For some people, getting a nose job isn’t about improving the looks you were born with but correcting an injury or other medical condition. In many cases, the surgical procedures used for both elective and medically necessary rhinoplasty is similar.
The difference between the two can be determined by questioning whether or not the person in question can use their nose to full functionality without the surgery. If so, it is a cosmetic surgery. If not, it can be considered a medically necessary procedure.
In general, regardless of the reason for the surgery, there are two basic ways to conduct rhinoplasty. When the plastic surgeon cuts an incision into the exterior of the septum and performs work through this opening, this is considered an open rhinoplasty. The other way to do the job is to work entirely through the nostrils; this is called a closed rhinoplasty.
Whether an open or closed procedure is done depends on the doctor’s diagnosis and the desired outcome. Some of the things a surgeon would take into account when making this decision is the thickness of the skin being worked with so as to reduce the development and appearance of post operative scars.
One of the most common reasons for medically necessary rhinoplasty is the cleft lip or cleft palate. This is a very simple birth defect to fix and without it children often have trouble eating and getting the nutrition they need. While this food concern is mostly present in developing countries, a cleft lip or palate is almost always corrected for appearance reasons but as a medical condition.
There are many conditions and injuries that necessitate rhinoplasty that aren’t present at birth, too. For instance, it is possible for a person to develop nasal inflammation from chronic allergies to the extent that they prevent easy and healthy breathing through the nose.
More reasons for medically necessary rhinoplasty include injuries to the nose area. Burns, for instance, from a variety of sources can all cause facial deformation that needs to be fixed surgically. Broken noses sometimes require surgery, too, as well as broken bones around the eye sockets.
Even brain tumors are sometimes behind a medically necessary rhinoplasty, whether because the tumor is malignant and needs to be removed or it is benign but causing problems to neighboring organs and bodily systems.
Even though most people think of a nose job as being something done just for appearances, the careful surgery required to rebuild and repair a nose is used just as importantly in medical care.
