• Video
  • What Does Rhinoplasty Mean?
{{ showTranscript ? 'HIDE' : 'SHOW' }} TRANSCRIPT
Today's question is what is a rhinoplasty. Relatively straightforward question.

Let's take a look at the prefix and suffix, going back to school. Rhino stands for nose. That's why you have the rhinoceros which has that large nose, and plasty doesn't mean plastic. The word plasty means to mold or to create and the field of plastic surgery was established well before the industry of plastics came about in the 1950s or so, 1960s. So plastics actually stole it from, if you will, plastic surgery not the other way around.

So rhinoplasty means molding or shaping the nose and it can involve shaping or altering the nose just simply by taking the hump down, by narrowing it from the front, by modifying the tip, by taking the tip and projecting or rotating it up. It means changing the shape of the nose. How much? That depends on you.

What Does Rhinoplasty Mean?

Dr. Philip Miller breaks down the word "rhinoplasty" to examine its roots for a better understanding of what this surgical procedure can do for you.