Nonsurgical “liquid” Rhinoplasty

By Greg Lee, MD, PhD

This is a very beautiful patient who wanted to have minor improvements in the appearance of her nose. She already had a very cute nose but there were minor details that bothered her in photos, and she wanted her nose to be slightly more harmonious with her face without changing the way she looked and without much down time or a big surgical procedure. Some specific corrections she desired was to improve the bridge of her nose especially in a profile or “side” view, as well as a more refined tip.

We offered this lovely patient a nonsurgical “liquid” rhinoplasty (nose job) to help achieve her desires and she was very excited and happy with her results. The procedure took about 20 minutes, but we have all of our patients stay for observation for an additional 15-20 minutes to ensure there are no concerns or complications. We use topical numbing medication to minimize the discomfort of the injections and there is numbing medication in the filler itself to help make the procedure more tolerable. The results are immediate. Depending on the nose however, there may be a limit to how much we can correct initially depending on the elasticity of the nose skin.

Nonsurgical nose jobs carry risks that all patients and qualified providers should be aware of. All qualified providers of this procedure should inform their patients of all the risks and take this procedure very seriously. As a plastic surgeon, I have significant and intimate knowledge of the vascular anatomy of the nose and face because I visually see the anatomy each time, I perform a surgical rhinoplasty (nose job) on a patient. Therefore, as a plastic surgeon, the risks of complications, although still present, are minimized due to my expertise and knowledge of the anatomy in this region. I highly recommend that this procedure only be performed by qualified providers with significant knowledge of the nasal anatomy.