Why Does a Nose Job Change the Entire Face?

A nose that is wide, large, crooked, or has a bump can be distracting. We meet people all the time who express dissatisfaction with the central feature on their face. When a person doesn’t like their nose, an interesting thing happens; they have a hard time noticing other aspects of their appearance. Nose surgery often feels like a great answer to their problem. At the same time, patients often ask us if having their nose done will make them look like a different person. To be honest, the entire face can change after rhinoplasty, but not so significantly that one will no longer look like themselves. Here, we discuss why the whole face can change after a nose job.

What Rhinoplasty Does

Rhinoplasty is called a nose job because the procedure specifically targets the nose. Unless procedures are combined, no other features are touched during nose surgery. Rhinoplasty may be conducted for cosmetic purposes like reducing a bump or narrowing the tip of the nose. It may also be functionally necessary, focusing on internal structure. Even functional rhinoplasty can change the shape or size of the nose to some degree. And when it does, surrounding features will seem to change shape, too.

Why This Happens

Why, when a nose job only changes the nose, does just about every other part of the face look different? It comes down to the interplay between facial features. The nose sits right in the center of all other facial features. Other than the chin, the nose is the only feature to project forward. The projection and profile of the nose lend dimension to the entire face. This and the centrality of the nose essentially makes it the primary harmonizer among the eyes, lips, chin, and cheeks.

As we had mentioned, many people who are unhappy with their nose have a hard time noticing anything but that one point on the face. By correcting the shape and size of the nose, the eye then becomes free to observe the face as a whole. The eyes, cheeks, lips, and overall shape of the face are no longer overrun by a large or misshapen nose. Have these features really changed? No, they’ve just become the integral part of the whole they should be.

Rhinoplasty is a common procedure that can achieve gorgeous results when conducted by an experienced, board-certified plastic surgeon. To learn more about scheduling a Miami nose job consultation, call our Miami office at 305.279.4700.