Procedure to Reduce Dorsal Hump

Thanks for the question! Removing a hump while maintaining the shape of the rest of the nose can certainly be accomplished through either closed (endonasal) or open (external) rhinoplasty. This can be achieved by rasping (filing) down the bones or using a very precise osteotome, similar to a chisel. There are many considerations, however, which are important to assess.

1) First of all, I would recommend seeking a surgeon who performs computer imaging during the consultation. This process allows the surgeon to demonstrate to you how your nose may look following hump removal surgery. You may find, during this exercise, that there are other features of your nose which may need to be tweaked in order to maintain balance with your other facial features and your new lowered bridge. I use this process during every rhinoplasty consultation to determine the patient's aesthetic sense and explain to the patient what would be realistic and achievable given the patient's unique anatomy. 

2) Secondly, it is critical to assess the length of the nasal bones and to determine if the hump is mostly bone, cartilage or both. One of the most common problems I see when patients come to my office seeking a revision of a rhinoplasty performed by another surgeon is what we call the inverted-V deformity. This occurs when a hump is removed and the cartilages on both sides of the nasal bridge (upper lateral cartilages) fall in. This results in a "pinched" middle third of the nose with the area just below the nasal bones looking like an upside-down "V". Narrowing of this area can also affect your ability to breathe by pinching the internal valves of your airway. This outcome can be prevented by identifying patients at risk of developing this issue and placing small thin cartilage grafts on each side of the top of the septum (spreader grafts). 

3) The third thing to think about is that when a hump is removed, there can be a gap between the tops of the nasal bones along the upper part of the bridge of the nose, called an "open roof deformity". The gap can be closed by making small controlled fractures along the sides of the nasal bones (osteotomies) to bring in the nasal bones. 

My best advice to you would be to schedule a consult with a few surgeons who specialize in rhinoplasty. It is worth the extra time to find a surgeon with whom you feel comfortable.

Best,

Umang Mehta, MD

Reducing the dorsal hump is one of the most common requests from patients seeking a rhinoplasty. It is possible to isolate this area during the surgery, however it is important to make sure that your nose, as a whole, will still have a balanced and symmetrical appearance. Creating an appropriate aesthetic relies on how the forehead transitions into the bridge of the nose and how the bridge of the nose transitions onto the tip. For this reason, consulting with an experienced rhinoplasty surgeon in person will give you an even better idea if you are a candidate for just a dorsal hump reduction, or if other areas of your nose need to be addressed during surgery.

It is common to reduce a dorsal hump if you are going to do an asthetic natural looking rhinoplasty. However, there is really no such thing as a simple hump removal in most cases because one has to place the dorsum and tip in harmony with the rest of the face. If it is just a simple dorsal hump removal, one can do that endo-nasally to rasp it down, but in most cases it requires an open rhinoplasty to refine the nasal tip and the dorsum to produce a natural looking nose.