Frequently Asked Questions

P-O Haraldsson is a nose exp ert in the lifestyle magazine Lifest yleWellness and answers questions for the readers in every edition.Here is a selection of them.

Hi. I have always had a complex for my big “potato nose” and I am considering on doing something about it. However, I haven’t done any interventions before so I am wondering what kind of results can be achieved and if it is worth it? Are there big risks involved? How much can it cost? Hanna J.

Hello Hanna. I’d have to see you first before I can give you an answer. What do you mean by “potato nose”?How big is it and what type of head shape do you have? If your skin is thin it is common to achieve a fine nose but if your skin is thick and porous it is difficult to change it too much since there is always a risk that the formation of proud flesh can make the lower part of the nose to swell up. A nose surgeon must therefore assess your nose before you can be given a good answer on which type of operation can be done and the possible results. The price should be somewhere between 30-50.000 Skr.

What kind of anesthesia is used under a nose surgery?

P-O Haraldsson: A local anesthesia is always injected in the nose during surgery to reduce pain and bleeding. Afterwards, the patient can either be sedated with analgesics and intravenous sedation injections or be completely anaesthetized. In the latter case the patient’s breathing it also monitored. There are different procedures in different hospitals. In most places the patients are completely anaesthetized as a routine while in other places the use of sedation (light anesthetic ) is basically used and reserves anesthesia for the the most difficult cases.

Can a nose be operated to become narrow in its length without reducing the nostrils? I want to reduce my nose, but am a bit worried that it will be difficult to breathe afterwards. In that case, I don’t think it’s worth it.

P-O Haraldsson: It is possible. It is very important to take into account the functionality when narrowing a nose. The function is always priority over the  aesthetics. The nostrils are often slightly narrower after surgery but it does not normally cause trouble if you don’t have a Nasal septum deviation or anything that is blocking the airway. However, it is important to do a risk assessment before surgery and , if necessary, measure the passage. It can be done by a nose doctor . Sewing in the nostrils for aesthetic reasons can be very risky and if too much of them have been taken away, it can basically be impossible to restore.

Hello, I used to have a nose I was happy with when I was young and some classmates gave me
compliments for it. Now that I am 24 it seems my nose has grown bigger. The nose wings and the nostrils are far
wider than they have been before. What can I do to get my old nose’s shape? My nose has turned from being a part of my body that I was proud of into being something that makes me insecure. Help! What am I to do? /Kristin

P-O Haraldsson: The nose carries strong traits of ethnicity and family. One can roughly say that one is born with a nose belonging to one’s ethnic group but the ultimate family features will not appear until puberty and are not fully developed until the age of 25. It is often at that point when one can see whose nose in the family one has “inherited”. Later as you age, after 50, the nose usually changes again and can be perceived as bigger and longer since ,actually the nose keeps growing  throughout life , while the cheeks sink in . This is a journey that you can not stop otherwise than with surgery. I understand your frustration if your nose changed so much . You should perhaps seek a nose surgeon and get an objective assessment of the underlying cause in your case and maybe get suggestions on how to help you best. It is often possible to do something surgically if it is not just thick skin that is causing the inconvenience.

Hello, I am a 16-year old girl being very unhappy with my nose. How old must one be to get a nose
operation? Yolanda.

P-O Haraldsson: I can understand it feels frustrating that the nose spurt-grows during early puberty and that one can’t do anything about it before one has grown out of it. The nose shouldn’t be operated while it’s growing and specially not under puberty when there is a big risk that the nose starts growing wrong. For this reason we don’t do surgery before 17 years of age if it isn’t absolutely necessary for the nose passage or because an early fracture is making it grow incorrectly.

Hi, I am quite sure I have a hole between the nostrils a bit inside the nose. I haven’t always had it, only the last few years. I don’t know the reason why. Can it be that I hit my head about a year ago? Is this something I should let a doctor look at or it just isn’t serious? I mean, can it be dangerous in some way and cause some trouble and I should get it sewn together or something? It isn’t that I am exactly bothered by this but I feel it when I blow my nose or sometime when it gets clogged. Thanks in advance!

It is impossible to answer your question without having examined you. It doesn’t seem dangerous but if you want to know what is wrong you should look for an Ear-nose-throat doctor to get an opinion.

What questions should I ask my doctor during a rhinoplasty consultation?

P-O Haraldsson: It depends on what you wish for, if it is for functional or cosmetic purposes. Tell your doctor what is disturbing you and ask him if he can see what you mean. It is an important mutual starting point. You express your goal and the surgeon considers if it is possible to achieve and if it is, in what way to reach it. What usually determines is the shape of the nose in relation to the face, the thickness of the skin and quality of the cartilage. Sometimes it is a sliding chin which makes the nose look big and maybe it is enough with a chin implant which will make the nose look normal. A question which should never be forgotten to ask is if the operation will worsen the proper function.

Hello Wellness, when I was a child I often had nosebleeds and for as long as I can remember my nose gets congested easily. I have earlier given as an excuse that I am allergic to grass in the summer and that I have a cold during the winter. Because of my nose being rather frequently blocked through all the year, I have started to wonder if the cause can be that I have narrow breathing airways. Do you think this would be the case and would it be solved through surgery? /Sofie

P-O Haraldsson: It seems you need to see an Ear-nose-throat doctor for an evaluation. You might need to be medicated for you allergic troubles and sensitive nose or may need an operation of the nose septum.

Hi! I’ve heard it can take up to one year for a nose to heal after an intervention. Is it correct? Does it mean that it will be sore and swollen for that long? Will the results not be seen until then? / Jessica

P-O Haraldsson: Hi Jessica. It can be said that in general, it takes one year before the scar tissue softens and it is the time it takes for a nose to “settle”. In a small operation where a hump has been removed and there hasn’t been need to fix the nose tip, it will heal sooner.  If there has been an intervention and an implant has been inserted in the tip it can take 2-3 years before the final results can be seen. Any possible irregularities usually appear after the swelling has decreased. If the surgeon has been too radical and taken away too much cartilage in order to achieve a quick reduction there can emerge unexpected irregularities and in the worst of cases the nose will shrivel.