Illinois/Chicago Area Plastic Surgery Procedures:
Nasal Refinement (Rhinoplasty)
Nasal refinement, or "rhinoplasty", may be performed to improve airflow (the "septoplasty" component), correct post-traumatic external nasal deformities, or improve cosmetically undesireable features of the nose. Often, we address multiple issues for our Chicago-area patients during the same surgery.
Patients who have suffered nasal trauma may have functional issues such as poor airflow or chronic sinusitis. The former is often due to buckling or fracturing of the midline nasal septum. Resection of a majority of this structure (a submucous resection of the nasal septum, or "SMR") through small intranasal incisions usually results in dramatic improvement in airflow and may help secondary sequelae as well. Post-traumatic nasal deformities such as a widened dorsal bridge, dorsal hump on profile view, deviation of the tip or crookedness of the nose in general often require fracture and resetting of the bones or cartilage through the same small incisions (a "dorsal rhinoplasty"). These procedures are often covered by insurance plans, and are performed under general anesthesia as an overnight procedure. Nasal packing is removed the next day, and an external splint is kept in place for about a week.
Non-traumatic cosmetic issues of the nose may include several of the aforementioned bony/cartilaginous deformities, as well as tip irregularities such as a boxy, bulbous or asymmetric tip, or irregular nostrils. Correction of these issues usually requires extending the inner nasal incisions across the area between the nostrils ( via an "open-tip rhinoplasty"), to directly access and reshape the cartilage irregularities that are responsible for the appearance of the lower nose.
Case #1: 24 year-old who underwent dorsal reduction, pyramid resetting and nasal shortening; approximately 6 weeks post-op.
Case #2: 20 year-old who underwent submucouse resection of the septum (SMR and nasal pyramid resetting following a broken nose; approximately 6 weeks post-op.
Case #3: 18 year-old Chicago-area woman who underwent submucous resection of nasal septum/septoplasty (for airway obstruction) and dorsal nasal reduction; approximately 3 months post-op.
Case #4: 19 year-old who underwent dorsal reduction, pyramid resetting and nasal shortening; approximately 4 weeks post-op.
Case #5: 14 year-old who underwent dorsal reduction, pyramid resetting and nasal shortening; approximately 6 months post-op.
Case #6: 16 year-old who underwent dorsal reduction, pyramid resetting and nasal shortening; approximately 4 weeks post-op.
Case #7: 33 year-old who underwent dorsal reduction/pyramid resetting and septoplasty; approximately 3 months post-op.
Case #8: 18 year-old who underwent dorsal reduction, tip refinement via open-tip approach; 6 weeks post-op.
Case #9: 46 year-old who underwent dorsal reduction, shortening of the nose and tip refinement via open-tip approach (+ scar revision of the right nasal sidewall); 3 months post-op.
Case #10: 18 year-old girl who underwent submucous resection of the nasal septum, narrowing of the "middle-vault" bony pyramid; approximately 3 months post-op.
Case #11: 42 year-old man with deviated nasal septum, partial airway obstruction; underwent submucous resection of the septum (SMR) and septoplasty via intranasal incisions; 5 months post-op.
Case #12: 19 year-old who underwent "boxy" tip refinement via open-tip approach; 6 months post-op.
For more information regarding rhinoplasty, please see the American Society of Plastic Surgery website.
Contact our office today to schedule your private consultation. We encourage you to click here for your printable certificate good for $50 off your (aesthetic/elective) surgical consultation.
(Link reference used with permission from the ASPS; our approach to certain problems may differ from those described by the ASPS.)
