How do you know if you have thick skin or thin skin? Rhinoplasty

The thickness of nasal skin plays a significant role in every aspect of rhinoplasty surgery. Thicker skin requires more structural support, it stays swollen longer and it can limit the magnitude of the final result. In general, skin thickness is related to ethnicity, however, there are many exceptions. If you can see the detailed edges of the cartilage in your nasal tip, then you have thin skin. If you can't, then you have thicker skin.

Nasal skin tends to be thinner over the dorsum and thicker down by the nasal tip. The degree of this thickness does tend to vary with ethnicity as well. If you can see details of the bony and cartilaginous framework under your skin, you likely have "thin" skin; if the underlying structures are more camouflaged, this is likely due to a "thick" blanket of skin. 

Most African, Asian, Hispanic, and some Middle Eastern / Mediterranean patients who request rhinoplasty surgery may have thicker skin than whites - most pronounced on the nasal tip.. Thick skin may be associated with excess oil production, and an irregular texture. Your rhinoplasty specialist may judge the thickness of your skin during a consultation. Thank you. Dr Joseph

The thickness of the skin is determined at the time of the examination and consultation. It's important to understand this concept since, thin-skinned individuals and thick-skinned individuals heal completely different with a rhinoplasty procedure. Patients who have thick skin undergo steroid shots the first few months after a rhinoplasty procedure to reduce the amount swelling occurs much more commonly in thick-skin. For more information and many before-and-after rhinoplasty examples, please see the link and the video below