Septoplasty Before & After Photos

Septoplasty Before & After Case 1

This gentleman has a history of a cleft lip and nasal deviation, with severe difficulty breathing through his nostrils.

I performed a rhinoplasty to straighten a deviated septum, and used the removed cartilage from the septum to make grafts that helped to straighten and support the nasal passages.

We also chose to perform a genioplasty, moving the chin forward to balance his facial features.

Septoplasty Before & After Case 2

This lovely woman had problems breathing even after a previous septoplasty. Unfortunately, she also had collapse of the middle portion of her nose, resulting in a “saddle nose” deformity.

We performed an open rhinoplasty using spreader grafts and nasal bone reduction to smooth her contour and help her breathe better than ever!

Here she is seen at 2 weeks after splint removal. Swelling will continue to come down with taping and time. We can’t wait to see her final results!

Septoplasty Before & After Case 3

Secondary rhinoplasty is a welcome challenge in my practice.

This patient communicates beautifully and expressively with her eyes and smile, but her nose was distracting and causing progressively worse breathing problems.

Anatomically, her septum and columella twisted to the left, and her lower lateral cartilage on the left with asymmetric amounts of lateral crural steal and medial crural excess.

After careful discussion about goals for breathing and symmetry, open approach rhinoplasty was performed, including septoplasty, spreader grafts, and tip reshaping.

She is swollen at this early 1 month mark, but already breathing better and getting compliments on her nasal remodeling.

We look forward to her definition and refinement showing through over the next 6-12 months!

Septoplasty Before & After Case 4

This woman had a history of a cleft palate, with severe nasal obstruction and a pharyngeal flap contributing to sleep apnea.

A septorhinoplasty and revision of her pharyngeal flap improved her breathing and refined her nasal tip, with no negative effects on her speech.

There’s nothing like being able to get a good night’s sleep!

Septoplasty Before & After Case 5

This man came to us with severe facial asymmetry even after over 10 surgeries elsewhere for Parry Romberg Syndrome.

Those surgeries included 2 free flap surgeries, but he still had a fair amount of asymmetry and tightness of the upper cheeks and soft tissue on the entire left side of his face.

He has since gone through two surgeries with us.

He is a full year since a dermal-fat graft to the cheek, and fat injections around the eye and cheek. The grafting has held up well, with no further fat grafting nor fillers since then.

More recently, a few weeks ago we performed a septorhinoplasty with cartilage and acellular dermal grafting, via a closed approach (no incision across the columella).

Some cartilage did come from his ear, and in the process that ear was intentionally set back to improve that ear symmetry despite the severely asymmetric bony base.

His breathing has improved as well, and he is happy with the improvements we’ve been able to make!

Septoplasty Before & After Case 6

Usually we wait until after skeletal maturity and jaw surgery before offering a cleft rhinoplasty.

However, if nasal obstruction and symptoms are severe, nasal reconstruction before jaw surgery is sometimes done, knowing that a second surgery may be needed after the maxilla is moved forward.

Here, septal deviation and airway collapse led to nasal obstruction, sleep apnea, and difficulty with daily activities.

Also, her upper lip balance had room for improvement of the skin height, white roll continuity, muscle continuity for playing a brass instrument, and rolling in of the exposed wet mucosa (which otherwise cracks, bleeds, and is painful if chronically exposed).

The lip was fully taken down and re-repaired similar to a primary cleft lip repair.

Her nose reconstruction included septoplasty (reset, and resection of cartilage and bone), spreader grafts, columellar strut, tip and alar grafts, and dermal-fat graft.

She has made tremendous progress after 5 weeks, breathing well and excited to return to playing her instrument!

Septoplasty Before & After Case 7

He came to me with longstanding trouble breathing despite years of different medications and sprays.

While correcting the deviated septum, we used that cartilage to make spreader grafts that support the airway further.

We also opted to bring his dorsum down, but kept it masculine and not too upturned.

His swelling is about half way down at this 1 month mark, but he’s already breathing well and liking his new contour.

Septoplasty Before & After Case 8

Functional rhinoplasty should also work hand in hand with your aesthetic goals.

Here, a deviated septum and narrow internal nasal valve were corrected with a septoplasty and spreader grafts, improving her nasal breathing.

The dorsal hump was brought down and smoothed as planned.

Under the hood, the turbinates are little humidifiers inside the nasal passages. These little outcroppings can be pushed out, and shrunk with RF energy to improve the airflow. Complete removal is not recommended except in some cleft or craniofacial rhinoplasties with severely narrowed anatomy.

She is seen here at 3.5 months post-op.

Septoplasty Before & After Case 9

This young man has a history of a cleft lip and palate, with septal deviation and nasal collapse.

I performed an open rhinoplasty, with straightening of his septum and use of the septal cartilage along with ear cartilage to straighten and support his nose.

His breathing and symmetry is already much improved at 1 week after removal of his splints.

We also repaired a small notch in his lip, and performed fat grafting to his upper lip and a bone graft to his cheeks to improve his facial harmony and balance.

Septoplasty Before & After Case 10

This beautiful girl has a history of a cleft lip and palate. She had severe nasal obstruction as is nearly always seen with our cleft patients, with septal deviation.

She also had some imbalance of her lip, with the height of the skin several millimeters shorter on the cleft side. This can be seen with very small imbalances magnified over years as a child grows. The scar tissue also usually does not grow as well as the surrounding skin, so even slight over-lengthening can still leave that side shorter over time.

Here, a cleft rhinoplasty and revision of the lip scar opened up her breathing tremendously. Her symmetry of the tip and wings of the nose is improved, with some upward rotation and tip support added.

Her lip was also revised, with a strong focus on not just the skin, but rebalancing the muscle height and direction of the muscle fibers.

As always, the scars will fade and flatten with time and care. She is seen here at 3 weeks after surgery.

Septoplasty Before & After Case 11

This athlete couldn’t breathe, with a history of a fractured and deviated septum, and a pharyngeal flap previously used to help speech for her cleft palate.

For patients with a history of a pharyngeal flap, these may actually be divided and revised after several years, usually with no change in speech and nasality, but with much improved breathing and speech.

In the same setting, her fractured septum was straightened, and cartilage grafts including spreader grafts and columellar grafts helped to let her breathe through her nose!

Her dorsum is now more regular, and her tip more refined and rotated up.

These are some of my favorite surgeries, tailoring surgeries to each person’s individual goals and needs, all while making sure they’re breathing like never before!

Septoplasty Before & After Case 12

“I’m feeling better… 110% better.

I thought I had sleep apnea. My wife tells me my snoring went away… I’m just sleeping a lot better. Now I feel more rested and just breathing a lot better.

Slow process of trying to actually breathe correctly for the first time in my life, through my nose instead of through the mouth.

The smile says it all! Nearly 100% of our cleft patients have difficulty breathing.”

Factors include the septum deviating away from the cleft towards the nostrils from the asymmetric pull of the orbicularis muscle and other soft tissue attachments seen with most repairs historically. Further back, the septum follows the bone deviating and collapsing towards the cleft.

Other considerations are weak and collapsed cartilage in the middle and lower thirds of the nose, and compensatory inferior turbinate hypertrophy.

Structural rhinoplasty was performed via an open approach, with spreader grafts, lower lateral cartilage repair (with reorientation of his previous surgical repair), and septal extension graft. Turbinate outfracture and ablation is used adjunctively based on palpation and exam after correcting the deviated septum.

Septoplasty Before & After Case 13

“It’s not a big deal to be able to breathe… but it really is a big deal. The left [nostril] especially works well.”

She has a history of previous surgery but had chronic problems breathing through her nose.

Closed septorhinoplasty (*no incision* across the columella) was done. Key maneuvers included septal resection, spreader and caudal septal extension grafts, and tip sutures.

This opened and strengthened her airway. She also had more dorsal support and definition.

Septoplasty Before & After Case 14

A broken nose and septum can make your breathing immediately worse. If the structure of the nose is crooked, then the already-skinny nasal passages can end up blocked off partially or even completely.

At that point sleep becomes more difficult, and the nose can be a source of obstructive sleep apnea. Additionally, the break can cause obvious deformities that draw unwanted attention, like the large bump to the patient’s right where the nasal bone has been pushed several millimeters to the right. Reconstruction can be challenging if the bone has already healed off to the side. The bone must be (carefully) rebroken with chisels, and set back in place.

The area is very thin, and plates and screws would be visible, so there is some memory and relapse that is always of concern. My recommendation is – if possible – to have a broken nose reset and straightened as much as possible in that first week. Then, if surgery is needed later, you have a much better chance of restoring symmetry and function to everybody’s satisfaction.

Septoplasty Before & After Case 15

This man had a history of a cleft lip and a lifetime of difficulty breathing through his nose.

The septum (or wall between the two nostrils) is deviated away from the cleft, and the cartilage on the cleft side is usually smaller and weaker.

Correction of the deviated septum, and use of the cartilage for grafts to buttress the airway, helped to improve his nasal symmetry and ease of breathing.

Septoplasty Before & After Case 16

This young woman had airway obstruction caused by her deviated septum. She also had a dorsal hump and asymmetries of her tip and columella.

I performed an open rhinoplasty to straighten her nose, including nasal osteotomies, dorsal hump reduction, and refinement of her nasal tip.

She returned at one week with a huge smile and amazement at how much better she can breathe! She is also pleased with a refined nasal contour that still harmonizes with her face.

Septoplasty Before & After Case 17

This lovely woman had a crooked nose after breaking it at the outset of Covid. Unfortunately she was unable to have it repaired at the time of injury.

She came to us with difficulty breathing and severe deviation of her dorsum.

Bruising and swelling is expected early on, especially if the nasal bones need to be repositioned as was done here.

Her septum was straightened and reinforced with cartilage grafts that helped support her internal nasal valve.

I also filled in a small notch in her right alar rim with cartilage where the rim had been pulled up years ago from a skin cancer reconstruction.

I love paying attention to these finishing details to make the results as great as I can!

Call our office today if you have a crooked nose we can help straighten, and let you breathe through it again!

Septoplasty Before & After Case 18

Septorhinoplasty is usually the final surgery for a patient born with a cleft lip. A few things combine to create common complaints:

1) Inherently different/less growth potential

2) Asymmetric and/or abnormal attachments of muscles and ligaments

3) Bony asymmetries

4) Scar tissue

5) Abnormal blood and lymphatic flow

These inevitably lead to problems breathing, and often thick and scarred nasal envelopes that are difficult to restructure.

Here, septoplasty, multiple grafts (spreader, lateral crural strut, septal extension, and tip), all work together to provide a more symmetric and projected framework. The cartilage was a combination of his own septum and from MTF cadaveric rib. Other options include one’s own ear and/or rib cartilage.

He is seen here at 1 month, with swelling improving every day.

Septoplasty Before & After Case 19

This young man has done very well with his history of cleft lip and palate surgeries throughout childhood, and he came to us for his cleft rhinoplasty.

First and foremost, he had difficulty breathing because of a deviated septum.

From the front you can see a slight deviation of the bridge of his nose extending to the tip. As it extended into his nasal passage, the deviation was more and more apparent, causing almost complete blockage of air movement on one side.

Correction of the deviated septum – and use of the septal cartilage grafts to the dorsum and cleft side of the ala – greatly improved his breathing.

He also has an improvement of his definition and symmetry, even at just 1 month after surgery with more improvement of his swelling still ahead of him.

Septoplasty Before & After Case 20

This man is breathing well at 7 weeks after his cleft rhinoplasty and fat grafting to his upper lip.

Septoplasty and spreader grafts, with tensioning of the upper lateral cartilages over the grafts, helped his breathing. This is like having an internal Breathe Right strip people use for snoring and nasal collapse.

His contour and projection match his face well, with his dorsum straighter and tip projection increased.

An onlay alar graft and tip graft helped to soften his alar groove, and added to his tip support.

Finally, the fat graft to his upper lip acts as a permanent filler, balancing the thinner upper lip with the more full lower lip. I generally prefer using fat over dermal fillers, as I like giving the longest-lasting results with the fewest number of procedures. Plus, insurance will cover the fat graft procedure, and fillers are paid cash out of pocket.