)
•Narrowing the nasal base (the nostrils)
•Correcting a deviation (fixing a crooked nose)
•Altering tip rotation (moving the tip up or down)
•Refining the nasal tip (usually narrowing, but in rare cases broadening; more common in revision rhinoplasty)

The general classifications of functional rhinoplasty (again not all-inclusive; see my publications on this for more info)
•Septoplasty (the most common; often done with rhinoplasty)
•Improving internal nasal valve collapse
•Improving external nasal valve collapse
•Reducing excessively enlarged turbinates

Rhinoplasty can improve most undesirable features of a nose. Noses can be made smaller, narrower, shorter, more sculpted, and more refined.

Bumps and humps on the bridge of the nose can be corrected, and droopy noses can be lifted.

In some instances, such as with wide, flatter noses, a patient may request that their nose be augmented (built up and made larger) to achieve a look that they find more refined and aesthetically pleasing. 

Rhinoplasty, when combined with septoplasty (correction of a deviated septum), can even help improve breathing.