How can scar tissue inside the sides of the nose be removed?

Question

I had rhinoplasty and have horrible scar tissue on both sides of the nose making my nose persistently bulbous. How do doctors remove scar tissue during surgery? Steroid shots have been used but left indentations. The scar tissue is all along the sides of from mid nose to nostril and can be felt when pinching nostrils together.

Kurren Gill, MD · Answer

Steroid injections are definitely the right answer especially if within a year from surgery to help break down some scar tissue, along with gentle massage. However if it was causing "indentations" in skin, and cannot be continued, you may consider a small revision procedure where the skin flap is raised and the undersurface of the skin flap is thinned out. Almost all revisions in rhinoplasty are only performed a full year after surgery (when healing is expected to be complete), and there are important risks to be aware of when raising the skin flap for a second time and thinning it out, particularly compromising the vascularity (blood supply) of the skin flap.Hope this helps!

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

Scar tissue is going to form anytime you have injuries or surgery.
Surgically removing scar tissue typically just makes more scar tissue.
It is one of the side effects of having surgery.
Best,
Matt Hagstrom, MD

How can scar tissue inside the sides of the nose be removed?

Answers (2)