What is the difference between minor and major rhinoplasty?

A rhinoplasty is a surgery on your face and as far as I am concerned, it is all major. However, major is relative. If your surgery is conducted by a surgeon who is an expert in nasal surgery then the chance of success is very high. In this case, you may be having a "major" surgery on your nose but with a low risk. The use of major and minor rhinoplasty may really be related to the extent of the surgery you are getting. Sometimes people just need a minor adjustment of the bone on their nose and this is often simpler for more experienced surgeons.  When complex adjustments are needed to the nasal tip, this is when the surgery becomes more complex. James P. Bonaparte, MD, MSc, FRCSCJB Cosmetics and Facial Surgery Center of OttawaHead and Neck Surgerypracticing in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive SurgeryAssistant Professor, University of OttawaOttawa, Ontario, Canada

A minor rhinoplasty would be something very simple such as rasping a very small hump down. A major rhinoplasty would include osteotomies, a tip rhinoplasty and cartilage grafting techniques

HiIt depends.  Some rhinoplasties are truly minor.  I have done 12 minute closed rhinoplasties with almost no down-time.  Most rhinoplasties are not minor even if the final result changes are subtle or minor.  The reality is Rhinoplasty is the most complex surgery in all of plastic surgery and even subtle changes to the nose may require some major work.  The important thing is to be honest with the patient.  Some surgeons use labels to make the surgery seem less threatening.  You see this all the time with facelifts.  Lifestyle lift, bandaid lift, quicklift, mini lift are all such terms used to describe a cheek lift but some sound much gentler than the term "cheek lift."