Change your nose without surgery: botox or hyaluronic acid?

What are the indications for a Botox® injection to change the nose?

Botulinum toxin injection is mainly indicated to correct a drooping nasal tip, when this is due to hypercontraction of the depressor muscle.

What is a drooping nose?

A drooping nose is defined relative to the naso-labial angle, the angle formed by the joining of two tangents, that of the columella and that of the upper lip.
This angle is generally between 110° and 120° for women, and between 90° and 100° for men. When the angle is smaller, the nose is said to be plunging.

Beyond the aesthetic aspect, which gives the impression of a nose that is too long when smiling, a drooping nose can alter expression: it partly masks the smile, which diminishes positive facial expressions and gives a soft, sad and lacklustre appearance.

How does botulinum toxin injection work in the nose?

Botox injection is indicated to inhibit hypercontraction of the depressor septi nasi muscle, which pulls the nose down when smiling. Injecting botulinum toxin A into the columella blocks acetylcholine and relaxes the muscle within 4 to 10 days, reducing the downward pull and giving the nose a more harmonious shape.

What are the disadvantages of botulinum toxin for nose reshaping?

Changing the shape of your nose without surgery, using botox, does however come up against two limitations:

• the intensity of the muscle contraction varies and is difficult to assess beforehand, so the result after injection is sometimes disappointing;
• the effect of botulinum toxin on the nose is short, often no more than 2 months, compared with around 6 months on the muscles of the face.

That is why non-surgical nose reshaping tends to use another technique: the injection of a filler.

What are the indications for hyaluronic acid injections in the nose?

Hyaluronic acid (HA) injections are widely used in aesthetic medicine, where this naturally occurring filler provides a more or less volumizing effect thanks to its affinity for water.

How does hyaluronic acid injection work in the nose?

The larger the hyaluronic acid macromolecule, the greater its “molecular sponge” effect, and therefore its volumizing effect. The practitioner’s art lies in selecting the right hyaluronic acid in terms of molecular weight and viscosity, in order to reconcile the volumizing effect, a natural appearance, resistance to gravity and, where possible, slow resorption.
Two things guard against the risk of overfilling:

• the product can be injected in small volumes, with a main injection and a touch-up 15 days later;
• hyaluronic acid can always be broken down further with a fully natural enzyme, hyaluronidase.

What are the advantages of injecting hyaluronic acid into the nose?

This non-surgical nose reshaping is an augmentation procedure that adds volume to correct imperfections and refine the contours of the nose:

• smoothing a small osteocartilaginous hump;
• correcting an asymmetry or a slight deviation without affecting the septum;
• filling in a hollow nose by adding volume;
• raising the tip of the nose to give the impression of shortening it.

As the nose moves very little, hyaluronic acid has a lifespan of at least two years before its resorption calls for the medical rhinoplasty to be repeated.
It can be used for primary rhinoplasty, in the first instance, as well as for secondary rhinoplasty to correct imperfections resulting from nose surgery (saddle deformity, inverted-V deformity, Corbin’s nose, and so on).

What are the advantages of injecting hyaluronic acid into the nose?

This medical rhinoplasty is for aesthetic purposes only, to beautify a nose and perfect facial harmony. Under no circumstances can it replace a functional rhinoplasty, which involves a surgical procedure.

Aesthetic rhinoplasty also requires an experienced practitioner, whose analysis must be subtle and whose experience must be sound. Restoring volume can be a trap if the harmony of the volumes as a whole is not taken into account. Smoothing the bridge of the nose to reduce a nasal hump, for example, should not make us forget to treat the frontonasal ridges where necessary, in order to maintain balance and harmony.

Medical rhinoplasty using volumizing hyaluronic acid injections is an ideal way to obtain a prettier nose, without surgery or pain, and above all without altering the very essence of a person’s identity.