What Could Be the Cause of a Nose Becoming Wider After Rhinoplasty?

Hello, I am a woman who had rhinoplasty many months ago so healing period is over. I have no swelling at the moment whatsoever. My nose is much wider than before. i has had grafts, but not to widen the nose, since that wasn't needed. The shape of my tip has been changed with sutures, so there was refinement of the tip and not the opposite performed. i also has onlay graft, a spreader flap and tip grafts. What could be the cause of her nose looking so much wider? Thanks

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5 Doctor Answers | Asked by Moniqueccc in Woldert, 08

Doctor Answers (5)
Community Comments (2)

Wider Nose Months after Rhinoplasty

Spreader grafts by their nature will widen a nose to some extent. If the tip is larger there may be residual swelling. Some people can take longer than a year to resolve. If you are considering a revision, find a plastic surgeon with ELITE credentials who performs hundreds of rhinoplasties each year. Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

Wide Nose After Rhinoplasty

Without seeing photographs or being able to examine you in person, it's difficult to say what could be causing your nose to appear wider. You mention that you underwent your rhinoplasty several months ago--with a rhinoplasty, swelling and the recovery process as a whole can last up to 2 years until final results can be seen. If you're procedure was performed during this time frame, it's important to continue to be patient. If you're experiencing any problems having to do with breathing or... more

Babak Azizzadeh, MD

4 reviews

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.facialplastics.info

What could be the cause of a nose becoming wider after rhinoplasty?

Depending on how many months it has been since your surgery, you may still have some residual swelling. In general, it can take 18-24 months for the final result of surgery to be evident. 70% of the swelling will resolve after the first three months, and the remainder goes down over time. Degree of swelling can be influenced by the thickness of the patient's skin, whether the procedure was a revision, whether the surgery was open or closed, and whether or not tip work was performed. Posting... more

Wider nose after rhinoplasty

WIthout seeing before and after photos, it is difficult to comment about your question. It may also be swelling.

Steven Wallach, MD

12 reviews

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Healing after rhinoplasty

Thanks for your question. It is tough to answer this without looking at before and after pictures of your nose. It usually takes 9-12 months for the swelling to resolve from the nose after rhinoplasty surgery. All the techniques you have mentioned are all common practice and meet the standard of care when it comes to performing rhinoplasty. They can widen the nose initially but once the tissue loses the swelling and begins to "shrink wrap" around the structure of the nose like the underlying... more

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Comments (2)

Moniqueccc 28 Jan 2013

the tip is the reason for my concern mainly.

Lee Ann M. Klausner, MD, FACS 28 Jan 2013

There are several causes of widening of the nasal bridge after rhinoplasty. In general, the nasal bridge can appear wider after rhinoplasty when there is removal of a bump/hump on the bridge. The peak of a hump on the front view is more narrow than a bridge that has no hump. Spreader grafts and other techniques on the internal nasal valve can widen the middle one third of the nose. Often this is desirable and necessary in patients who have overly narrow middle thirds and symptoms of nasal obstruction. Finally, a tip that has been made more narrow can make a bridge appear wider because the difference between the bridge width and the tip width has diminished. While the major swelling of the nose might resolve a few months after surgery. Subtle swelling of the nose can persist for a year or more after rhinoplasty. In fact, one can observe differences in overall thickness of the nose in photographs taken of the same person one year and eighteen months after surgery.

View answers from Lee Ann M. Klausner, MD, FACS

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