Background: Many anti-aging facial procedures are done in middle aged patients or older. Whether it be a facelift or blepharoplasties, it take some aging to need these procedures to help turn back the clock. But when it comes to rhinoplasty, it is usually the opposite. This facial restructuring procedure is often done in younger patients between their teen years and up to middle age. Because it changes the structure of a facial feature, it is usually done in younger patients for improved self-esteem and social acceptance.
But just because one doesn’t have a rhinoplasty done when they were younger does not mean they may have not liked their nose. For many older patients that have always disliked their nose, it is often an issue of opportunity and even economics. Older rhinoplasty patients may be motivated by a desire to improve their breathing but, for cosmetic purposes alone, it may just have not been possible until they were much older.
Older rhinoplasty patients may also have discovered that their nose has gotten bigger or longer. The old phrase ‘getting longer in the tooth’ applies to the nose as well. With age the nasal tip cartilages can weaken and the tip becomes more droopy. This can become really magnified in a nose which naturally has always had a bit of nasal droop. (more acute nasolabial angle)
Case Study: This 79 year-old woman of German descent had a nose with a large hump and a long and protruding tip. She had always wanted a nose job but never had the opportunity.
Under general anesthesia, she had an open rhinoplasty done. The large nasal hump was reduced of bone and cartilage. The height of the septum was reduced and the tall upper lateral cartilages were folded into spreader grafts. The end of the septum was shortened and the nasal tip cartilages shortened and rotated upward. Alar rim grafts were also done.
Her postoperative results at two years after surgery showed a good change in her nasal shape. Her nose was smaller and better proportioned but maintained good support and she had no breathing problems.
One can have an elective rhinoplasty at an older age as long as they are in good health. Her result proves that it is never to late to correct a facial feature that one may have always disliked.
Highlights:
- Rhinoplasty can be safely done even up to 80 years of age
- Reshaping of a large protruding nose can be done through bone and cartilage reduction while still maintaining structural support.
3. A true senior rhinoplasty (in the 70s and 80s) is rare but proves it is never too late to correct a lifelong aesthetic facial concern.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana