Rhinoplasty (nose) surgery is one of the most sought after procedures for cosmetic facial changes. The prominence of the nose in the center of the face guarantees that any change done to it will have an impact on overall facial appearance. Because of its facial importance, it is very helpful for a patient to have a good understanding of what can be achieved with rhinoplasty surgery.
The use of digital imaging through the computer has long made it possible to do surgical predictions. Such technology has been available for nearly 15 years and the initial use of it was for…..rhinoplasty surgery. The earliest software programs were best used for profile changes, which is still the most important predictions to see today. But the rapid development of imaging software, such as Adobe photoshop, have made changes in the frontal facial view very accurate as well. With today’s digital cameras and computer software, it is possible to have facial surgical predictions done within minutes.
All potential rhinoplasty patients today should have surgical predictive imaging done. I would not do any rhinoplasty surgery without it, because the patient needs to have a good understanding of what the rhinoplasty procedure can achieve. Predictive imaging also allows the patient to appreciate if other facial changes may be complementary to the rhinoplasty. Most likely, this would be chin augmentation which is a common companion procedure done with a rhinoplasty.
An important concept to understand about computer surgical predictions is……they are just predictions, not guarantees of rhinoplasty and facial outcomes. They are great methods of communication between a plastic surgeon and the patient to help both understand what may be possible.
Dr Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana