Rib and Ear cartilage are the most natural ways /sources to increase the height of your nasal bridge during rhinoplasty / nose reshaping (other names for this procedure include nose reshaping / nose shaping / cosmetic surgery on the nose / rhino plasty / rino plasty / nose plastic surgery). Rib cartilage has the advantage of having an abundant supply of cartilage. Their is a tendency to warp and this can be prevented by placing pins inside the rib or by equal carving on all sides of the graft. There are other ways to prevent the warping as well. Ear tends to get absorbed more than rib and also is not as resilient and has a natural bend to it. It really depend on the person whether ear or rib hurts more. In my experience, rib grafting is far more painful than ear harvesting. One option for nasal bridge augmentation is using silicone implants. They are very compatible to our tissues and are almost the ideal implant. You don’t need an extra place to harvest it and can last for as long as you live without absorption, warping, and the need for another area to harvest. The argument against silicone is that is not natural and can lead to infection but there are data out there that shows the rib cartilage can have just as high of a rate for infection during rhinoplasty / nose shaping / nose jobs.
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Dr Young specializes in Facial Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery and is located in Bellevue near Seattle, Washington