Beverly Hills Rhinoplasty Surgery Blog

Ok, so we may not live in NY, Canada, or the arctic, but it seems many people are finding that the blustering southern California winter air is now making their faces red, itchy and flaky. While it’s true that there are numerous beauty companies ready to sell you expensive, exotic solutions we thought, since gas prices are up and the economy seems to be teetering, maybe we should tell you about some less-expensive ways to protect the skin from winter air. 

Most of you know that it is not the cold itself, but rather the dryness of cold air, that dries out the skin, breaking down its natural protective layer of dead cells, called the stratum corneum. This layer of skin normally forms an oily coating that helps to keep moisture in the skin. When this layer dries out, the skin is more prone to flaking and cracking.

There are a number of ways to help retain moisture in the skin including humidifying indoor air, avoiding scalding showers and harsh soaps, and gently pat drying rather than rubbing the skin with the towel.

Beyond that you can use a host of well known moisturizers like Nivea Crème. If your going to be out skiing you can consider Vaseline, Kiehl’s Face Protector, or we’ve read of a product named Dermatone, which is made of beewax and lanolin.

As for your lips, stop licking them, it only dries them out more. And if the edges begin to crack and split, one doctor recommended covering them with A+D Original Ointment, a diaper rash cream made with lanolin that helps treat irritated skin. Hope this helps.

We are often asked by patients whether nostril asymmetry can be corrected. This is something that often really bothers people a lot even though they know that noone else really sees their nostrils on a regular basis (except for maybe the family pet). The answer depends on the cause of the asymmetry. Much of the time, it is caused by asymmetry of the cartilages that make up the tip of the nose. You can be born this way but, more often than not, it happens from over-aggressive previous surgery. In this case, fixing the cartilage problems will go a long way towards improving nostril symmetry. You can see more results in our photo gallery.  Sometimes, one nostril is just naturally smaller or shaped differently than the other one. The nostrils can be made to appear more similar in size and shape, but they may not be made perfectly symmetrical. This is usually cosmetically acceptable because noses and faces aren’t naturally perfectly symmetrical. So, the goal is to have every aspect of your nose look nice, natural, internally balanced, harmonious with other features and unoperated upon.When there is a major difference in nostril symmetry, such as in someone with a cleft lip and palate, deficient bone and soft tissue is often responsible. In these situations, we have to do a lot of work including grafting to get things looking more similar. But, even in these cases, improvements can be had. We encourage you to discuss your particular concerns with us directly, so we can evaluate you individually.

This young woman was unhappy with the asymmetry of her nostrils that was also affecting her breathing. She also wanted her tip to be a little more refined and less boxy in appearance. In the 1 year postop view, you can see narrowing of the tip and achievement of nostril symmetry.