African rhinoplasty

African rhinoplasty

The goal of every African nose job is completely unique to each patient. Every patient and every nose will have different goals that will be defined during an in-depth consultation with the Dr. However, all of our African rhinoplasty share a common goal, creating a nose that best fits the face.

In general, patients want to achieve the following goals with their African rhinoplasty surgery

• Make the nostrils more narrow
• Increase the size of the nose when looking at the profile
• Improve definition of the tip
• Fix the drooping tip
• Create a natural nose to fit the face

The unique qualities of an African nose

It would be naive to say any quality is present in all African noses. There are certain characteristics that tend to be more common in African noses that should be identified by a rhinoplasty specialist. The Dr. examines the noses of all of his African patients for the following unique qualities:

• Thickness of the nasal skin. African skin can be thicker, inelastic, and sebaceous. Thick skin can prevent definition of the nose.

• Length of the nasal bone. African may have shorter nasal bones. Short nasal bones do not support the nose well. Additional supporting grafts must be placed into the nose to prevent collapse many years after the surgery.

• Definition of the nasal tip. African nasal tip is commonly poorly defined and droops. The tip will require special maneuvers to achieve definition,although this may be limited due to thick skin.

• Size of the nose. The African nose may be small when looking at the profile because it may not stick out far from the face. In this case, the nose actually may have to be made BIGGER so that it appears SMALLER. This point is often hard for the patient to understand, but the Dr. will explain this concept in further detail during a consultation.

• Size of the nostrils. If the nostrils are wide and flared, then the nostrils may need to be narrowed with an alar base reduction procedure.

• Support of the nose. The cartilage in the nose may be weak. Since the nose has to last a lifetime, the nasal structure must be strengthened so that the nose does not change over time.