Rhinoplasty questions

July 26, 2009 10:41 PM

If my nose gets broken, can I get it fixed to look the way it did before?

I have a nice nose, I also compete in boxing. I'm hoping I can continue to do both at once, however, if I do end up with a broken nose, what are my options? Can I wait until I retire from fighting to get it fixed or would it need to be done right away? Can surgery really fix it to get it back to it's original appearance? What is involved? (cost, procedure, healing time etc) Does it depend on what kind of break it is?

*knock on wood*

posted by Chrysalis to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

I got in a fight when I was a kid and the guy broke my nose. Really fucked it up, bent to the side. It got reset with the help of being put under, but it healed strangely and now it's bigger than it's supposed to be.

I don't know if the doctor fixed it incorrectly or if it's a normal aftermath of having your nose wrecked, but that was my experience. (And maybe they do it better these days, who nose. Get it? I crack me up. GET IT OH GOD GOTTA STOP NOW)
posted by secret about box at 10:58 PM on July 26, 2009

Oh, and from what little I remember—it's been more than fifteen years now—they put me under in the hospital, the doctor "re-broke" it, and then it was set back in place somehow. Like I said, I don't remember much of what they said they did. I had a plaster piece on my nose for a week or two, if I recall.

Today, the entire top half of my nose is larger than it's supposed to be and that area is hard as a rock. It's still slightly bent to the side, but you wouldn't be able to tell unless you stared long enough, dead-on, while I wasn't moving.
posted by secret about box at 11:03 PM on July 26, 2009

In my personal experience, in my acquaintances' experience, and my family experience: no, no, no. It may look all right if the bridge isn't too smashed up, but if it looks the same, that's good luck and no certainty.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:02 AM on July 27, 2009

Really if your nose gets broken then it will be difficult to restore it to its former glory! You may need plastic surgery. Also if it gets flattened then it will be difficult to bring it back. I mean just have a look at all of those boxers noses!! Most of them are flattened and out of shape.
posted by slimco65 at 2:58 AM on July 27, 2009

My grandfather was a boxer. From pictures of him as a young man, I know that he had a nice, straight nose before he began to box. After? Not at all. My father's nose has also been broken more than once, and while it looks okay, it definitely tilts towards the right, which it didn't do before.

I second the advice above: if you want to stay pretty, don't box.
posted by crankylex at 5:50 AM on July 27, 2009

Ali stayed pretty. Box well.
posted by naplesyellow at 9:30 AM on July 27, 2009

As an aside, "pretty" is so subjective. I think a clearly broken-in-the-past nose can look pretty cool on a dude.

(disclaimer: I have broken my nose a bunch and thus have a decently crooked nose.)
posted by teishu at 3:39 PM on July 27, 2009