Is rhinoplasty painful?
No, rhinoplasty is a surgery that hurts very little. The nose is an area that has little mobility, so both surgery and recovery usually require very little amount of painkillers, although it is essential to take them during the first days to prevent the first discomfort.
Recovery from rhinoplasty is extremely good, to the point that sometimes we do rhinoplasty with local anesthesia and on an outpatient basis, and the patient after 2-3 days can lead a normal life, keeping the cast, which should be about a week.
Even other discomforts associated with rhinoplasty, such as difficulty breathing, we try to avoid. The most uncomfortable situation, which consists in the use of nasal packing (plugs), is avoided in 95% of rhinoplasties.
Can the sense of smell be affected in a rhinoplasty?
Smell depends on air reaching the upper part of the nose in acceptable conditions, in an area called the lamina cribrosa of the ethmoid. This is where the olfactory endings are located, therefore the sense of smell will only be affected if the air does not reach this area easily.
Modern rhinoplasty tries to preserve as much as possible all the characteristics of the airway, we preserve the lower and upper nasal valves, and we also preserve the width of the nose in the upper part avoiding collapse, this makes the air reaches this area easily, and once the inflammation of the first days after the intervention subsides, the sense of smell maintains its normal characteristics.
Is rhinoplasty a solution for snoring?
No. Rhinoplasty is not a solution for snoring.
Usually, snoring is caused by the existence of an oral breathing generally related to the lack of air space in the lower third of the face, in the jaw. When the jaw is small and falls back during sleep, we do not have enough space in the nasopharynx, and this causes the passage of air to vibrate the palate.
For snoring there are other types of surgeries that are related to the soft palate and also with the treatment of sleep apnea.
Is it possible to see the result of a rhinoplasty before the intervention?
Yes, we do simulations using computer programs that allow us to see what the result of the surgery will be before the intervention.
In fact, it is not that the computer operates, but it helps us to agree with the patient on the objectives that we have to have before the treatment. By reshaping the nose on the computer what we do is discuss whether the dorsum is going to be a little higher or a little lower, or whether the tip of the nose is going to be a little higher or a little lower. All these simulations the physician must be able to translate them into reality.
The computer does not operate but what helps us is to discuss expectations or goals with the patient.
Are the results of rhinoplasty permanent?
Yes, the postoperative period after rhinoplasty is characterized by the appearance of edema at the beginning, the nose becomes swollen. This swelling gradually goes down until it reaches its final state. Although most of the edema will go down during the first months, the result is not considered definitive until one year after surgery. After that year, the results last in time.
However, we must not forget that the body, and in particular the face, is in a constant process of aging with age. Little by little, age will bring about changes in our body as well as in our face. However, it is curious that once the nose is operated, it does not grow. After rhinoplasty the nose stops growing and does not evolve in the same way as if it had not been treated.
While in people who have not undergone nose surgery, the nose gradually changes, after rhinoplasty the changes stop. (In people who have not undergone surgery, when we are children the nose is “small”, and when we are adults the nose gets bigger and falls. It follows the same behavior as the ears, which also grow).
Is there an alternative to surgery?
Nowadays there is talk of a technique called rhinomodeling, which consists of injecting filler substances in some parts of the nose. If the objective is a nose reduction, which is what is sought in most of our patients (within the racial type to which we belong), this is hardly indicated, since it will result in a larger nose than the one we had. It should only be used in nose augmentation surgeries.
However, we must think about something else. Normally most of these substances that are used, especially if we want them to be permanent, have some problem, some contraindication, or produce inflammation or chronic edema in the medium and long term, in particular problems related to substances that are foreign to the body.
This could be assimilated to poorly done lip augmentations, which are seen in patients with annoying and painful swellings in the lips, which are then extremely difficult to remove. When a foreign substance is introduced into the body, the body defends itself and can sometimes cause unwanted inflammation that is difficult to treat, since it is very difficult to remove these substances. The process is more or less the same. We can have a chronically inflamed nose that is difficult to correct in the future. Most of us plastic surgeons are reluctant to use these rhinomodeling techniques, even though they are very simple, knowing the complications they can lead to in the future.