Want to hear something astonishing? Nose jobs are nothing new. Though it is tempting to imagine that they may have evolved to satisfy the vanity of 20th century starlets, that assumption is totally false. Actually, rhinoplasty was first practiced 2,500 years ago by a doctor and teacher referred to as the "Father of Surgery." His name was Sushruta and he lived in northern India during the 6th century B.C. He taught and wrote extensively, describing hundreds of tools and procedures, as well as classifying animals. How ironic to realize that out of all the lifesaving procedures necessary in those days, he found time to invent something cosmetic!



His work is gruesomely noteworthy. He invented the technique of forehead flap nasal surgery to reconstruct the noses of criminals whose punishment was the amputations of their noses. Astonishingly, the forehead flap procedure developed by Sushruta has changed very little over all these centuries.

Another pioneer, John Orlando Roe, performed the first intranasal rhinoplasty in 1887 on a man whose incredibly prominent nose made him reluctant to go out in public. By the time Hollywood movies came in to their own in the 1930's, hundreds of star struck actresses were electing to "have a little work done." Rhinoplasty remains to this day one of the most common plastic surgical procedures.

Modern rhinoplasty tends to be of the intranasal variety. Any incisions on the outside of the nose are extremely small and leave no scarring. The rhinoplasty Chicago-based physicians and specialists perform is state-of-the-art. Their doctors have studied and taught various plastic surgery techniques worldwide, developing better procedures and inventing new instruments. They have successfully operated on hundreds of noses, giving patients a more pleasing appearance, better balance to the face, and peace with that tiny part of the body on which so many tend to obsess.

It is funny how a relatively small feature can call for such attention and cause so much angst, but the nose surely does. If you dislike your nose, you are not alone! There is no reason not to do something about it, though. You dramatically can change your nose with one outpatient procedure. After 2,500 years, the practitioners have the surgery down pat!