Q: What is a non-surgical nose job?
A: Also known as injection rhinoplasty, a non-surgical nose job is a cosmetic procedure offered by a handful of U.S. cosmetic plastic surgeons who use injections to repair nasal marks and other imperfections on the outside of the nose only. Those injections can even disguise a hump on the bridge of the nose. (Learn more about the non-surgical nose job procedure.)
Q: How is it different from a surgical nose job?
A: A non-surgical nose job requires no invasive surgery and is completely done with a syringe in the doctor’s office during short appointments. There is no downtime afterwards so the patient immediately returns to whatever he or she was doing before.
Q: What happens during a typical Injection Rhinoplasty procedure?
A: First is a consultation with Robert Kotler, M.D., one of the few surgeons in the Western United States who performs the procedure. Dr. Kotler, with 36 years experience in Injection Rhinoplasty, examines your nose and uses computer imaging to show a picture what you will most likely look like afterwards. The entire procedure usually requires three to five short (15 minute) appointments, separated by a wait of five or six weeks. Many patients schedule appointments for the lunch hour. The procedure requires no anesthesia, but a topical anesthetic is put on the skin of the nose.
(Look at some before and after non-surgical rhinoplasty pictures.)
Q: How long does the effect last?
A: Non-surgical rhinoplasty with micro-droplets of silicone filler is permanent. Very senior patients who often find their noses growing receive touch-up injections.
(Read more about the silicone filler used in injection rhinoplasty.)
Q: What about cost?
A: Generally, the cost of non-surgical rhinoplasty is about 80 percent less than a surgical nose job.
Q: Is the procedure good for every type nose?
A: No. Patients who have the procedure are usually concerned with a hump on the bridge of the nose, a drooping nasal tip, scars or other marks like grooves, gouges or dips left in the nasal skin after a failed surgical nose job.
Injection rhinoplasty can’t correct bone structure, reduce nose size or correct blocked breathing caused by, say, a deviated septum or enlarged turbinates.
(Read more about a deviated septum or enlarged turbinates which can block breathing.)