News » The shape of the nose
The Asian nose is often saddle-shaped: the bony structure is disproportionately small with a wide tip. If the patient wants a Caucasian nose, then the surgeon must build the upper and middle portion of the nose and reduce the lower part of the nose (the tips and alae). The latter technique sometimes requires making an incision in the skin, and this can be challenging, warned Dr. Haddad, who is also a clinical associate professor of facial plastic surgery at the University of California, Irvine.
Asians, Dr. Haddad said, prefer to have a strong nasal profile. A quick and easy way to achieve this – at least as a first-line treatment – is by using Silastic implants. “I suggest using the larger rather than the smaller implants because I have found my patients prefer this look. They also want a more narrow alae.”
Dr. Haddad also uses implants to achieve the narrow alae. This, he noted, can be somewhat controversial because conventional wisdom holds that implants have a high likelihood for eventual extrusion. “The incidence of extrusion is about 5 percent, but I believe the benefits far out weigh the risk. The good news is that the thickness of Asian skin better protects and hides the implants.”
Placing the implant is not a lengthy procedure, he said, and can be done under local anesthesia. This is important because the patient does not experience a great deal of downtime; often they can return to work right away because swelling is not a problem.
Asians, Dr. Haddad said, prefer to have a strong nasal profile. A quick and easy way to achieve this – at least as a first-line treatment – is by using Silastic implants. “I suggest using the larger rather than the smaller implants because I have found my patients prefer this look. They also want a more narrow alae.”
Dr. Haddad also uses implants to achieve the narrow alae. This, he noted, can be somewhat controversial because conventional wisdom holds that implants have a high likelihood for eventual extrusion. “The incidence of extrusion is about 5 percent, but I believe the benefits far out weigh the risk. The good news is that the thickness of Asian skin better protects and hides the implants.”
Placing the implant is not a lengthy procedure, he said, and can be done under local anesthesia. This is important because the patient does not experience a great deal of downtime; often they can return to work right away because swelling is not a problem.