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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2017

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Rhinoplasty

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Say cheese! Surgeon Dr Jason Roth (inset) believes the avalanche of self-portraits on social mediahas made people more aware, and conscious, of their appearance. Main photo: Getty Images

Plastic surgery is morepopular than ever thanks tosocial media pressure, writesDani Wright.

How the ‘selfie’ drives plastic surgery demand

There are almost 300 million photos with thehashtag #selfie on Instagram and it’s thismodern obsession with how we look that hasput our appearances under the spotlight likenever before.

According to Dr Jason Roth, a dualfellowship-trained facial plastic surgeon inSydney, it is also fuelling demand for rhino-plasty, the medical term for a nose job.

“People are seeing images of themselveseverywhere and if they don’t like what theysee, they want to seek change,” says Dr Roth.“In some cultures, rhinoplasty is almost arite of passage. Iran, for example, has morerhinoplasty performed than any other coun-try in the world.”

The increased acceptance of cosmeticprocedures means some people who feel self-conscious about their looks may feel moreconfident about seeking change through pla-stic surgery.

But, even though the procedures aregrowing in popularity, there are still thingsto watch out for in order to get the bestpossible care during the process.

“There are many different types of cos-

metic surgeons, so look for specific trainingin ear, nose and throat or plastic surgeonsspecialising in rhinoplasty,” says Dr Roth.

He is one of just a handful of Sydney sur-geons to have completed Rhinology Fellow-ships in the United States, having special-ised in ear, nose and throat within his stud-ies. He also travelled to Chicago and the

Netherlands to live, work and study with thebest in the field.

“If someone does one rhinoplasty a year,you won’t get the same results as someonewho is doing three to four every week,” saysDr Roth.

“People can also look at the before andafter photos. In particular, they’ll want to

avoid doctors for their rhino-plasty who are not fellows of theRoyal Australasian College ofSurgeons (RACS).”

Apart from cosmetic reasons,there’s also rhinoplasty aftertrauma and Dr Roth says he seesa lot of footballers and netballerswho have had their noses dam-aged during games.

There are also referrals forconditions such as excessivesnoring and sinus problems.

“There’s an increased aware-ness of the detrimental health effects thatcome with conditions such as sleep apnoea,”says Dr Roth.

“But, more people have friends who havehad success with rhinoplasty, or are moreopen to discussing it than in the past, so notso many are just living with the discomfort.”

These days there’s a trend away from usingany silicone or implantable material in thenose, with surgeons instead inserting a per-son’s own cartilage, such as a rib graft or earcartilage, because the risk of infection islower.

Another trend is the use of fillers in thenose, which is part of the non-surgical side ofrhinoplasty and is rising in popularity.

“You can camouflage a hump with tempor-ary fillers, but it has to be updated for therest of your life, rather than one fix and it’sdone,” says Dr Roth.