Q&A – RHINOPLASTY, SNEEZING AND BONE IMPLANT

In this Question and Answer post, Dr. James answered a question from someone who had a rhinoplasty. The question is whether sneezing could adversely affect the placement of her silicone implant and whether a bone would make a better implant instead.

QUESTION

I had a noselift done last month and I really like the results. I am now in another country and I just found out that I am allergic to the dust or pollen here. I keep on sneezing and I constantly suffer from a runny nose. I am afraid to sneeze or touch my nose because the surgeon used a silicone implant. Is it possible to change the silicone with bone so that I could sneeze normally as much as I need to?

ANSWER

Your surgeon failed to explain to you that a rhinoplasty using silicone as an implant allows you to do the usual things you were doing with your nose before you had a nose job. Basically, once an implant is placed properly in its pocket, the scar capsule that surrounds it is strong enough to contain it and prevent it from getting displaced by the usual forces that the nose may be subjected to during everyday activities. You can sneeze as much as you want without fear that the implant might move from one area to another and cause your nose to look crooked.

Bone has been one of the traditional materials used to augment the bridge of the nose. It is harvested easily from the hips or the skull and shaped to the patient’s desire. It will incorporate into the tissues and will not move but the main drawback is that it would feel very hard to touch and will be very difficult to remove should the patient wants to have it changed (i.e. revision rhinoplasty). I suggest you don’t change your implant. Silicone is still the gold standard for Asian rhinoplasty upon which new implants are compared with.