Visible Cartilage Graft Bump on Nasal Tip - What to Do? (photo)

Your tip abnormality is most likely caused by the tip graft that was placed in your prior surgery.  As stated in a prior answer, this is caused by the shrink wrap effect  of the nasal skin and soft tissue contracting tightly on the cartilage graft.  You probably have thin nasal skin as well.  This is something that needs to be evaluated and recognized preoperatively, and certain measures need to be taken if cartilage grafts are to be used with thin nasal skin.  If you do in fact display thin skin I would suggest first shaving the edges of the graft and then camouflaging the graft further with a temporalis fascia overlay graft.  This fascia will help to give the graft edges a softer look.  Good Luck

After a rhinoplasty, the skin continues to shrink down and onto the underlying bony/cartilaginous framework.  It continues to happen years after the surgery and it is called the shrink wrappage effect.  It is this effect that has caused the visibility of the graft of the tip.  In your situation, you will need the edges smoothed, and I would also add material to slightly thicken your skin to prevent this from happening in the future.  I would use temporalis fascia to place over the graft to slightly thicken the skin.  

 

I hope this helps.  

   This is probably the graft.  There are other ways to improve tip projection than by placing an onlay graft.  The graft can be removed and tip projection improved.  Find the plastic surgeon with ELITE credentials who performs hundreds of rhinoplasties each year.  Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

The ridge you see is most likely from your cartilage graft which potentially can be shaved down under anesthesia.

I would agree that at six years postoperatively you are not going to see any significant change in the appearance of the tip.  You will need a revision in order to shave down the lump that bothers you. 

After 6 years this bump will not get better but may become more obvious with time. As best I can tell from the picture you submitted it is probably an edge of the tip graft which can be trimmed with a minor revision under local anesthesia.