Nose surgery (Rhinoplasty)

Nose surgery is done for several reasons. They can be of esthetic or functional nature. Visual conspicuity, as e.g. bumpy nose, rounded edge of the nose or distortion of the diving walls in the nose can be corrected, and the goal is to change the shape of the nose in order to harmonize the proportions between the nose, the chin and the forehead. Esthetic or plastic nose surgery is generally done after the process of growing has ended, i.e. after 17 years of age.

Prof. Mislav Gjuric, M.D., Ph.D.

German and Croatian board certified otorhinolaryngologist specialising in cosmetic surgery with emphasis on facial, head & neck plastic and reconstructive surgery; founder, director and head of practice at Sinteza Clinic in Zagreb
Professor of Otorhinolaryngology at the FA-University of Erlangen, Germany; former Professor and Vice-Chairman of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the J.W. Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany
Professor and Chairman of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Zagreb, Croatia; active member of numerous medical associations around the world

How is nose surgery done?

By invisible incisions from the inner side of the nose, using fine surgical work, we prepare nostrils and bone construction, and then we change their shape and size according to your wishes. Scars are invisible after "closed rhinoplasty". The nose is being straightened, e.g. because of crookedness, and it is done by removing and transplanting of excess small bones and nostrils. Nose skin is lifted with cartilage-tissue and bone-tissue of the nose skeleton, it is corrected with millimeter precision and is precisely fixed with the finest sutures, leaving only inconspicuous, invisible small scars. Sometimes small incisions on the face (e.g. in the area of the eyebrows or the base of the nose) are necessary, but they also leave only invisible scaring.

What happens before a nose job?

During a detailed consultation with your surgeon, you will be informed about other procedures, which are adequate for you, and which can be combined with nose surgery. Depending on the scope of the nose surgery, it lasts from 1 to 3 hours. If the correction is done only at the tip of the nose, e.g. in the case of snub, fleshy, too long or downward hooking nose, the procedure is done on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia. The procedure is more comfortable with regional anesthesia, but you must not eat or drink anything six hours preceding the surgery, in that case. If you correct the whole nose, i.e. also nose skeleton (e.g. with trunk nose, crooked nose or saddle-shaped nose, etc.), the procedure is done under general anesthesia, inpatient, with a daylong hospitalization.

What happens after a nose job?

After the procedure, we place a nasal splint to fix the nose skeleton. First it comes to swelling and bruising of your eyelids. If only nose tip correction was done, the patient must wear a plastic or gypsum splint for 4 days. The nose gets its final shape 6 to 12 months after the surgery, and the results are mostly very good. You might find it hard to breath through your nose for 6 to 8 weeks. It is advisable to put cold compresses on the surrounding facial areas (e.g. around the eyes) to reduce the swelling. After the surgery, you should lie semi-reclined, because it reduces swelling. Reduced nose sensitivity to touch will also disappear after a few months.

What are the results of a nose surgery?

We cannot give you any warranty for your look, especially if you already had nose correction before. With really big nose surgeries, it is necessary to do several interventions to achieve the desired goal. Problems with breathing through the nose cannot always be completely solved, especially if there is mucous membrane swelling caused by allergic reactions. It is sometimes necessary to do another smaller correction after 6 to 12 months, mostly concerning the tip of the nose.