14 DAY TRIAL // Statistics show that the number of people who are so unhappy about their nose that they would go to extreme lengths to fix it isn’t anywhere close to small. However, rhinoplasty can’t always be the option because, first and foremost, it is an expensive procedure that also requires plenty of recovery time. This is why another intervention has come to gain popularity: the nonsurgical reshaping of the nose with the help of fillers.
According to the Daily Mail, this procedure is just now starting to become more frequent in UK clinics, although it is believed it has a larger following in the US. It consists of injecting a cosmetic filler that is already used for other areas of the face in certain points of the nose in order to alter its shape and make it better looking. It lasts about ten minutes and leaves no bruising or scarring because it requires no recovery time. Of course, it is not permanent either, since the filler is broken down and naturally eliminated by the body in about 12 to 18 months tops, but that is not seen as a setback by those who have already tried it, the British publication says.
Costing just £300 in the UK (as opposed to the £3,500 one would have to pay for rhinoplasty), this minimally invasive procedure for reshaping the nose is seen as the best alternative in the long run by all those who can’t financially afford a more drastic intervention, but also by those who are too scared to go under the knife. Reportedly, the ten-minute nose job is also believed to be safer than rhinoplasty, since nothing is cut or modified unnaturally.
Still, Nigel Mercer, president of the British Association for Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, warns all those rushing to get the procedure that they should put it off for a while longer until further tests are carried out as to its safety. As it is now, those who agree to undertake it are nothing short of guinea pigs, he explains, because the long-term effects have not yet been determined.
“Cosmetic products such as fillers do not have to undergo the same rigorous clinical trial process that legally needs to be undertaken for medical treatments. I would worry about putting these fillers in the skin as we still don’t know about the long-term reactions to them. They cannot replace nose reshaping surgery, which is permanent. These fillers have not yet been thoroughly tested for application to the nasal area. Patients may sometimes have a reaction to fillers where scar tissue forms to cause a lumpy effect. I would want to see more research on this before I would recommend it.” Mercer says for the Daily Mail.