ATHLETIC FACES: FACIAL FILLERS, BROKEN NOSES, SEPTOPLASTY, RHINOPLASTY
NEW YORK, N. Y.
Two weeks ago I saw a lady that I first treated 14 years ago as a promising college varsity soccer player. She was referred to me by the school’s athletic trainer for a broken nose. She was happy with a straighter nose and went back to playing with a face guard for the rest of the season. She came back to see me three weeks ago for a long overdue follow-up. In addition to getting a professional degree, she went on to play for the national team of her ancestral origin and is now slowing down her athletic career. She is looking to fix a deviated septum that often occurs with nasal fractures as well as a few other cosmetic changes for her nose. She also appears prematurely aged due to eyelid changes, small bags under her eyes and narrowing cheeks. I am leaving out specifics to protect her privacy, although she did consent to allowing me to tell her story.
It is very common for the septum and nasal bones to be pushed over when a patient breaks their nose. The nasal bones should be fixed within two weeks, but a septum needs to heal for 6 to 8 weeks before addressing it surgically. A number of other changes can occur in the nose from trauma that isn’t addressed by a “closed reduction” (simple straightening of displaced nasal bones). I will go into broken noses in a future blog.
As a long time athlete, she demonstrated what I see in these individuals of both sexes. Lean bodies are often associates with prematurely hollow cheeks. This was first recognized in devoted marathon runners. I was quoted in New York Magazine on Yoga Masters suffering the same consequences. Having little body fat, they often lose their facial fat even faster than the rest of us do as we age. I have discussed facial fillers to combat facial aging in past blog posts as well as on my website. To treat this lovely patient, I used Restylane under her eye “bags” to camouflage aging changes of her eyelids and Juvederm in her cheeks to restore a more youthful facial appearance. She is extremely happy with these treatments and may consider Septoplasty with Rhinoplasty in the near future.
