A model for planning rhinoplasty

A rhinoplasty model is detailed in which nasal shape is conceived as a dynamic system, the result of powerful expansive and contractile forces, of a skin sleeve in equilibrium with a dynamic skeleton, in which the alar cartilages are external to the remaining skeleton and support a large area of lower nasal skin. In this system, changes in one region have "global" effects. Consequently, one powerful way to control nasal shape is to maintain skin sleeve size and thus maintain the preoperative nasal equilibrium. The surgeon who controls the postoperative equilibrium controls the postoperative result.