Who really needs a rhinoplasty?

Abstract

Even if the indication for rhinoplasty is to do with nasal function, the patient undergoing rhinoplasty usually still considers cosmetic aspects. Why patients agree to put themselves in discomfort, accept the risk, and shoulder the cost of a procedure, the main aim of which is an improvement in physical appearance, remains poorly understood. In the majority of cases, there is no direct correlation between the willingness to have the procedure and objective measures of nasal deformity. Likewise, psychometric measurements bear little relationship to how deformed the patient's appearance really is. For those cases where cosmetic considerations predominate, the degree of distress is greater than in those having the procedure solely to improve nasal function. Patients' satisfaction after rhinoplasty undertaken to address both functional and cosmetic needs depends more on aesthetic result than on improvement in function. Since patients undergoing rhinoplasty are often preoccupied with deformities that others would neither notice nor be concerned about, it shows clearly that this group has already undergone alterations in the way they think. Candidates for rhinoplasty are unhappy with their looks than those contemplating other cosmetic procedures, and each time they look in the mirror, they recall their dissatisfaction, a situation which has generally already begun at the age of puberty. In 80% of cases, the motivating factor is a wish for an alteration in facial appearance or the experience of seeing someone else benefit from rhinoplasty.