
Surgical Staff
Dr William Portuese - board certified facial plastic surgeon
Surgical Facility

Non Surgical Rhinoplasty

A non-surgical rhinoplasty involves placement of temporary fillers such as Restylane and Juvederm into the nose. This nose procedure is performed in the office setting, while a surgical rhinoplasty is performed in an operating room under general anesthesia. Non-surgical rhinoplasty lasts approximately one year depending patient, the product, where it is placed, in addition to the amount that is placed. This procedure involves placement of the injectable filler underneath the skin , and makes the nose bigger, taller, and wider on a temporary basis. It is also not FDA approved for that application. These fillers are normally used for facial wrinkles. In our practice, fillers are used to fill in a very small isolated irregularity or dent that is present in the nose after a surgical nose procedure. The purpose of the fillers is to give symmetry and add a small amount to make the nose more symmetrical without having to undergo another surgical nose procedure. In order to surgically build out an area of the nose, cartilage grafting techniques would be required, which includes another general anesthesia. For this purpose, fillers do work quite well. Many patients are trying to attempt to perform an entire nose job with placement of fillers, which is not recommended. There are significant complications that can occur with placement of fillers in the nose, such as skin necrosis and blindness. Fortunately, these are both very rare, but can occur.

When patients have a large dorsal hump, it’s not possible to undergo a nonsurgical rhinoplasty to remove it. The dorsal hump is composed of both bone and cartilage, which must be surgically shaved down. Cartilage grafting techniques are used to build up a low glabella on a permanent basis. This procedure will not help improve the bulbous nasal tip or a hanging columella. A nonsurgical rhinoplasty is also not going to straighten a crooked nose, which requires osteotoies placed in the nasal bones. In summary, fillers can be used safely for isolated small depressions along the bridge line of the nose in limited applications.