Price Of Rhinoplasty

Question:

I'm having problems breathing through my nost. In particular, the left nostril is so stopped up I get maybe 10% of my air through there. 90% comes in via the right nostril. The left nostril also makes a "whistling" sound when I take a deep breath, if that means anything. Needless to say, this makes a lot of activities difficult, ranging from sleeping to physical excersise. The other day, I saw a documentary where a guy had plastic surgery done to him, and, no joke, he wanted to look like Michael Jackson so he made his nose smaller; alas, he began experiencing respiratory problems. Me already having this problem, I began looking to see whether rhinoplasty could help me improve my breathing and the shape of my nose.

First, my nose is straight. I live in Sweden, of Scandinavian descent, so the angle of the bridge is very straight (seen from the side), and there are no bumps or so on it. The width is normal, but I've personally always thought the nose is a bit too long ... or a bit too far out from the face, I guess. I'm certainly interested in correcting that. Additionally, there's the breathing issue. I suspect it comes from my semi-athletical background. I used to be a boxer. My nose has never been broken, and I can't tell that it's scewed, winded, or anything by looking in the mirror, but I'm not skilled in determining that, and I might be comparing to noses that are apparently winded. Anyhow, I'm open to the idea that it's a little messed up, but it feels like a major mess in that left nostril. Currently when I excersise and need to breath a lot, my nose gets all stopped up and runny, and I have to take in all air through the mouth.

Finally, I've checked out pictures of open rhinoplasty ... I don't want to do that. Any ideas what can be done about my nose with closed rhinoplasty? I have no idea whether it needs to be broken or something to make it a little less long, and how that breathing thing is worked out.

Answer:

Not an MD, but I have read up on the subject. Just because your nose looks straight on the outside doesn't mean the internal parts are straight or the openings adequate. A plastic surgeon would look up in there with a light and a probe and could easily see your problem. Your nose doesn't have to have been broken to have a deviated septum. The surgery to correct a deviated septum would be called septoplasty. The surgery you may also want to have if you don't like the appearance of the nose would be rhinoplasty. The plastic surgeon I saw my airways were fine, so no septoplasty needed. As far as rhinoplasty, I wouldn't need much work done to the bone; mine would be mostly soft-tissue work. I saw him about four years ago, and the price quoted for mine was $4500 (US), if that helps you any.

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