What might happen if you delay or don’t have rhinoplasty?

Mrinal Supriya explains what happens if you decide against a nose job

Laura Livesey: If you’re in the process of considering rhinoplasty and you’ve got a nose you don’t like, but for whatever reason, you decide not to go ahead, maybe fear, maybe costs, whatever it might be, is there any danger in delaying or any problem with not moving ahead with rhinoplasty?

Mrinal Supriya: In most people, it is a lifestyle surgery, so there is no serious adverse impact on your health if you don’t have a rhinoplasty. It is for the individual to decide if that is having a serious impact on their self-confidence, which is progressively affecting their social life. By which I mean they are avoiding social situations, and that is impacting their quality of life, or it is affecting their professional life where they feel they cannot compete with better-looking colleagues.

If that is the case, then you will be missing out on moments of pleasure, or the potential growth in your career.

That is the real danger if you don’t have a rhinoplasty. But once again, it is a lifestyle choice in the vast majority of patients, so there isn’t any significant adverse physical impact on your quality of health…

Mrinal Supriya: There will be a small minority of patients who do not breathe properly through the nose. In these patients, doing a rhinoplasty with septoplasty can significantly improve not just their day-to-day breathing but also perhaps their quality of sleep and their physical activities, such as exercise. After surgery, they should expect to breathe normally and much better through their nose.

Laura Livesey: Okay. And what about nonsurgical rhinoplasty? I’ve heard of these. Is that a good option for people?

Mrinal Supriya: I’m glad that you brought this up because there is a lot of information on various websites on the internet about nonsurgical rhinoplasty. Nonsurgical rhinoplasty usually refers to injecting with fillers.

They are useful in a tiny minority of patients where there is a very subtle or minimal defect that they want to cover up.

For example, if there is a very small asymmetry between the right and left tip of your nose, or if you have a very slight hump which you want to hide, then in those cases getting a filler injection will help. But if you have anything more than this, then filler or nonsurgical rhinoplasty is of no use. Even in the first group of patients where it might be appropriate, remember that you will have to repeat it every year for the rest of your life.