Teen Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty performed for strictly cosmetic reasons can safely be performed when the nose has reached adult size for the face and body. Typically, this occurs during puberty and can be as early as 13 for girls or 14 for boys.

The “right age” however, depends on the circumstances and the patient. A number of factors, including motivation, obvious external deformity, psychological reasons, and previous injury must be considered.

Realistic expectations and improvement in self-esteem are one of the most important discussions to have with your doctor. The validity of developmental improvement after facial plastic surgery and rhinoplasty should not be underestimated.

Your child should probably not wait if the condition is causing symptoms. Children with nasal fractures and trauma are still misguided to wait for corrective surgery.

This myth is still perpetuated in medical textbooks and stems from the reasonable fear that nasal surgery will stunt nasal development. On the contrary, waiting can often cause nasal and facial mal-development due to obligate mouth breathing and scar tissue.

There are very few surgeons in the world who feel as comfortable as Dr. Tadros operating on the septum and noses of young kids, adolescents and teens. Plastic surgery specialist in NJ has pioneered several safe and effective techniques to treat patients as young as five years of age.

Each patient is treated on a case-by-case basis with an emphasis on improving proper nasal and sinonasal development.

Kids are resilient and many adapt to obligate mouth breathing from a very young age and have never known differently. Others are often misdiagnosed with nasal allergies as the source of their breathing difficulties.

Commonly, these patients have a deviated septum, hypertrophic inferior turbinates, or undiagnosed internal nasal fractures that may not be noticeable from the outside. This can be from birth trauma or from a childhood fall with direct trauma to the nose.

In these cases, the septum may develop off course even years later and cause internal deviation, an external crooked nose or both. In severe cases, non-classical sinus problems including headaches and unexplained fatigue can result.