Is rib cartilage grafting for rhinoplasty revision to lift the nose a must for people with ethnic thick skin? (Photos)

Hi there! Great question. In ethnic rhinoplasty, the skin tends to be quite thick and needs to be stretched to create definition. Rib cartilage is very strong and assists with providing the strength needed. Ear cartilage doesn't hold form very well. Septal cartilage can work, but there often isn't enough available to augment to a certain level. Downsizing a nose is possible, but creating the same level of definition as a thinned skin nose may be unrealistic. Thinning the subcutaneous tissue is often done during surgery, but you have to be careful not to disrupt the blood supply. Steroids post procedure are very helpful in addition to taping, especially at the tip. Hope this helps!

Based on your photos, you are a great candidate for rhinoplasty. During the procedure, some cartilage from your septum is often used, but sometimes it's not strong enough. The rib cartilage may hold much better support and the skin of your tip looks heavy. Just make sure the surgeon has a lot of experience with rib cartilage.

Thank you for your question. As your ENT doctor said, the skin oof your nose is thick and tip drooping is severe, so a cartilage graft is essential. Through structural cartilage graft, nasal tip can be projected and more defined and also retruded columella can be corrected. Required cartilage can be septal cartilage or rib cartilage.