Beverly Hills Rhinoplasty And Nasal Obstruction

Some people are not aware that they have a blockage of the nasal passages. Often it is not discovered until they have rhinoplasty or cosmetic nasal surgery. But that is not the time to have the breathing and sinus situation assessed.

Typically the patients are not aware of the problem because to them that is the way they have always breathed. As part of a proper preoperative examination before rhinoplasty procedure the surgeon should examine the nasal passages. It is very important to make sure that the breathing is satisfactory because, in some patients, as the nose is made smaller by altering the architecture, a borderline nasal blockage may become more significant. A top consultation includes a complete evaluation of the noses structure and function. The doctor needs to evaluate the strength of the bones and cartilages since the operation may weaken them to some degree. The inside of the nose will give clues as to the type and extent of surgery that is safe. For example, some people have naturally softer cartilage. Soft cartilage lacks the strength to maintain an adequate framework if too much is altered or removed during the operation. Therefore the surgeon must evaluate the qualities of both the cartilage that is framework for the lower part of the nose both externally and internally.

The complete consultation exam must also include evaluation of the volume of air that is normally passing through the passages. This is done by asking the patient to breathe with lips sealed and comparing the air flow through each nostril, one at a time. If the air flow is significantly reduced in either passage, it is very obvious and this can be confirmed to the patient as a hand is put under each nostril and the air flow gauged. Another tip off to blocked air flow is that when an air passage is structurally compromised, one can hear it. Normal, natural breathing is quiet; obstructed breathing is noisy. Often, patients are first made aware of such abnormality at the consultation because they have no normal baseline with which to compare their current breathing.

Surgeons who major in nasal surgery are trained to evaluate the internal nasal passages for subtle signs of silent sinus problems or allergies. Nasal polyps, which are non-cancerous thickenings of the nasal linings that often arise in the sinuses and work their way into the nasal passages to cause blockage can be detected during a very detailed exam. Such an exam is important because if there are quiet signs of infection, for example, it is important that it be evaluated and dealt with before your rhinoplasty surgery. Infection is our eternal enemy and we are obliged to look carefully for it before an elective surgery.

Some patients report nosebleeds and this must be evaluated before surgery. Prominent blood vessels that might cause problems at the rhinoplasty, septoplasty or turbinate surgery can be dealt with long before the day of surgery.

So, when you are considering rhinoplasty, be sure to have your surgeon examine the inside of the nose to see if there is a breathing problem or other issues that might be corrected to save you further problems down the road. The best-trained, most experienced, most focused rhinoplasty superspecialists know to conduct such a thorough examination because they are at home with the nose, both the inside and outside