Advantages of Ear Cartilage for Asian Bridge Job?

Ear cartilage is soft, pliable and easily harvested through an incision that is well-hidden in the crease behind your ear.  It will not change the shape or size of your ear.  Using your own cartilage is much safer than using a synthetic implant, and will give you a much longer-lasting result.  

Ear cartilage has a few benefits compared with other sources of material. Compared with silicone implants your own cartilage, in general, has a better safety and longevity profile. Compared with rib cartilage, the incision for ear cartilage is easily hidden behind the ear.

One downside with using ear versus rib cartilage is that in some patients there isn't enough ear cartilage available for fully augmenting the bridge. Ear cartilage is also softer than septal or rib cartilage so may not prove as helpful in improving tip definition. With my current carving and graft placement technique I have not found cartilage warping to be an issue in my practice.

Augmentation of the radix (the bridge of the nose) can be performed safely with cartilage or a silicone implant.

The advantage of using cartilage is that it is your own tissue, and therefore less likely to become infected, or extrude (erode through the skin or into the nose).  The disadvantages of using cartilage are that it can warp or resorb.

When using cartilage your surgeon can increase the chances for success by use of a symmetric design and letting the cartilage set for a period of time after the harvest.   

I recommend finding a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon who performs rhinoplasty regularly to discuss this further.

Best,

Jeremiah Redstone, MD