Is It Possible to Fix One Side of a Broken Nose?

Hello,

Following a broken nose, there is a window of time of about one week where you can have a closed nasal reduction performed.   You can fix one side of the nose.  However, if you wait too long, it may be necessary to perform additional surgery depending on the nature of the injury and how it is affecting the overall structure and function of your nose. In regard to revisions, there is no predetermined amount of surgeries that an individual can have performed. It is best to have the surgery performed correctly the first time to reduce the chances of a revision being necessary. Each subsequent procedure becomes more difficult due to scar tissue, three-dimensional healing, and shrink wrappage of the skin.  Thank you and I hope this helps.

Dr. Nassif


 

Correcting a broken nose can be a simple or complex procedure depending upon the degree of injury. Typically if one bone is pushed in the other is usually pushed out and both need to be set into the middle. This is not always the case and sometimes just one bone can be put back into position. There is no restriction on the absolute number of rhinoplasties to answer your second question.

If there truly is a fracture on one side of your nose, then you may be able to have only that side fixed. Consider seeking the advice of a specialist before the fracture heals. In the initial period (preferably within 10 days) following a nasal injury, a nasal fracture may be reduced without surgery. For an older injury that is already healed, the surgical approach may be more complicated. Regarding your second question, there is no official hard and fast rule as to a maximum number of times one can undergo rhinoplasty. However, it is well accepted that each subsequent rhinoplasty entails a greater degree of uncertainty, longer duration of swelling, unpredictable healing, among other issues. Good luck.

If it's not broken, don't fix it.  If the nasal bone on one side only is displaced, then it is only that bone that should be reduced, at least in the acute situation.  There is no "maximum" number of times you can have rhinoplasty, and last I checked, the Guinness Book of World Records doesn't have a category for this.

It is certainly possible that only one nasal bone was fractured. A closed fractuer reduction can be done to reposition the out of place bone. The bones reset over the course of about 6 weeks so the reduction is most easily done in the first 10 days or so after the injury.

There isn't a maximum number of rhinoplasties that a person can have. With each surgery it can become more complicated and difficult, but there isn't a finite number of procedures that a person can have.

Yes you can have only one side of the broken nose repaired. In fact that is what is usually done, simply pushing out the part that got broken. You can have rhinoplasty several times but each time gets a bit more complex and difficult with a little more unpredictabblity of the results. try to get it don eright the first time, though needing a minor revision is really not a big deal.

In our experience unilateral osteotomies and closed nasal reduction performed many years ago have been fraught with complications and asymmetries.  We have since abandoned those procedures and perform only bilateral osteotomies to completely straighten and realign the nasal pyramid, and have had an excellent success rate with that.  Reducing a nasal fracture is not considered a rhinoplasty.  As far as the maximum amount of rhinoplasties that can be performed on a patient, that depends on the issues presented.  It is best to only have the nose done once or twice to keep scar tissue formation and buildup to a minimum.  

Yes, you can have only one side of your nose corrected.  It is best to see a specialisty early on (within 2weeks) while the fracture is fresh to see if the option would be to correct it early or to leave it for later.

If you are early in the game a closed reduction on the affected side might be all you need. However ,after the fracture has healed  out of place a full procedure is needed

Yes, but your surgeon will help determine what is necessary to fix your broken nose and also make sure that you are able to breathe through it afterwards.  Hopefully, your rhinoplasty will not require a revision.  There isn't a finite number of revisions you can have done--it all depends on what is done and what needs to be done.