More than ever, people concerned about their appearance are often first concerned about their noses -- the central point on the face. Your nose also defines the appearance of your profile. And, depending on your ethnicity, a rhinoplasty has different guidelines. In any event, a good nose job is tailored individually for every person! But performing rhinoplasty is very, very involved: the human nose is extremely complicated and breathing can be affected. -
Rhinoplasty Reconstruction
Posted on June 30th, 2009 No commentsA very advanced form of nose surgery is Rhinoplasty reconstruction.
Usually, some terrible accident or injury has smashed the bones in the nose and they need to be replaced.
The best framework for a reconstructed nose is bone and cartilage taken from the ribs. In some cases, ears can contribute small pieces of cartilage.
In a recent case in Mumbai, India, a ten-year-old girl got a rare but powerful microbial infection known as Noma (caused by the organisms Fusobactgerium necrophorum or Prevotella intermedia.) Both are due to living in conditions of poor hygiene.
Results? Because the infection is attracted to soft flesh, it ate away her nose and left ear. The unfortunate child was left with two nostril holes in the middle of her face.
Although the child came from a very poor family, she was able to attend school and was making good progress. But as her nose disappeared, the teasing and ridiculing eventually became too much and she quit.
Even though plastic surgeons were able to build a proper nose framework, they need the girl’s own skin to wrap and cover the bony nose structure.
Solution? Tissue expanders are often used in cosmetic breast reconstruction, are inserted under the skin and gradually filled with saline. That forces more skin to grow over time.
The same technique was used to grow extra skin to cover the girl’s nose.
A silicone balloon was inserted through a tiny incision in her forehead and then slowly expanded for four weeks. That provided enough skin to cover her nose. Presumably, the surgeons also made sure the girl could breathe through her nose.
The young patient told the Mumbai Mirror: “I feel very happy when I see myself in a mirror; people can’t make fun of me anymore..” Plus, she is back in school.
The nose is so important because it is the central focal point of the face.
When a nose has more-or-less normal parameters, the eye sees the face and profile in balance ; few people ever actually notice a normal nose. Instead, the eye usually deflects its attention to the eyes.
But when a nose is too large, misshapen, crooked, humped or drooping, observers’ eyes tend drag down from the subject’s eyes, concentrating more on the nose. The result is the eyes seem smaller.
Her partial ear can be covered by hair until more surgery can take place.