Rhinoplasty (also called a nose job) is again becoming a popular procedure. The nose is front and center on the face and even small adjustments can significantly change the harmony of the face. In most cases, results are predictable and patients now can get an idea of what to expect by way of video imaging.
There was a fall-off in the popularity of the procedure over the past few years. Most of this decline was probably due to the economy. However, the media made exaggerated coverage of really bad nose jobs (think Michael Jackson) that probably scared many who were considering the surgery.
A nose surgery is outpatient, physiologically not hard on the patient, and not very painful. Nasal packing, if it is used at all, comes out within 24 hours so is not the issue it used to be. Again, with the benefit of video imaging, patients have a pretty good idea of how things are going to turn out once healing is complete.
Rhinoplasty is probably the hardest of all aesthetic operations to get consistently good results. Each nose provides the surgeon with its own anatomy that has to be adjusted to create harmony on the specific face. It takes a lot of practice to understand how an adjustment in anatomy below the skin will translate into a very specific visual change on the face.
Some noses are harder than others and the expectations of the patients have to be in line with the capabilities of the operation. This, again, is where video imaging can educate the patient and sometimes even the surgeon.
