Mrinal Supriya discusses how patients imagine others see them before a nose job (rhinoplasty)

Laura Livesey: When people come to you with concerns around their nose, what kinds of things do they imagine that other people might be thinking about their nose?

Mrinal Supriya: Most of the time, people do not discuss comments from outsiders. It’s mostly their self-perception. We have a very civilized society, and it’s not common for adults to comment on other adult’s noses.

As a person who is conscious of their nose, which is not in sync with the rest of their face, these people are aware of a prolonged stare. Someone looking at their nose for a long time when they are on the tube maybe, or when they were a kid, and there would have been a comment from other children in their class about having a very unusual nose, and that sticks.

All of this is taken into consideration in their brain, and that leads to this self-awareness that their nose is not in sync with their face. They feel that it is almost like an imposter on their face.

Some of them can obsess on this, and that can have an adverse impact on their social and professional life, and impact their confidence significantly.