How Is the Surgery Done?

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As a rhinoplasty specialist, Toronto facial plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Rival is experienced performing rhinoplasty with both an internal and external approach. He will choose the one that will best allow him to provide the desired improvements. This page provides details, along with graphic photographs, of how he performs these techniques.

To learn more about how rhinoplasty is performed, request a rhinoplasty consultation with Toronto facial plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Rival at one of his three offices. If you are interested in a facial plastic surgery procedure other than rhinoplasty, visit Dr. Rival’s main site at rivalcosmeticsurgery.com.

Internal Approach Rhinoplasty

In general during rhinoplasty surgery, facial plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Rival modifies the underlying nasal bone and cartilage usually by a combination of reducing, reshaping or augmenting it. To gain access to these structures he generally uses one of two approaches. The internal approach involves making incisions inside the nostrils and then elevating the skin to expose the bone and cartilage to be changed. The tip cartilages are sometimes delivered through the nostrils modified and then replaced inside the nose.

During internal approach rhinoplasty, sometimes both cartilages can be delivered into one nostril where suture techniques are used to create narrowing to improve definition of the tip. Once the tip cartilages are exposed a suture is placed to narrow them (this is the blue thread in the picture to the right).

External Approach Rhinoplasty

The other approach most commonly used by Toronto rhinoplasty surgeons is termed the external or open approach. In addition to the cuts made inside the nose, a small incision is made across the skin in between the nostrils called the columella. This allows the rhinoplasty surgeon excellent exposure to make major changes to the anatomy of the nose. The incision fades with time and is extremely hard to see when fully healed. Dr. Rival uses the external approach when major change to the tip anatomy is required or often to fix a twisted nose. An experienced surgeon performing rhinoplasty in Toronto should have extensive skill in both approaches in order to handle the variations in nasal anatomy. Generally the external approach incision heals very well with a scar that is difficult to see.

 

 

Reducing the Nasal Bridge

During rhinoplasty the bridge of the nose is commonly reduced. The upper part of the bridge is bone and the lower part is cartilage. The bone is reduced by shaving it down gradually with an instrument like a file we call a nasal rasp. The cartilage must be reduced sharply with either a scalpel or specially designed surgical scissors. Although seemingly an easy maneuver, a Toronto rhinoplasty surgeon must anticipate the effects of healing and swelling to obtain a pleasing aesthetic result.

 

Once the hump is reduced this creates a wide flat area over the bridge of the nose much like a landing strip. In rhinoplasty terms this is called an open roof. In order to re-narrow the nose the surgeon must create a controlled cut in the bone on either side in order to allow the bones to move closer together. Surgeons call this an osteotomy – patients refer to this as breaking the nose. This maneuver is often responsible for most of the bruising that follows rhinoplasty.