How To Go About With Revision Rhinoplasty?

At times, the nose heals improperly from a rhinoplasty. In such cases, a revision rhinoplasty may be performed to correct the issue. The surgery harvests cartilage as grafts to restore proper breathing or the desired result. Rhinoplasty is usually performed in the first place for reasons that may be typical or non-typical. Typical reasons include the patient not having a liking to the physical attributes of his nose. He or she may take his nose to be too large, too flat, etc. On the other hand, non-typical reasons are more of unhealthy thinking. A person may like to get operated upon to gain popularity or attract people. Whatever the reason may be, it is important to know what can and cannot be changed and what the surgery may do. Some corrections may be more difficult than others as it is easy to take away rather than add.

The primary function of the nose is to breathe efficiently and comfortably. However, this may get difficult when a person is afflicted with breathing problem, both during the day and at night, at play and at rest. This may cause anxiety, depression or even anti-social behavior in people for not being able to participate in sports or other high or medium impact activities. There may also be problems where scar tissue may partially or fully block the airways and cause the air to force through these scar tissues. Before undergoing the surgery, it is important that the patient prepares emotionally so that they don’t face depression and shock later on. Anesthesia and medications may affect one’s outlook. Relaxation may decrease the recovery time to help progress more easily.

During revision rhinoplasty, the patient would be given the preferred anesthesia that has already been decided in prior discussions with the surgeon. Marks are then made using a magic marker type pen for incision placement areas if the surgery is an open one. A solution of Lidocaine, epinephrine and saline, or an epinephrine/bicarbonate/lidocaine mixture is then injected. The epinephrine is a vasoconstrictor.  This may impede the skin's ability to bleed excessively. The surgery if performed by an open technique, starts with incisions being made within the nose along the top of the columella and the on the marginal areas of the upper alar rims. The skin is then separated from the underlying cartilages very carefully with a pair of nasal scissors very much like the ones below.

The closed technique also makes similar cuts and dissections of the skin and cartilage but the visible external incision is not made. This may not be appropriate for extreme deformities. If the surgery is to thin the tip of the nose the cartilage may be removed or reworked resulting in a more defined nasal tip. For narrowed nostrils, two incisions one on either side of the face is made to form a crease. The surgeon will take care to make the scars as invisible as possible.