What do you think of when you hear the term rhinoplasty? Fixing a broken nose? Removing a hump? It might surprise you to learn that rhinoplasty is a very broad term indeed. If you’ve been looking up medical or cosmetic procedures for your nose, your head might be spinning from all the terms you’ve found.
Thankfully, we’re here to help demystify six of these terms. Now instead of turning your nose up at an intimidating medical word, you can decide if its a process that could help solve your nasal complaints.
Rhinoplasty
What better place to start than the most familiar of terms? Rhinoplasty, (RIE-no-plas-tee) is, in simplest terms, any surgery that is used to change the shape of the nose. This could be due to a dissatisfaction with its appearance, or to make breathing easier.. Generally, a rhinoplasty is accomplished by making an incision in the nose through which a rhinoplasty surgeon can adjust or remove the cartilage inside.
As you can imagine, rhinoplasty is a very broad term that encapsulates many types of operations, including some that we’ll see further along on this list.
Septoplasty
Before you start reaching back for what little Latin you remember – septoplasties have nothing to do with the number seven, “septem”. So, no, this doesn’t refer to when you get seven rhinoplasties. Instead, the term derives from the Latin word “septum”, which indicates a partition. And the partition in question is your septum, which is the bit of cartilage and skin between your two nostrils.
If your septum ever becomes crooked or otherwise deviated, it can lead to serious breathing issues. It will also give your nostrils a noticeably crooked and off-kilter appearance. A septoplasty is, then, a procedure that aims to straighten the septum and correct the position of any stray cartilage within.
Septorhinoplasty
Did you know that you can sometimes, with a surgeon’s recommendation, mix and match cosmetic procedures? A septorhinoplasty is just such one example. You can probably guess what this means— a septorhinoplasty is a procedure where you mix a rhinoplasty and a septoplasty together for extra efficiency and value. This means you don’t need to return for two separate procedures, and can get your ideal nose in one sitting, perfect right down to the nostrils.
Alarplasty
Like septoplasties, alarplasties aim to change the shape of the nostrils. Rather than focusing on the space between the nostrils, however, alarplasty looks to change the rest of the skin around them. You might hear these outer parts of skin referred to as the “wings” of your nose. Generally, the motivation for alarplasty is that one feels that their nostrils are distractingly large. It could also be that only one “wing” is operated on to better improve symmetry of the nose as a whole.
Turbinoplasty
For these next two types of nose job, we have to first explain what your turbinates are. We tend to have a pretty good idea of what the visible parts of our nose are, like the nostrils and bridge. The turbinates are on the inside, however, and so are a bit harder to explain.
Turbinates are essentially bony structures up in your nose that are covered by soft tissue known as mucosa. Confusingly, we have multiple sets of turbinates – but since you’re likely not studying for your anatomy exam, we can focus just on the inferior turbinates, which are the lowest, or closest to the exit. The purpose of the turbinates is to warm and humidify air as you breathe in.
Sometimes the mucosa covering these inferior turbinates can swell or become inflamed. Left like this, they can start to thicken and make breathing difficult. A turbinoplasty is one way to resolve this, going into the nose to reshape the turbinates into a form that helps restore easy breathing.
Turbinectomy
A turbinectomy can be considered the “nuclear option” version of a turbinoplasty. Both these kinds of operations have the goal of clearing up the blockages caused by enlarged turbinate mucosa. The difference is that a turbinectomy involves actually removing pieces of the turbinate in order to clear your airways. This is naturally a more involved and serious process, and only used when a turbinoplasty isn’t deemed enough.
Which Nose Job Procedure is Right for Me?
If you have difficulty breathing, it could be because of an issue with your turbinates, or perhaps your septum. If your nose seems a little off in appearance to you, it could be because one part is too large, or there’s a subtle lack of symmetry. If you need any help deciding what’s the right course, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re always happy to help answer your questions!