The #liquidrhinoplasty hashtag has over 75 million views on TikTok.
There are many before/after videos of young women using hyaluronic acid injections on the nose to instantly reshape this central part of their face.
This mysterious Anglo-Saxon name refers to medical rhinoplasty, a practice also on the rise in aesthetic medicine practices.
"The objective of a medical rhinoplasty is to modify the nose in a subtle way in order to blur its "defects" and create a Photoshop effect", explains Doctor Nathaniel Stroumza Escoffier, plastic surgeon in Paris and Neuilly-sur-Seine. , which has seen renewed interest in this technique over the past five years.
“The demand is increasing because patients are looking for less invasive procedures, without general anesthesia and also less expensive.”
The protocol ?
With a needle or a cannula, the doctor injects hyaluronic acid into different areas of the nose to reshape it.
“First, on the dorsum, or the back of the nose, to make it thinner and hide a bump.
Then, on the tip, to better define it, improve its projection and blur its bifid side.
Finally, on the columella,
A new popularity
If medical rhinoplasty has recently gone viral thanks to social networks, the act is not new.
"The first medical rhinoplasties appeared in the 1980s. They were used to rectify surgical rhinoplasties which had not given good results, by correcting the sequelae and aesthetic "defects", says Doctor Stroumza Escoffier.
“At the time, products based on bovine collagen or silicone were used to erase irregularities in the nose and asymmetries.
Then we realized that it was creating complications, so we stopped.
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Twenty years later, in 2006, the concept resurfaced: “Many scientific articles that testify to the use of hyaluronic acid and calcium hydroxyapatite for this practice have been published.
The first cases were performed on augmentation rhinoplasties in Asian patients with no nasal dorsum.
It was a less cumbersome and complex treatment than surgery, which consists of removing cartilage from the ears or pieces of ribs.
Since this decade, the phenomenon has grown significantly.
Requests are exploding, especially among people who have not necessarily had prior surgery but who simply want to correct bumps.
Advantages
Its main strengths?
First, his availability.
In about twenty minutes, a patient can sculpt her nose instantly in an aesthetic medicine practice and go about her business immediately.
It is also its reversible side which reassures: “If a surgical rhinoplasty is missed, it is irreversible.
While with this technique, patients can get an idea of their face before going for surgery.
It's a kind of real simulation of their ideal nose", continues Doctor Stroumza, who notes a high satisfaction rate (90%) among patients according to the latest published studies (whereas surgical rhinoplasty can sometimes be associated to secondary rhinoplasty at 30%).
Doctor Sandrine Sebban, aesthetic doctor in Paris, sees yet another advantage in it: "I think it is useful for fighting against facial aging, because we tend to have a fall from the tip of the nose downwards as we age”, observes the specialist, specifying that “the columellar pillar, that is to say the part located between the two nostrils, loses its support and its intensity over time.
In this case, it is interesting to strengthen it and raise the tip of the nose.
The cost of the procedure is also attractive.
On average, prices vary from 350 to 700 euros for this treatment (it all depends on the type and quantity of product injected).
While nose surgery is counted... in thousands of euros.
The social media filter
However, contrary to what the tutorials that flock to social networks might suggest, medical rhinoplasty is not a solution suitable for everyone.
"Even if it is an alternative technique which seems ideal and innovative, it will never replace surgical rhinoplasty", specifies Doctor Sebban.
“It cannot correct chronic respiratory discomfort, malformation or nasal trauma.
On the other hand, patients who have very prominent bumps on their nose or very bulging tips will not get good results with medical rhinoplasty.
It is necessary to maintain a harmony of the face, front and profile, taking into account the projection of the lips and the chin.
Material should not be added to this area at all costs,
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Doctor Stumza advises to remain vigilant with regard to the content posted on social networks: "The videos on TikTok, when they are produced by health professionals, can be informative and inform patients about the techniques and possible results depending on the deformation of the nose.
On the other hand, when these tutorials are made by influencers, this can sometimes trivialize this procedure and only expose the advantages without speaking about the risks”, warns the specialist.
An opinion that Doctor Sebban also shares: “The indication is overused on social networks, unfortunately, we no longer realize that it is a real medical act.
It feels like you can do a medical rhinoplasty as if you were going to the hairdresser.
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Risks and side effects
Some mild side effects may occur, as after any hyaluronic acid injection procedure: edema, redness, pain at the injection site or bluish discoloration of the skin.
The risks of complications are, of course, very low, but very present.
“Of all hyaluronic acid injection practices, medical rhinoplasty is one of the most risky.
As the nose is a highly vascularized organ, the product can compress a vessel or penetrate inside it and cause an embolism”, warns Doctor Stourmza.
The risk of injecting an artery is 1 in 6,000 when performed with a needle, compared to 1 in 47,000 with a cannula.
This eventuality is more recurrent in patients who have already had nose surgery.
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“Fortunately, in most cases it goes very well.
The correction is generally very appreciated by the patients, in particular because the effects last over the long term", reassures Doctor Sebban, "Viscous products are absorbed slowly, especially in the nose, because it is a static zone unlike the lips by example, so there is less degradation.”
According to doctors, the results can last between six months to a year, or even longer.
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As with any type of hyaluronic acid injections, medical rhinoplasty is not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding women, as well as people with active autoimmune disease.
Finally, doctors advise patients who have just been vaccinated with Covid-19 to wait at least a month before seeking this treatment.
