The desire to change or make up a new nose has been around for a long time. The first recorded nose job is written in the ancient Indian Sanskrit texts around 600 BC. Doctor would reconstruct noses by taking a strip of skin from the forehead or cheeks, twisting the skin side over a leaf of the appropriate size, and then sewing the skin into place. Two polished wooden tubes would be inserted into the nostrils to keep the air passages open during healing. Such drastic rhinoplasty surgery was often necessary as the punishment at that time for adultery was to have one’s nose removed. Today’s rhinoplasty surgery and the desire for one has come a long way from its origin thousands of years ago. But this original rhinoplasty surgery still exists today in nose reconstruction which may be needed after skin cancer resection or traumatic injuries. Known as forehead flaps, they are still the main method of major nasal reconstruction when substantial portions of the nose are missing. And the basic concepts of the forehead flap remain the same as was performed long ago in ancient India.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana