Facial Plastic Surgery Gains Popularity with Racial and Ethnic Minorities

Many ethnic patients seeking rhinoplasty need augmentation to increase the height of their nasal dorsum or to increase their nasal tip projection, said Dean Toriumi, MD, professor in the department of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and ENTtoday editorial bord member. Unfortunately many patients are undergoing augmentation using different filler materials, he said. These materials do not provide the same degree of definition provided by cartilage grafts and most resorb over time. More importantly if the patient decides to go forward with an augmentation rhinoplasty the procedure may be greatly complicated by the presence of the filler, which can leave scar tissue and add a major variable to healing. “This type of ‘non surgical’ rhinoplasty is very popular amongst Asian patients,” he added.

Dr. Brissett said cultural and family values may add layers of complexity—what makes an individual feel like himself or herself. Using himself as an example, he said, “My race is Black, but my culture is Canadian.” Biracial patients may identify more strongly with one culture than another.

The bottom line is to be aware of the trends, learn the techniques, listen to your patients and don’t make assumptions based on Western standards of beauty, or even within ethnic standards.