The Feminine Nose: Fantastic Plastic

Does the tiny cute Disney® Princess nose exist in real life?  Yes, it does, but it is indeed rare.  Your nose is made for breathing, and must be large enough inside for healthy air flow with reserve capacity.  Still, as the centerpiece of your face, the aesthetically pleasing nose is a reproductive advantage, and therefore natural selection favors the beautiful nose.

If nasal pulchritude is not part of your genetic inheritance, no problem:  You can buy it, more reliably now than ever before.  Plastic surgical techniques to feminize nasal features are better understood by doctors, including ethnic variations in anatomy.  The surgical procedure to change shape and/or size of the nose is called “rhinoplasty,” (rhino = nose, plasty = to mold, to shape) and is accomplished by specialists in plastic surgery.

High-speed surgical burrs soften visible angles and projections, precise instrumentation re-arranges bony support, cartilage grafts add pretty curves and inflections, and fine sutures skillfully placed bend or re-positioning cartilage.  These methods are all part of the modern plastic surgeons’ armament.  Rhinoplasty related deformities and irregularities that divulge surgical modification are less common because of improvements in nasal aesthetic surgery technique and because new materials are available to conceal minor imperfections.  Dermal matrix, injectable fillers, and other off-the-shelf products are used as camouflage when necessary to improve the result.  Most operations to beautify nasal appearance are accomplished under direct vision, the “open” approach.  In the past, rhinoplasty was performed by feel and by the appearance of the evolving result beneath nasal skin (closed approach).

Rhinoplasty is an operation that changes the shape and size of bone and cartilage support of the nose. Your outcome results from skin re-draping over the changed underlying structures and emerges after months of healing and slow resolution of swelling.  Some maneuvers, such as narrowing the base of your nose or improving the definition of finer features are accomplished by thinning or removing specific portions of nasal skin and soft tissue.

As a plastic surgeon with over twenty years of rhinoplasty experience, Dr. Steve Laverson is excited about these developments.  Together, they help plastic surgeons achieve more predictable outcomes, and offer the possibility of improved lifelong beauty for many.  Every woman can now have a Disney® Princess nose!

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