In Rhinoplasty, many times nasal tissue needs to be "built up" as opposed to reduced. This is quite common in ethnic rhinoplasties, revision rhinoplasties, and congenital or traumatic deformities.

"Building up" the nose.   Most surgeons prefer to use the patient's own tissue i.e. cartilage to achieve this.  The most commonly used cartilage comes from the nose itself: the nasal septum cartilage. The septum is a quadrangular shaped cartilage in the middle of your nose on the inside. You can feel it be pinching the soft part of your nose between your thumb and forefinger. Feel that firm tissue in between? That's the septum. The septum is important because it divides the nasal cavity in half and plays a roll in air flow dynamics when you breathe. It also supports the nose!

 

Can you take away septal cartilage and not harm the nose?
From years of research and experience in the field of head and neck surgery, we have learned that there is a segment of cartilage that plays no role in support, and we can remove it safely to use in building up other parts of the nose.

 

Sometimes the septal cartilage is not enough. In that case, surgeons turn to the ear cartilage. Just as in the nose, there is a segment of ear cartilage (called "conchal cartilage") that can be safely removed and transferred to the nose. This can be done through a simple, well-hidden incision behind the ear. Just like the nose cartilage, ear cartilage almost always survives and stays in the nose to give a permanent result.