What Is Nonsurgical Rhinoplasty? Risks and Results of Nose Fillers

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What Is Nonsurgical Rhinoplasty? Risks and Results of Nose Fillers


Having inherited a nose rich in character, boldly unbutton-like and angular in profile, I’ve taken a special interest in the rise of the nonsurgical nose job, or, as some call it, “liquid rhinoplasty” — that is, the injection of hyaluronic acid (HA) filler into the nose to temporarily tweak its shape. You’ve probably seen the before-and-afters online — some so shockingly transformative, one could easily mistake them for classic rhinoplasty results. Most transfixing are the images of noses that somehow, magically, appear smaller after being shot up with sugar gel. Like…how? This fix has sat atop my beauty bucket list for months now. I’ve preselected my plastic surgeon and mentally scripted my requests: Smooth the bumpy bridge, please, but don’t flip the tip.

Scrolling through Instagram Stories the other night, however, a certain post about this procedure gave me pause. Shereene Idriss, a clinical instructor in dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and a cosmetic dermatologist at Union Square Laser Dermatology in New York City, regularly answers her followers’ skin-care questions during her #pillowtalkderm sessions (such the combination of brilliance and hilarity — check her out). When I tuned in, she was talking filler complications, and addressing the nonsurgical nose job, specifically, sharing that she refuses to offer it, because the risks can be catastrophic.

The Rise of the Nonsurgical Nose Job

“Liquid rhinoplasty, as seen on social media, appears to be this quick and easy thing — but it’s not a treatment to be taken lightly,” she says, with potential slip-ups precipitating skin death and blindness. “Complications can happen, and are actually increasing across the board as these procedures gain popularity, and injectors’ qualifications become more and more questionable,” she adds, alluding to the worldwide epidemic of untrained practitioners injecting without a medical license, board certification, or a fundamental understanding of human nasal anatomy. What’s more, Idriss says, “the risks are often overlooked, which is a huge disservice to patients, and, frankly, just plain unethical.”

To further inform my own risk assessment, I reached out to some of the tippity-top plastic surgeons specializing in nose-specific plastic surgery, like Rod J. Rohrich, founding partner of the Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute, and professor in plastic surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

“As a rhinoplasty surgeon, I do this nonsurgical rhinoplasty very frequently, but, of course, I know and respect the anatomy,” he says. “It always disturbs me, though, when I see someone who’s not a rhinoplasty surgeon willy-nilly injecting the nose, because it can be risky if you don’t know what you’re doing.” While there are “no known numbers estimating the risks,” Rohrich says he has met patients who’ve lost the tips or sides of their noses following misplaced needle pokes by other injectors.





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