Rhinoplasty for African American Patients
The nose is the central feature of the face, it can easily enhance or detract from overall beauty. African Americans nose jobs are different than other ethnicity’s, most of Dr Simoni’s African American patients consult him on getting rhinoplasty to make their African American nose look more white, however, the societal understanding of ethnic beauty has increased and surgical techniques for ethnic features have improved.
The African American nose often require a different, more challenging treatment approach than the technique that is suitable for white patients. Anthropometric studies confirm that African American nose is, on average, wider and shorter than a typical European American nose and has an acute lower part of the nasal septum and nasolabial angle. African Americans also tend to have thicker nasal skin with a thick fibro-fatty sublayer and a bulbous fatty nasal tip, weak lower lateral cartilage, and large nostrils in the vertical and horizontal dimensions.
Also, any surgical procedure may put African American patients at a greater risk of developing keloids, which may be of concern to African American patients considering cosmetic procedures. However, no cases of keloid formation as a result of rhinoplasty was ever reported.
Many of Dr Simoni’s African American patients undergoing rhinoplasty, all sought nasal dorsal augmentation to ad to their short nasal dorsal height; elevation of a depressed nasofrontal angle; refinement of a poorly defined and bulbous nasal tip; and reduction of nasal wings width in the horizontal and vertical dimensions.
Rhinoplasty in general is a challenging procedure, and attaining satisfactory results is difficult. It becomes even more challenging when performing rhinoplasty for an African American patient. A surgeon performing rhinoplasty for an African American patient should be able to distinguish the various standards of beauty for different ethnic groups. Only then can the surgeon enhance ethnic features rather than changing them to fit inappropriate standards.
All in all a successful rhinoplasty for any ethnic and non-ethnic nose starts with a thorough consultation, during which the patient’s expectations and the surgeon’s abilities are clearly defined. At Simoni Plastic Surgery Dr Simoni uses computer imaging which is an useful tool in assuring realistic expectations, and more important, providing a better understanding of possible results, which leads to high patient post-operative satisfaction.