Open or closed rhinoplasty: which one fits your nose?
Closed rhinoplasty leaves no visible scar but limits what the surgeon can see; open rhinoplasty adds a four-millimetre columellar incision and full access to the tip.
Which approach suits your nose
The choice is decided by how much tip work your nose needs, not by surgeon preference. Closed rhinoplasty works entirely through incisions inside the nostrils and suits a straightforward hump reduction with a tip that already sits well. Open rhinoplasty adds a four-millimetre incision across the columella, the strip of skin between the nostrils, and lifts the skin so the cartilage framework can be seen directly. That visibility matters when the tip is asymmetric, over-projected, or has been operated on before.
The columellar scar, honestly
The incision that worries patients most is the one that disappears fastest. It sits in a V or stair-step across the narrow bridge of skin between the nostrils, an area with excellent blood supply and no tension pulling the edges apart. At three months most patients cannot find it in a mirror without tilting the head back; at a year it is usually a pale line most people never notice. Redness in the first eight weeks is normal and settles without treatment.
Where the closed technique still wins
Closed rhinoplasty remains our choice for a defined group: a prominent dorsal hump with a tip that needs little more than a small refinement, thin to medium skin, and no previous surgery. Keeping the tip ligaments intact means less swelling, and the nose settles noticeably faster in the first three months. What it cannot do is give reliable control over a deviated or asymmetric tip, and forcing it there produces the results that later need revision.
How the decision is made here
We decide from photographs and an examination, not from what you ask for by name. If your tip is symmetric and your main complaint is the profile, we will say a closed approach is enough and we will not charge more for the open one. Rhinoplasty here is priced the same whichever route is used; the technique is a clinical decision, not a price tier. Revision cases and thick-skinned tips are almost always open, and we explain why before you fly.
The Ones People Actually Ask.
Does an open rhinoplasty cost more than a closed one?
No. Both are priced the same at our clinic and include the surgery, general anaesthesia, one night of hospital care and the follow-up. The approach is chosen from your anatomy, so pricing it differently would create exactly the wrong incentive.
Can a closed rhinoplasty be converted to open during the operation?
Yes, and we discuss that possibility in the consent form beforehand. If access through the nostrils proves too limited to place tip grafts accurately, converting is far better than accepting a compromised result.
More On Aesthetic.
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What Stands Behind The Plan.
