Will my doctor break my nose during a rhinoplasty?

Breaking the bones of the nose, or osteotomies, are oftentimes done in a precise, controlled fashion in order to narrow the width of the bridge of the nose during rhinoplasty. This maneuver is quite common in rhinoplasty surgery and can produce a nice change or refinement in a nose that looks too big or wide... more

Rhinoplasty is one of the most difficult facial plastic surgical procedures to master. Osteotomies are one of the more difficult maneuvers to understand in rhinoplasty. Having written several papers and chapters on this topic, and having taught this to other surgeons in the cadaver lab during my Facial... more

In most but not all rhinoplasties a surgeon does make some very controlled cuts in the nasal bones and narrow them to correspond with the narrowing of the middle third of the nose and the tip.  A cast is then applied across the bridge to hold the new nasal bones in the new shape. 

Osteotomies (term used for breaking and repositioning of nasal bones in rhinoplasty) is actually one of the more simple maneuvers in rhinoplasty and does not necessarily correlate to an increase in pain although it does cause more bruising. The nose will not need to be broken if you are having rhinoplasty... more

To break or not to break the nose really depends on what aesthetic goals you are trying to achieve. For smaller profile changes you may not want to narrow the nose with osteotomies. Rasping the nose and reshaping the nose may be all that is necessary. While breaking the nose does sound like the scariest... more

If you are committed to a plastic surgeon, you need to be confident that they will do the right thing. I do the surgery with the patient either sedated or completely asleep and the nose is numbed with local anesthesia. If I must break the nose to give you the proper result , then I will. It does not hurt and... more

Not necessarily.  Most rhinoplasties do require breaking the nose.  The ones that don't are ones in which the tip is the only unattractive part of the nose and it can be done alone.  Most rhinoplasties in which a hump is removed will require breaking of the bones.

Hi, Breaking of the nose also known as "osteotomies" in medical terms is done to either narrow the nasal bridge or reduce a hump. I like to think of it as a controlled bone cut with very sharp instrument. I'm not sure where that term came from but can only imagine. When rhinoplasty was first... more

If there is going to be any work done to reduce a bump of the nose or narrow the nose it is common to break the nose during the surgery. However, this is very different than the broken nose that results from an accident. Cuts are made to the bone to create precise movement which is well controlled by... more

Breaking the nose is such a harsh term! How about narrowing the nose? This sounds better, doesn't it? Most patients seeking rhinoplasty have a large hump on their nose and have large tips.  The hump of the nose is similar to a pyramid.  What happens when one shaves the hump (the top of the... more