Introduction

Functional rhinoplasty is performed to enhance breathing through your nose. Functional rhinoplasty is a very common procedure for people with a severely blocked nose.

Dr Robinson also performs functional rhinoplasty when an earlier septoplasty may not have worked as well, or when an earlier rhinoplasty made the breathing through your nose worse. Dr Robinson presented his results of functional rhinoplasty at the annual ENT conference and demonstrated that over 97% of patients he performed a rhinoplasty on had an improvement in breathing through their nose. Dr Robinson has performed over 1500 rhinoplasties and has performed more rhinoplasties than anyone else in QLD.

Indications

Some of the patients who need a functional rhinoplasty include:

• Patients who have fractured their nose many times.
• Ex-professional sportsman.
• Patients who have had an earlier failed nasal operation for breathing.
• Patients over 60 years old who have a collapsed nose.
• Patients who notice a collapsing side wall of their nose.

Age-related nasal obstruction

As we get older, several forces combine to make a blocked nose develop. Gravitational forces and loss of skin elasticity have the following effect on the nose:

• The tip of the nose drops.
• Side walls collapse more easily.
• Cartilage holding the nose up weakens and separates.

These combined forces cause the very common problem of age-related nasal obstruction. Dr Robinson finds that if you have age-related nasal obstruction then the best way to improve this is through a functional rhinoplasty.

Procedure

Functional rhinoplasty differs between patients, but the general steps are as follows:

• External approach rhinoplasty.
• Septoplasty (Straighten cartilage in the middle of the nose).
• Cartilage harvest for grafting.
• Extended spreader grafts.
• Strut grafts.
• Bilateral turbinoplasty (Decrease scrolls of tissue inside nose).
• Nasal valve procedure if required (Stop side wall of nose collapsing).
• Improve Sleep.

Improving sleep is a very common reason to have a functional rhinoplasty. Patients who notice that they have problems breathing through their nose at night and that the breathing fluctuates from side to side will usually benefit from a functional rhinoplasty. A functional rhinoplasty will decrease the blocked nose as well as improve the strength of the side walls of the nose. Ultimately, functional rhinoplasty improves the patient’s ability to breathe through the nose at night, resulting in better sleep.

Postoperative Results

Improved Breathing

Having problems breathing through the nose is the most common reason for having a functional rhinoplasty. Functional rhinoplasty will strengthen the side walls of the nose as well as the tip of the nose. At the same time, the scrolls of tissue called the turbinates are reduced inside the nose. As a result, patients who have a functional rhinoplasty have a significant improvement in breathing through their nose.

Dr Robinson presented his results at the annual ENT conference for improving breathing through the nose and demonstrated that all his functional rhinoplasty patients had an improvement in breathing through their nose.

Decreased Snoring

Snoring is a very common problem. Snoring can come from multiple sources; one of those is the nose. If you have a blocked nose and you snore, then you may benefit from a functional rhinoplasty to improve your snoring.

A functional rhinoplasty improves the strength of the nose and the nasal airway. This in turn improves the streamlined airflow through the nose, which usually has the effect of improving the snoring. There is no guarantee that your snoring will go away when you have had an improvement in breathing through your nose.

Gallery

You can view before and after patient photos in the Functional Rhinoplasty Gallery.

Related Information

Broad Nose
Blocked Nose
Broken Nose
Cleft Palate
Crooked Nose

To discuss if functional rhinoplasty is recommended for you, please make an appointment with Dr Dan Robinson.