Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, Dr. Behrooz (Bruce) Torkian has seen a significant changes in plastic surgery choices aside from the filtered selfies on Instagram. He has seen patients wanting to maintain their ethnic identity to a degree while improving their overall appearance. “Fewer people want to be homogenized,” says Torkian.
Ethnic rhinoplasty presents challenges that must be fully understood to obtain the best results, Torkian says. Asian noses often have a bridge that is low and wide. The tip may be rounded and lack projection. Conversely, Middle Eastern noses often have a pronounced dorsal hump with a tip that can be too long or point down.
Dr. Torkian’s goal is a nose that fits the face without changing overall appearance. “The changes are measured in very small increments, usually millimeters,” Torkian says. “Yet these tiny changes bring the nose into harmony with the rest of the face without being obvious.”
Torkian has also become the first surgeon in the U.S. chosen to use the newest tool in cosmetic surgery, specifically for rhinoplasty.
Designed by Piezosurgery, Inc., this new saw uses vibrating ultrasonic waves to finely chisel the bone fragments instead of the old-school way of breaking or chiseling the bone. The Mectron Saw has been used in orthopedics, spine and dental surgery, but is now finally being applied to nasal surgery.
The saw helps reduce soft tissue trauma and bruising associated with a traditional nose job. There is also less post-surgical bleeding. “All that adds up to a quicker and easier recovery for the patient,” Torkian says.
“Bruising after rhinoplasty is one of the expected side effects that generally causes the most initial anguish for patients recovering from nasal surgery,” says Torkian.
While not strictly associated with this, “breaking” the bones is the portion of the procedure that is most often associated with increased bruising. Bone “breaking” is also the portion of the procedure that causes the most anxiety in patient considering rhinoplasty,” adds Torkian.
“While the word ‘breaking’ is really is misnomer for cutting the bone with a chisel (osteotome), surgeons have long searched for more gentle ways of moving the bone to reduce the soft tissue trauma and bruising associated with more traditional techniques,” says Torkian.
