Nose Surgery or Rhinoplasty in Birmingham AL

Reshape Your Nose, Balance Your Facial Features

Rhinoplasty, also known as nose surgery or nose reshaping, is designed to enhance the appearance and proportions of your nose by bringing it into better balance with the other facial features. Rhinoplasty can also correct impaired breathing caused by structural defects in the nose.

Rhinoplasty can treat:

• Nose size in relation to facial balance.
• Nose width at the bridge or in the size and position of the nostrils.
• Nose profile with visible humps or depressions on the bridge.
• Nasal tip that is enlarged or bulbous, drooping, upturned or hooked.
• Nostrils that are large, wide or upturned.
• Nasal asymmetry.

The Birmingham, Alabama plastic surgeons at Hedden & Gunn Plastic Surgery have the skills, the experience and the artistic eye to create a more pleasing profile with nose reshaping. For people with functional problems such as a blockage or deviated septum, rhinoplasty is an effective option for clearing the airways and nostrils for improved breathing.

Rhinoplasty Candidates

You may be a good candidate for nose surgery if:

• Your facial growth is complete.
• You are physically healthy.
• You don't smoke.
• You have a positive outlook and realistic goals in mind for the improvement of your appearance.

If you desire a more symmetrical nose, keep in mind that everyone's face is asymmetric to some degree. Results may not be completely symmetric, although the goal is to create facial balance and correct proportion.

Your Rhinoplasty Consultation

During your rhinoplasty consultation be prepared to discuss:

• Your surgical goals, with regard to both appearance and breathing.
• Medical conditions, drug allergies and previous medical treatments.
• Current medications, vitamins, herbal supplements, alcohol, tobacco and drug use.
• Previous surgeries.

Your rhinoplasty surgeon may also:

• Evaluate your general health status and any pre-existing health conditions or risk factors.
• The options available to you for nose reshaping.
• Examine and measure your face.
• Take photographs.
• Discuss your nose surgery options.
• Recommend a course of treatment.
• Discuss likely outcomes of a nose surgery and any risks or potential complications.
• Answer any questions you have about nose surgery.

Rhinoplasty Risks and Safety

The decision to have nose surgery is extremely personal. You will have to decide if the benefits of rhinoplasty will achieve your goals and if the risks and potential complications are acceptable.

The risks of nose surgery include:

• Anesthesia risks.
• Change in skin sensation (numbness or pain).
• Difficulty breathing.
• Infection.
• Nasal septal perforation (a hole in the nasal septum) is rare. Additional surgical treatment may be necessary to repair the septum but it may be impossible to correct this complication.
• Poor wound healing or scarring.
• Possibility of revisional surgery.
• Skin discoloration and swelling.
• Unsatisfactory nasal appearance.

Your plastic surgeon and/or staff will explain in detail the risks associated with nose surgery. These risks and others will be fully discussed prior to your consent. It's important that you address all of your concerns about risks with your plastic surgeon. You will be asked to sign consent forms to ensure that you fully understand the procedure and any risks or potential complications.

Preparing for Rhinoplasty

In preparing for nose surgery, you may be asked to:

• Get a lab test.
• Take certain medications or adjust your current medications.
• Stop smoking.
• Avoid taking aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs and herbal supplements as they can increase bleeding.

Nose surgery procedures are performed at our accredited Outpatient Surgery Facility in Birmingham, Alabama. Be sure to arrange for someone to drive you to and from surgery and stay with you for at least the first night after surgery.

Rhinoplasty Procedure

Nose Surgery Incisions

Rhinoplasty is performed using either a closed procedure, where incisions are hidden inside the nose, or an open procedure, where an incision is made across the columella (the narrow strip of tissue that separates the nostrils).

Through these incisions, the skin that covers the nasal bones and cartilages is gently raised, allowing access to reshape the structure of the nose.

Once the underlying structure of the nose is sculpted to the desired shape, nasal skin and tissue is redraped and incisions are closed. Additional incisions may be placed in the natural creases of the nostrils to alter their size.

Rhinoplasty Recovery

During your rhinoplasty recovery, a splint and/or packing may be placed inside your nose and a splint or bandages placed on the outside to support and protect the new structures during initial healing.

While initial swelling subsides within a few weeks, it may take up to a year for your new nasal contour to fully refine. During this time you may notice gradual changes in the appearance of your nose as it refines to a more permanent outcome.

Swelling may come and go and worsen in the morning during the first year following your rhinoplasty surgery.

You will be given specific instructions that may include:

• How to care for the surgical site.
• Medications to apply or take orally to aid healing and reduce the potential for infection.
• Specific concerns to look for at the surgical site or in your general health.
• When to follow up with your plastic surgeon.

Be sure to ask your rhinoplasty surgeon specific questions about what you can expect during your recovery period:

• Where will I be taken after my surgery is complete?
• What medication will I be given or prescribed after surgery?
• Will I have dressings/bandages after surgery?
• When will they be removed?
• Are stitches removed? When?
• When can I resume normal activity and exercise?
• When do I return for follow-up care?

Rhinoplasty Results

The results of rhinoplasty surgery with Dr. William Hedden, Dr. Stephen Gunn, Dr. Pasha Mostofi or Dr. Joshua Halka will be long-lasting. While initial swelling subsides within a few weeks, it may take up to a year for your new nasal contour to fully refine. During this time you may notice gradual changes in the appearance of your nose as it refines to a more permanent outcome.

As your body ages, it is natural to have some gradual changes to your face including your nose. But most of your improvement should be relatively permanent.

A healthy lifestyle and life-long sun protection will help extend the results of your new appearance.

Rhinoplasty Words to Know

• Cartilage: Connective tissue that forms the structure of the nose.
• Columella: The narrow strip of tissue that separates the nostrils.
• Deviated septum: Cartilage that separates the nostrils is misaligned which may cause partial nasal airway obstruction.
• General anesthesia: Drugs and/or gases used during an operation to relieve pain and alter consciousness.
• Intravenous sedation: Sedatives administered by injection into a vein to help you relax.
• Local anesthesia: A drug injected directly to the site of an incision during an operation to relieve pain.
• Rhinoplasty: Surgery to reshape the nose.