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  • Asian Rhinoplasty: Options and Complications Explained
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I am Dr. Elizabeth Morgan. I'm a board certified plastic surgeon here in Atlanta and today I'm going to explain to you a little bit about a particular kind of nose operation called an Asian rhinoplasty. Rhinoplasty just means changing the nose. Every ethnic group has that different cosmetic problem that they want to correct and in Asians, it is the height of their nose. This is called the dorsum. It's the top of the nose and a lot of Asians feel that their dorsum is too low and they want a stronger, higher nose. Let me, before I explain to you about the surgery specifically, explain to you about surgery on the skeleton. This skeleton is an Asian skeleton actually and it shows you the bones of the nose on either side and the bones make up half the nose. Inside you'll see a little vertical plate that's what's called a bony septum. It divides the left and right side of the nose and in real life, the lower half of the nose is shaped by skin and cartilage so you don't see it in a skeleton.

Now, if someone wants to increase the height of their nose as in an Asian rhinoplasty, there are three common ways to do it. They can have a filler, done in the office and temporary. They can have major surgery, in which cartilage is taken either from their ear or cartilage or bone are taken from their ribs, carved and placed inside the nose to build it up or as is common in many Asian rhinoplasties, a silicone implant is used to change and raise the height of the nose. These are two kinds of silicone implants. As you can see, this one would be too large and long for this skeleton but this small silicone only implant would give this nose a very nice definition in terms of higher height from the base of the nose out to the cartilage. The advantage of this is that it is easy. You see the results very quickly. The disadvantage is that it can get infected and infected implants have to be removed, which is discouraging. The disadvantage of bone and cartilage grafts are that they may be too long. The surgery may be too expensive and the disadvantage of fillers is that they are temporary. You've got lots of different choices, each with their pros and cons. Just give us a call if we can help.

Asian Rhinoplasty: Options and Complications Explained

Dr. Elizabeth Morgan discusses Asian rhinoplasty and how it's done either by surgery or injecting filler. Using a fake skeleton, she explains the complications of each option.