Oftentimes, when I see patients, one of the things they’re confused about is the difference between a septoplasty and a rhinoplasty.
Normally, a septoplasty is done for functional purposes, mainly to help you breathe better. A rhinoplasty can be done for functional as well as cosmetic reasons.
What Does a Septoplasty Actually Fix?
Normally, when you’re delving into a septoplasty, you’re looking to address the inside of the nose, specifically what’s called the septum.
The septum divides the nose into a right and left side and splits the nose right down the middle from front to back. It has both a cartilaginous part and a bony component.
When you’re repairing that or “fixing it,” you’re basically trying to straighten it out for the most part to help promote airflow through both sides.
How Rhinoplasty Can Improve Breathing and Appearance
With a rhinoplasty, you can also improve airflow by addressing the functional components involving the external portion of the nose.
The outside of the nose has both a bony component as well as a cartilaginous component throughout the middle and lower portions of the nose.
Functionally, you can change things about the cartilage that can help improve airflow through the nose. In addition, you can also change bony and cartilaginous parts of the nose to make it look better cosmetically.
So there is some overlap with rhinoplasty regarding both a functional and cosmetic component, but when you’re addressing the septum, you’re normally talking about functional issues.
How I Determine Whether Someone is a Candidate for Septoplasty
Normally, you’re going to need to get examined by somebody like me, who is both an ear, nose, and throat surgeon as well as a facial plastic surgeon.
The reason why is that we need to take a look inside the nose.
In some instances, a person’s septum can be so deviated that you can actually see the distortion externally. The septum interacts with the end of the nose and can distort some of the anatomic components enough that the deviation becomes visible from the outside.
But normally, you need an examination so somebody can look inside the nose.
That often also involves utilizing what’s called an endoscope, which is a flexible tube that allows you to look farther back inside the nose. When we’re examining the nose with a headlight and nasal speculum, we can only see so far, and that’s where the endoscope helps out in assessing people.
How I Evaluate Rhinoplasty Patients
In regard to being a good candidate for rhinoplasty, that also depends on an examination with somebody like me, who does facial plastic surgery as well as ear, nose, and throat surgery.
Basically, what we’re looking for internally is where the cartilage interacts with the septum.
Some patients can have internal valve collapse or external valve collapse, and those are things that may need to be addressed to help you breathe better.
From a cosmetic standpoint, that becomes more subjective.
If you have a bump on your nose, if you don’t like the way your tip looks, or if your nose deviates, those are situations where you could be considered a candidate for rhinoplasty.
