Is Ear Cartilage Enough to Fill out Nose Bridge?

Question

my nose implant is infected and has to be removed asap. can my ear cartilage[both ears] be used to fill the bridge is it enough? also am i going to have alot of pain in my ears after surgery?

Chase Lay, MD · Answer

You should rely on your surgeons judgement but I can make a few comments.  The answers questions, generally, are:

	1.  Yes, cartilage from both ears of often used for the nasal bridge and works great.  You want to over correct a bit because some of the cartilage will resorb somewhat.   That's expected. 

	2.  Your ears will be fine.  See the video below.  It shows an ear cartilage harvest for grafting for another ear.  However, this is the same harvesting technique used for nasal surgery.  What you should note is the ear is normal afterward and the patient is comfortable.   I will say, however, monitor your ear closely for the first 5 days. If fluid builds up then you want to drain it so there is no nodules or scar tissue, but this is rare.

	I use a lot of ear cartilage in my practice.  I the Asian patient it's often my prefered graft over an implant because it's very natural and almost never gets infected.

	Best of luck

	Chase Lay, MD

Michael L. Schwartz, MD · Answer

It usually will be fine unless you need significant structural support as well as augmentation. It needs to be carved finely and some wrap it in fascia to prevent late show of edges.

Kimberly Lee, MD · Answer

Replacing nasal implants with material from within your own body is a common request. Depending on how much augmentation your nose needs, the ear cartilage is usually sufficient. You should not expect significant pain in your ears following surgery.

Francis R. Palmer, III, MD (retired) · Answer

No, IMHO ear cartilage is curved and once folded upon itself to make a straight dorsal grfat is less effective than a straight silastic dorsal implant.

Richard W. Fleming, MD (retired) · Answer

If ear cartilage has not been previously harvested and all you need is augmentation of the bridge, in 35 years I have never seen a nose in which there was not adequate cartilage available in the ears. Post-op ear pain will be minimal and will be controlled with analgesics. It will be necessary to eliminate all infection before this is done.

Is Ear Cartilage Enough to Fill out Nose Bridge?

Answers (5)

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