The Non-Surgical Nose Job Exists

What if I were to tell you that you could alter the size or shape of your nose without going under the knife? Too good to be true, right? Sans-surgery nose jobs are apparently a thing and we are here to tell you everything that we know about them thus far.

First of all, the main man behind the mask is a top plastic surgeon from Los Angeles (surprise surprise) who goes by the name of Dr. Simon Ourian (you may have heard of him as being responsible for Kylie Jenner’s famously luscious lips). He is a self-proclaimed master of what he calls the “multi microdroplet technique,” in which he uses hyaluronic acid injections to plump or enhance certain features of the nose. Dr. Ourian has been practicing this technique for the past 7 or 8 years and says he has perfected it to the point that he is able to change the angle of the nose and the shape of the nostrils. He can also make the nose larger and in some cases he can even make it smaller.

This is not to say that Dr. Ourian’s procedure can completely replace rhinoplasty. There are certain things that the multi microdroplet technique simply cannot achieve but at the same time, it definitely seems useful for certain changes you might be looking to make. Let’s look at the pros and cons, shall we?

The Pros

1. Non-invasive. No slicing and dicing here, just the tiny pricks of about 3 or 4 hyaluronic acid-filled needles. No anesthetic, no painkillers.
2. Way less painful. Given that the procedure is non-invasive, the pain level decreases exponentially in comparison to full on rhinoplastic surgery. One client says the pain level is equivalent to a trip to the dentist. I mean, I hate the dentist, but it’s definitely bearable.
3. Practically no recovery period. You might be a bit swollen afterwards but this will go down within 24 hours. A regular nose job, on the other hand, will guaranteed leave you swollen and bruised and can take 6 months to a year to fully heal.
4. It’s over in no time. The procedure takes about 5 minutes so you’ll be in and out of the office within 15.
5. It’s correctible, predictable, and even reversible. Since the patient is conscious the whole time, they can navigate the procedure and request where they want more or less filler. Dr. Ourian can reverse it by melting the filler with an injection of an enzyme called hyaluronidase.
6. It can easily fix a botched job. Dr. Ourian says that this procedure is mostly used for patients who have had previous nose jobs gone wrong, or for those who simply don’t have a naturally prominent bridge. He explains that “in these cases, we can go back and add a filler to build a bridge for them or build an area.”

The Cons

1. It can’t fix everything. Generally, if you want your nose to be smaller or shaped in a certain way, you will still need to undergo surgery. “A lot of people have large noses or hooked noses, and I think that in the majority of those cases, they still need a surgical nose job,” says Dr. Ourian. Although in some special cases he is able to make the nose appear smaller, for the most part he says that decreasing the size will require surgery.
2. It’s not cheap. Procedures range from $1500 to $5000, depending on what kind of filler is used.
3. It’s impermanent. The hyaluronic acid will eventually deplete so if you want to maintain your nose shape, you will eventually have to go back for another session. Fillers can last anywhere from 1-10 years, again depending what kind is used.

Seeing as there are twice as many pros to cons, it’s probably safe to say that this non-surgical nose job is a pretty safe bet for those who aren’t fully satisfied with their schnoz. Less time, less pain, less risk, less commitment—all of these add up to a pretty exciting rhinoplasty alternative. So if you’re thinking about sporting a new snout, consider this new kind of nose job!