Can you do a pig nose after nose surgery? [Myths and Facts About Rhinoplasty | Q&A]

Hello. This is Soon Plus Plastic Surgery.

Today, we’ll take a look at questions that nose surgery patients are curious about and hear answers from a board-certified plastic surgeon.

Is a pig nose impossible after rhinoplasty?

It can vary depending on the surgical method. Generally, when people say nose surgery, they mean surgery to raise the bridge and tip of the nose.

To raise the bridge, implants such as silicone or Gore-Tex are usually used. The tip of the nose is made of cartilage, and structurally it is slightly lifted.

So, raising the tip by 3 mm does not necessarily make it simply higher; instead, it may droop or become slightly upturned. That is why it is important to strengthen the nose tip, or the columella, firmly.

In Korea, the nose tip cartilage is usually weak and small, so reinforcement is needed in most cases. Depending on the shape and degree of weakness, the method for creating the nasal support structure may differ. There are two simple types of columella reinforcement methods.

When it is made by fixing it firmly - when the patient’s own columella is somewhat strong and has a certain size.

It is not fixed rigidly, and only slightly reinforced between the cartilages. In such cases, a pig nose is possible.

When the columella is made in a fixed style - when the nose is too small and the upward turn is severe.

Because the nose needs to be lengthened a lot and the columella must be reinforced firmly, the columella is made in a fixed style. In such cases, there may be limitations to doing a pig nose.

In conclusion, whether a pig nose is possible or not can be divided depending on how the columella is made.

After rhinoplasty, the tip of the nose turns red in winter?

This is both true and false.

When you go outside in the cold winter, you can see that the tip of the nose or the ears turn red. Because the nose and ears are the most protruding parts of the face, when they are exposed to the cold outside, they can become the coldest, and as blood vessels constrict, the tip of the nose turns red.

If it has not been long since you had nose surgery, the internal structure of the nose is often not yet strong and may still be healing. After surgery, healing may take from several months to up to one year in the case of revision surgery or complex surgery, so the tip of the nose is not in a fully healthy state. If you go outside and are exposed to the cold in this condition, color changes may be slightly more pronounced than when you have not had surgery, and the time it takes to recover after returning indoors may also be a little slower.

Revision rhinoplasty is difficult?

It can be a little more difficult than the first nose surgery. However, based on extensive experience with nose surgery, there are cases in which revision rhinoplasty after the first operation is very difficult. While some patients have a lot of scar tissue and many internal structures that have been damaged, there are also cases where surgery is relatively easy even after a fourth or fifth revision rhinoplasty. If the internal structures of the nose are fairly well preserved and there is little scar tissue, revision rhinoplasty may be easier.

Therefore, the number of surgeries is not what matters most. Rather, it depends on how the previous surgery was done and whether there were any special issues during the recovery period. Although more surgeries generally do make it more difficult, the condition before surgery is what matters most.

Alcohol and smoking are not a problem during the recovery period after nose surgery?!

Alcohol and smoking are of course not allowed during the recovery period after nose surgery. They are one of the factors that can lead to poor results, so they should of course be avoided. If you had nose surgery with a high cost in order to overcome a complex and look better, it would not be right to ignore the precautions during recovery.

Some people also ask about e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes are also cigarettes, so of course they should be avoided during recovery.

Can you tell whether the surgery has failed even in the early stage after nose surgery?

Saying the surgery failed just one week after nose surgery would refer to cases such as when the balance between the tip and the bridge is extremely poor / when the bridge is raised too much and it looks like an avatar / when the implant is obviously twisted too much.

In situations like those, ordinary board-certified plastic surgeons are not usually so lacking in skill that this happens. Most patients worry because right after the tape is removed, the nose is swollen or the bridge looks too high, the tip looks bulky, the nostrils seem flared, or the nose looks upturned. These issues usually improve gradually over an average of about 3 to 6 months, so there is no need to worry too much.

If it continues to bother you or feels uncomfortable, visiting the clinic and getting more guidance about recovery can be a good option.

In addition, questions such as whether implant removal is possible in the early stage after surgery or whether cartilage will always show after nose surgery can be checked in detail through the YouTube video.