For patients looking for a rhinoplasty (nose job) but who don’t want to go under the knife, a new non-surgical nose-job may be the answer.

An anaesthetic cream is used on the nose. Injections of cosmetic filler are then injected around the nose to change it’s shape. The whole process takes around 10 minutes and can therefore be carried out during a lunch hour.

The advantages of the non-surgical nose job are clear the treatments costs around a tenth of an actual rhinoplasty and doesn’t involve the typical six week recovery period of surgery. The side effects of the procedure are also far less severe than rhinoplasty surgery.

Non-surgical nose jobs can be used to help straighten out the nose’s appearance, help make the tip turn up instead of down, correct any asymmetry in the nose, and help smooth any bumps. Nasal dermal fillers can also help to soften the overall appearance of the nose.

However the non-surgical nose job is not suitable for people who want to make their nose smaller as it can only change the shape and not the size. The process is also not permanent. Dermal fillers are made from materials which are eliminated by the body’s lymphatic system and kidneys over time, therefore top-up fillers will need to be applied every year or so in order to maintain the new shape of the nose.

The non-surgical nose job is not a new procedure. Originating in Brazil around seven years ago, many countries are now offering the technique. However some cosmetic surgeons have expressed concern over the non-surgical nose job as they say that long-term studies of dermal fillers in the nasal area have yet to be carried out so it is difficult to determine if any long-term damage may occur.

Repeated dermal filler applications can also cause scar tissue to form which can affect the shape of the nose and leave the patient with a lumpier nose than when they originally started. However given that up to 18 percent of rhinoplasty patients will see side effects such as excessive bleeding, loosening cartilage in the nose and scar formation, many patients will see the nasal dermal fillers as a good alternative to cosmetic surgery.