Open Rhinoplasty Bristol, UK

Most people considering rhinoplasty want to bring the size and shape of their nose into better balance with their face. Many have been teased about their noses since they were children, and they are eager to correct characteristics that have caused them years of embarrassment. They want a nose that compliments their other features rather than dominating their appearance.

Rhinoplasty (nose job) is an operation to alter the shape and size of the nose and if necessary, to improve the nasal airway to allow more air to pass through the nose. The operation is performed under a general anaesthetic and takes between 1-2 hours to perform and requires 1 day in hospital. There are a number of ways a rhinoplasty can be performed depending on the specific features of the nose to be corrected. Essentially, the operation can either be done with all the incisions (cuts) hidden on the inside of the nose, called a closed rhinoplasty, or else with most of the incisions on the inside of the nose and an additional small incision on the skin of the nose half way down the columella (the thin piece of skin in the midline between the tip of the nose and the upper lip), called an open rhinoplasty. Through these access incisions, the nose is reshaped by a number of techniques, including reducing any hump on the top of the nose, augmenting any flatness of the nose with bone grafts, straightening the nose, narrowing the bridge of the nose by breaking the bones of the nose and resetting them, straightening the septum to improve the air passages, and altering the tip of the nose by either removing and sculpting the existing cartilage, or adding more cartilage to give better support. Of course, not all these techniques are required in every rhinoplasty, and some operations may be very simple, whilst others may be very complex. The wounds are then closed with dissolving stitches and the nose is covered with a plaster support.