Know Your New Nose – Visualizing Rhinoplasty in 3D at Changes Plastic Surgery
Nothing has a greater impact on how a person looks than the size and shape of their nose. The decision to alter such an influencing feature is not an easy one for a person to make and they worry about the outcome. Most patients seeking rhinoplasty are not looking for the “perfect” nose nor are they looking to wear someone else’s nose. The aim is usually an aesthetically pleasing and proportionately appropriate nose for their face. But the question remains for the patient “what will I look like after?”
A quick look at what determines a pleasingly proportionate nose is based on a few rules or guidelines.
1. Rule of Thirds: A well-portioned face may be divided into equal thirds by drawing horizontal lines through the forehead hairline, the brow, the base of the nose, and the edge of the chin.
2. Rule of Fifths: Vertical guidelines divide the face into five equal columns. The two outermost fifths are measured from the perimeter of the ear to the outside corner of the eye. The distance from the outer to the inner corner of each eye should account for one-fifth of the overall facial width. The central fifth is measured between the inner corner of one eye to the inner corner of the other eye and should be equal to the remaining fifths.
3. Bilateral symmetry: An attractive face exhibits a high degree of similarity between one side of the face and the other.
These 3 measurements provide a blueprint for good proportion and can help in reshaping, but for the patient just exactly what a new nose would look like depends mostly on the conception and it can be very hard to visualize. Until the advent of 3-D Imaging.
In 2009, Gilbert Lee, M.D. of Changes Plastic Surgery & Spa began offering the Vectra 3-Dimensional Imaging System. The system employs six cameras to capture simultaneous images of a patient. Mirror software then combines each image pixel by pixel into a rotating 3-dimensional image.
The image is then enhanced and altered using various “tools” that can remove a bump on the nose, alter the angle of the tip, narrow the width of the nose and numerous other adjustments. Patients are able to see their real-time image side-by-side with a post-surgery re-creation.
3D Imaging helps to answer the question of “what will I look like after” and is a priceless tool in the rhinoplasty decision. It not only puts the patient on the same conceptual page as Dr. Lee, it lets patients know their new nose will not only be improved proportionally and aesthetically but that they will look good wearing it.
Visualize your nose before actual rhinoplasty at Changes Plastic Surgery.
Vectra and Mirror have registered trademarks of Canfield Scientific, Inc.