The human nose is a marvel, which is why its center-stage position on your face is necessary. Your nose is responsible for one of your five senses, and it also plays no small role in your ability to breathe freely and clearly.
It’s this second role that often drives people through our doors here at Lakeshore Ear, Nose & Throat Center seeking a rhinoplasty, more commonly known as a nose job.
While the nose job holds a prominent place among the top 10 plastic surgeries in the United States (ranking 10th), there’s much more to rhinoplasty than a cute, button nose. Read on to find out why a rhinoplasty addresses far more than aesthetic concerns.
Taking a wrong turn
One of the primary reasons people come to us is because they have a deviated septum. Your septum is the piece of cartilage inside your nose that divides your nostrils.
In a perfect world, your septum runs straight through the middle, enabling each nostril clear and free access to air. If your septum deviates to one side, it can hamper your ability to breathe on that side, sometimes quite severely, depending upon the extent of the deviation.
There are many reasons why you may have a deviated septum, starting with the simple fact that you were born with one, which is not uncommon. In fact, many people are born with some degree of deviation in their septum, but the structural issue is so minor that they’re largely unaware of it.
For moderate to severe deviations, however, the story can be rather different. Difficulties breathing and interrupted sleep (for you and for those around you!) because of snoring are the chief complaints, and they’re no small matters.
A deviated septum can also come on the heels of an accident or trauma to your nose, no matter your age. Some babies’ noses are affected during delivery as they make their way down the not-very-roomy birth canal. As an adult, any crushing injury to your nose can cause a deviated septum, and because of its central position on your face, these accidents are very common. From a weekend game of football to clumsily walking into a glass door, your nose sees its fair share of impact.
However you come to your deviated septum, if it’s having an impact on your ability to breathe, a rhinoplasty offers a great solution.
Cleft repair
Another reason why people seek out a rhinoplasty is to finish up repairs on a cleft lip and palate. If your child was born with one or both of these conditions, the early surgical intervention to correct the condition only accomplishes so much. What your doctors probably explained to you at the time was that your child likely needs another round of surgery once their nose takes its adult shape to correct any lingering issues that they couldn’t address earlier on.
With the further correction of the nose’s structure, a rhinoplasty plays a key role in firmly putting a cleft palate and lip to rest.
Disfiguring accidents
A rhinoplasty also serves an important role if you’ve been in an accident that has damaged your nose. Not only can your septum deviate, but the entire structure can be thrown off, requiring surgical intervention to correct the damage. While some may consider this aesthetic surgery, we feel that returning your nose to its pre-accident shape falls more toward the medical repair end of the spectrum.
Breathing easier
During your initial consultation, we sit down with you to review your problem and whether a rhinoplasty might bring you relief. The procedure itself isn’t terribly complicated or invasive, and we can perform it in our in-office surgical suite at our Macomb County location on an outpatient basis.
If you’d like to explore how rhinoplasty can help you or a loved one breathe easier, call or use the online scheduling tool on this website to schedule an appointment.
