Functional Nasal Surgery/Rhinoplasty

Nasal surgery, or a rhinoplasty, is commonly performed for several reasons, including to correct breathing issues, address trauma or birth-induced disfigurement or for cosmetic reasons. Recreating the human nose is possibly one of the most difficult challenges facing reconstructive surgeons. Nasal surgery specialist Dr. Kenny Rodriguez of Cedar Valley ASCENT understands it is one of the most important structures on the body for facial identity and appearance. Choosing to undergo nasal surgery is an important process as is deciding on the structure and shape of a new nose. Dr. Rodriguez will discuss a patients goals for the surgery as well as facial areas to be enhanced and surgical risks, recovery and costs. Once the rhinoplasty surgery is complete, patients often recover over a multi-week period, after which they are able to return to normal activities without prominent indicators that they underwent nasal surgery.

Nasal Surgery

Nasal surgery does not generally require an overnight hospital stay because it is an outpatient procedure. During the operation, incisions are made in a patient’s nostrils or in some cases, across the base of the nose. Once this is done, the surgeon reshapes and reconstructs the nose’s inner bone and cartilage in a way that reflects the patient’s desired nose. During this process, excess bone or cartilage may be removed.

Post-surgery, the patients nose will be splinted for at least a week as they deal with some swelling and bruising around their eyes for anywhere from a few days to two weeks. Less noticeable swelling will also occur on the nose, which will decrease over a longer period of time, typically within six months. Most patients can resume social activities within three weeks of the surgery and all activities within six weeks once their reshaped nose has fully healed.

Is Nasal Surgery Fight for me?

When deciding whether to undergo nasal surgery, it is critical that a patient understand what the surgery entails. Since there is no ideal in rhinoplasty, our goal is to improve the nose aesthetically, making it harmonize better with other facial features. With our specialized imaging system, we can take a photograph and show a patient how they may look after a rhinoplasty to help them make this decision.

Skin type, ethnic background and age are important factors to be considered in discussions with your surgeon prior to surgery. For instance, before the nose is altered, a young patient must reach full growth, usually around age 15 or 16 (exceptions are cases in which the patient’s breathing is severely impaired by the current form of their nose). As with all facial plastic surgery, good health and realistic expectations are prerequisites.

People with dark circles under the eyes or folds in front of their cheeks may be the perfect candidates for a midface lift procedure, which addresses signs of aging in the areas near the cheeks and eyelids. During a midface lift, the fat section located in the cheek is raised to provide a more full, taut appearance to the mid-section of the face that can help the patient appear younger. Dr. Rodriguez and Cedar Valley ASCENT can help patients in the Cedar Valley, including Waterloo and our outreach clinics, achieve a look that is natural and refreshed through our endoscopic midface lift procedure.

Endoscopic Midface Lift

An extension of the brow lift is called a midface lift. This lift is performed by placing small incisions within the hairline, in the temple area above the ear and behind the hairline. The upper cheeks are lifted back to their more-youthful position. This procedure begins in the same manner as a traditional facelift and involves lifting the area beneath the cheek and beyond the surrounding tissue and removing excess skin and fat to achieve a more youthful look. The endoscopic approach to midface lifts uses a small camera and allows the patients to minimize scarring and achieve more long-term results through a smaller incision, as compared to the more conventional approach.

Is a Midface Lift Right for you?

As the face matures, the midface or the cheek soft tissue pad can drop, producing deep grooves between the nose and mouth along with sunken cheeks and dark circles under the eyes. When the cheeks are lifted back into their youthful position, the dark, sunken look that some people develop under the eyes is softened. To accomplish this, a procedure of roughly 60-90 minutes is undertaken and despite some general effects of most facelift surgeries, such as inflammation, pain, bruising and swelling, most patients are able to return to normal activities within a week of the procedure. Because the midface lift procedure is a fairly complex surgery, patients should only work with a facial plastic surgeon that is experienced in performing midface lifts, such as Dr. Kenny Rodriguez.

The patients featured below underwent a midface lift with a facelift, an upper and lower lid blepharoplasty, rhinoplasty, an endoscopic forehead lift, a pre-jowl chin implant and a fat injection to the lips.

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