Can you change your nose by pushing it with your hands? Due to old injury, nose bridge bones clearly felt discontinuous

Question

...I periodically pushed the nose bone, hoping to reduce the crookedness. Sometimes my nose felt slightly tender and swollen, though the swelling was not visible. Another time when I squeezed my nose, I felt what seemed to be a tiny chunk of bone moving a bit, though this was not painful. I never had bloody nose or other symptoms and nose always felt stable. I stopped pushing it and nose does not look obviously different than it did before, so could pushing have changed the shape of my nose?

Thomas A. Lamperti, MD · Answer

Manually pushing on your nose shouldn't permanently change its shape. To reposition your crooked nasal bones controlled bone fractures would need to be done. Sometimes additional cartilage straighten is also beneficial depending on the situation.You can read more about crooked nose repair at my web reference link below.

Gurmander Singh Kohli, MD, FACS · Answer

The fact that you have performing the right maneuvers but have not noticed a perceptible change means that you nose can be reset surgically to return it to as best as possible to your pre-injury appearance or even better. An in person consultation will allow a much better analysis of your condition and allow me to plan your surgery with taking into consideration all the factors such as bone, cartilage and skin of the nose.

William Portuese, MD · Answer

When the nose has been broken and it is crooked, it must be re-set surgically with osteotomies of the nasal bones to set them straight. The upper lateral cartilages also follow the nasal bones.  Occasionally, a cartilaginous  spreader graft is also inserted underneath a concave upper lateral cartilage that is creating a twisted nose as well. Manual manipulation of the nose will not straighten it

Richard W. Fleming, MD (retired) · Answer

Repeated pressure to the bridge will not change the position of the bones or modify the shape. If this was possible it would be foolish to ever have surgery. Consult with a rhinoplasty specialist to discuss alternative changes.

Can you change your nose by pushing it with your hands? Due to old injury, nose bridge bones clearly felt discontinuous

Answers (4)