Posted July 21, 2013 in Blog, featured, Uncategorized
A common complaint and question from our rhinoplasty patients in consultation is, “Doctor, my nasal tip seems to be growing; does the nose grow as we age?” My initial reply to my patient is that as long as you tell the truth, your nose won’t grow, citing the Pinocchio reference tongue in cheek.
Actually, there are two factors that affect the perception that our noses grow as we age.
The first is real growth of the cartilages of the nose. In most patients this growth is extremely slow and unnoticeable, but an occaisional patient benefits from a tiplasty where the nasal tip cartilages are trimmed. This is one of our favorite rhinoplasty procedures as with minimal surgery and risk, the nose can be elegantly refined with very high patient satisfaction and minimal recovery time. Also, with aging there can be slight loss of nasal soft tissue such as fat that results in harsh exposure of underlying cartilage. This can sometimes be camouflaged by using injectable fillers.
The second factor is not actual growth of the nose, but rather weakening of the fibrous connections between the nasal cartilages as well as the loss of boney and fat support of the nose with aging. As we lose boney support at the base of the nose, the nasal tip droops a bit which along with weaker inter-cartilage connections which accentuates the effect. When you push the tip of your nose downward (mimicking this effect) you will notice that it appears that you have grown a larger hump on the dorsum of your nose. In this case, the nose has not actually grown, rather it gives the illusion of being longer and larger.
All of these factors are taken into account when consulting with older rhinoplasty patients. So I guess the answer to whether are noses grow with maturity is yes, and no, but I would still recommend always telling the truth to avoid risking the wrath of Geppeto. Be well!
Dr. Michael Persky and Dr. Sarmela Sunder are located in Encino, California and Beverly Hills, California but service all of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Including, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Hancock Park, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Westlake, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills, La Canada, Pasadena, and more. Please subscribe to our blog by clicking the link above, right, and “Like” us on Facebook. Thank you! + Michael Persky
