Small corrections to "defects" of the nose can be done easily, quickly, without trouble or leaving visible marks and with minimum cost. In other words, there are procedures that can be decided by the patient and done easily without hospitalization.

These small corrections are part of minimally invasive surgery of the nose and are made for two reasons: aesthetic and functional. The first one concerns rhinoplasty and the other concerns the enlargement of the respiratory tract. Both are performed with very small incisions and using small grafts, specially designed, that are taken from the human body. The minimally invasive surgery usually lasts about half an hour, without any discomfort to the patient, with local anesthesia, without the use of gauze inside the nose and leaves no swelling or bruising.

The procedure

During surgery, we take small parts of autonomous cartilage, from the cartilage of the patient through a small incision in the diaphragm or the ear flap. These portions are melted in order to become very thin, like a very soft tissue, and are then added to the points required. With cuttings, we cover imperfections and asymmetries and we proceed to the sculpture of the peak, to give nose a finer slope.

With minimally invasive rhinoplasty we can make small changes to nostrils, as well. In this case, we diminish the nostril a little, to its inner part, in order for the nose to show more beautiful.

With minimally invasive rhinoplasty, with an innovative technique, we can replace the use of nasal strips to improve breathing. For this case, special cuttings are designed, which are again taken by the patient's diaphragm.

The best source of graft, because of the quality of the cartilage and its shape, is the special diaphragm. So it is good to have a full diaphragm, not destroyed in previous surgeries, so we can edify it in what we want and need.

We therefore replace the nasal strips, used by people to breathe better at night, with a minor surgery. We lift up the nose in the triangle between the bone and the cartilage part of it, in the nasal valve and there we put two small cuttings, playing the role of two small springs: they open the respiratory tract. With the enlargement of the nasal valve, the patient breathes perfectly and no longer needs nasal strips at night.

Written by Argiro Kypraiou

Surgeon, Member of European Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery (EAFPS)