Broken Nose
Severe or repeated nose breaks can change both how your nose looks and how you breathe. Surgery can realign the bones, reshape your nose, and restore your airway.
Correcting a Broken Nose
A severe break, or a nose broken multiple times, may require surgery to realign the bones and reshape your nose. If the injury has damaged your nasal septum and caused obstruction or difficulty breathing, reconstructive surgery may be recommended.
Our plastic surgeons can improve your nose’s cosmetic appearance while also correcting your breathing, frequently combining internal and external alterations in the same operation.
Better Breathing
Septal corrections are very effective at improving airflow and reducing the symptoms you had before surgery.
Improved Appearance
Reshaping the bone and cartilage framework helps restore the shape and balance of your nose with your face.
Hidden Incisions
In most cases incisions are placed inside the nose, leaving no visible scars.
Are You a Candidate?
Rhinoplasty and septoplasty for a nose injury are typically best suited to:
- People whose broken nose has not healed properly
- People with a crooked or misshapen nose
- People who have broken their nose multiple times
- People with airway obstruction from a post-traumatic or congenital septal deformity
Functional and Cosmetic Problems
Airway obstruction is the most common functional nasal problem. It can come from a congenital or post-traumatic deformity of the septum, or from enlarged turbinates, and these changes can worsen existing sinus problems.
Cosmetic deformities can be post-traumatic or congenital. Both are addressed by surgically altering the underlying bony and cartilaginous framework of the nose.
How the Surgery Works
Rhinoplasty is the most common surgery to repair a broken nose. Septoplasty and rhinoplasty are generally outpatient procedures performed under general anesthesia or sedation with a local.
Airway problems are treated by removing or reshaping the septal cartilage, and some cases call for reducing the size of the turbinates. Splinting, taping, and nasal packing are frequently used after surgery.
Open Rhinoplasty
Your surgeon makes an incision in the columella, the strip of tissue between your nostrils. This approach gives greater access to the nasal bones and cartilage, allowing more extensive reshaping.
Closed Rhinoplasty
All incisions are made inside your nostrils, so there are no visible external scars.
What Results to Expect
Rhinoplasty can have a substantial effect on your appearance and, ultimately, your general sense of well-being. Corrections to the septum are very effective at improving airflow and reducing pre-operative symptoms.
Be realistic about your results. Your nose will have a new shape, but it will not be perfect, especially after multiple breaks. On rare occasions a touch-up procedure may be needed. Discuss your goals with your surgeon before surgery.
Recovering From Nose Surgery
A splint is placed on your nose to support and protect it as it heals.
Packing may be placed in your nostrils to control bleeding and swelling.
Some pain and discomfort is normal and can be controlled with medication.
Expect bruising and swelling around your eyes, which generally resolves within two weeks.
“I had a deviated nasal septum which impaired my breathing. Since the surgery I have equal airflow through my nasal passages, and I am more happy with my appearance. It has given me a softer look.”
Coleen · Nasal Surgery Patient
Coleen came to our office after a nose injury 20 years earlier left her with obstruction of the left nasal airway. She was also unhappy with her nose’s appearance, pointing out a dorsal hump and a nose she felt was too large and too long. An exam traced her obstruction to a deviated septum.