The Blog

What is different about the Asian nose? The typical Asian nose, there’s less of a bridge, less support, often broader and thicker skin and subcutaneous fat. That said, there are many different types of Asians, many different types of noses. So everyone’s anatomy is different and everyone’s goals are different. So we try to address each person individually. For patients … Read More

Will I be able to breathe better after my Cleft Rhinoplasty? So universally, our patients who have had cleft lip and palate, after a rhinoplasty, they breathe much better. There’s always a deviation of the septum, so the wall on the inside of your nose in the middle is always off to one side, sometimes blocking air across both sides, … Read More

Will there be incisions on the outside of my nose during Cleft Rhinoplasty? The type of incision that you have depends a lot on your own anatomy and what we need to do to fix it and address it. And so, some patients we’re able to do everything just through incisions on the inside of the nose that are very … Read More

Will you take cartilage from my ear or rib for my Cleft Rhinoplasty? With any rhinoplasty, especially cleft rhinoplasty, we tend to need additional support, so that’s usually the form of cartilage. Often we can get everything we need from the septum of the nose, which is that wall right in the middle. But we always discuss the use of … Read More

What is different about cleft rhinoplasty from noncleft rhinoplasty? So cleft rhinoplasty differs from most cosmetic rhinoplasties in that there’s much more asymmetry in the development of the cartilage and the development of the bone structure. There’s more extensive restructuring of the nose that needs to take place. There’s also all the effects of surgery that they’ve had. And so … Read More

Can you make the cleft side of the nose look like the other side? So with any patient with asymmetry, our goal is always to make the affected side look more like the unaffected side. Complete symmetry is rarely ever possible, but that’s always our goal, that’s what we’re shooting for. There are ways to make the height, the bulk, … Read More

Can my baby breastfeed or use a bottle after Cleft Palate Repair surgery? So for our palate repair patients, we typically try to get them on a sippy cup before surgery for at least a month, so they get used to feeding from that cup. And then that way, after surgery, they can go straight back to a cup that … Read More

Will we need to stay in the hospital after Cleft Palate Repair surgery? So after our cleft lip surgeries, most patients go home the same day, but then after the cleft palate surgery, I like to keep patients at least for one night. Most patients do go home after one night, once the baby is feeding well again, pain looks … Read More

Why not fix the palate at the same time as the lip? I normally like to repair the palate between nine and 12 months in a single stage. That seems to balance speech development, trying to repair the muscles in the palate before speech starts developing rapidly at about a year of age. At the same time, we want to … Read More

What are the risks associated with Cleft Palate Repair surgery? With any surgery, the risks are pain, bleeding and infection. Thankfully, bleeding and infection tend to be minimal with the surgery. We also have a lot of good methods for pain control. Specifically, with palate surgery, the main things we worry about are one, fistula, which means a connection between … Read More

How long will the Cleft Palate Repair surgery take? Cleft palate repair… the duration cleft palate repair depends a lot on the palate itself. With a bilateral cleft that extends all the way from the front to the back, that certainly will take longer than a cleft that’s just in the back of the soft palate. So a palate repair … Read More

Will the child be able to eat after Cleft Lip Repair surgery? So after a cleft lip repair, children can eat normally. So if they were breastfeeding or bottle feeding afterwards, they often can go right back to feeding. And then after surgery, most of our patients go home that same day. For more, visit https://lawplasticsurgery.com/cleft-lip-dallas/ or call us at … Read More