You had your first ever rhinoplasty surgery with the hopes of having the nose you have always dreamt of. You have the surgery, and weeks later, the results are right in front of you when you look at the mirror and you see that it’s nothing like you hoped for it to be. Undergoing a rhinoplasty for a second time would fix the problems your initial surgery caused, but of course, you are hesitant.

This is one of the most common problems among rhinoplasty patients.

The question they always ask is whether a revision rhinoplasty is worth going through all the procedure and healing process all over again.

The simple answer we can give you is, of course it is worth it, but not at any cost. This time you will have to do all the research you missed on the first time you underwent the surgery, because you cannot afford another frustration, right?

Let’s start off with what a revision rhinoplasty is for those of you who are not sure.

What exactly is a revision rhinoplasty?

A revision rhinoplasty is a secondary nose surgery that is done to fix the issues stemming from an initial rhinoplasty surgery. These issues can be breathing related or visual problems and in most cases, patients have complaints stemming from both.

The nose is at the center of the face and plays an important role in balancing the overall proportions of the face. Therefore, any visual issue that might arise from an unsuccessful primary rhinoplasty will be visible and most times annoying for the individual to notice every day.

Common deformities after a primary rhinoplasty

There are many different deformities that can occur after a primary rhinoplasty especially when you haven’t done enough research on your surgeon or your clinic.

It would be beneficial to mention some of the most common deformities that might require you to have a revision rhinoplasty.

Collapsed Bridge

This issue stems from having too much of the nasal cartilage being removed during the primary surgery and over the time, the nasal bridge drastically loses its’ shape. To fix this problem, your revision rhinoplasty surgeon will need to use an additional cartilage to reshape the bridge. For this, at Cygnus Clinic, our surgeons most often use cartilage from the patient’s own ribs.

Deformed Tip 

A deformed tip is usually a result of your previous surgeon treating the nose tissues and bone over-aggressively during the primary surgery. As a result, the tip of the nose is one of the most common spots that this problem occurs.

Asymmetric Nostrils

Yet again, asymmetric nostrils are caused by the lack of experience and expertise on the surgeon’s side. The surgeons are expected to confirm the size and shape of the nostrils before and during surgery to ensure they are symmetrical.

Breathing Difficulty 

Any type of weak structure that was created within the nose could collapse and cause breathing difficulty for the patients. Unevenly sized airway is another scenario where the patient will have varying amount of air entering through each nostril and become an issue for the patients.

Techniques used in revision rhinoplasty

Revision rhinoplasty operations require a more different technique and level of expertise compared to primary rhinoplasty surgeries.

This is due to the fact that a revision rhinoplasty surgeon will know the severity of the deformity only after starting the operation and analyzing the inside of the nose themselves.

That is also exactly why different and more advanced techniques are used during a revision rhinoplasty operation.

Oftentimes, to reshape the nose and achieve the desired look, the surgeon will use cartilage extracted from the patient’s own body like rib cartilage. This extraction is done through a minimal incision below the chest where the small piece of the rib is cartilage is collected and then used for the nasal reconstruction. It is important to notice that any incision made will leave no visible scars.

The technique that our surgeons at Cygnus Clinic practice for any type of rhinoplasty is called Ultrasonic Rhinoplasty.

Why is your choice of surgeon and clinic important for revision rhinoplasty?

Unlike a primary rhinoplasty operation where the surgeon is working with a virgin nose tissue and structure, a secondary rhinoplasty surgery is a much more delicate and challenging surgery where an expert surgeon is needed for the task in hand.

It is impossible to know precisely what kind of issues the previous surgeon left inside the nose and it is not predictable how the nose healed itself or how much scar tissue is present. Especially with thick skinned patients whose nose skin are a little thicker than normal, the reshaping will be harder on the surgeon as this skin type is usually more challenging to work with.

All these factors make the revision rhinoplasty an important and delicate process where you have to be careful with your choice of surgeon and clinic as this type of surgery will be challenging for the inexperienced doctors and clinic staff to handle.

This is why it is important for patients to research well before they decide on a team and have conversations with surgeons and staff members to get a better feel of the team that they are about to entrust their nose after a failed first attempt.

What to expect from your revision rhinoplasty?

 Similar to your primary rhinoplasty, a revision surgery is also done under general anesthesia and requires small stitches mostly inside the nose and one on the outside of the nose.

The healing process will also be similar to your primary surgery with little more care and caution as the nose tissue will be healing itself for a second time.

Early results can be seen as soon as one week after the surgery but most of our patients start to enjoy their new noses between one month to six months after their surgery, whereas the complete result shows right after one year post-operation.

For the first week after the surgery, the nose and the face will be slightly swollen but this will start to go down after a short while and almost all of the swelling will be gone by the one-month mark after the surgery. 

What will the final result look like after revision rhinoplasty with Cygnus Clinic?

Your new nose will be natural, the very best fit for your overall facial proportions and most important of all, the result will be permanent.

With the right surgeon and clinic, you won’t have to worry about going through a third operation ever again as you will already have the nose of your dreams, only this time, it will no longer be a dream. It will be your very own, beautiful reality.