How Do You Recognize Contracted Nose Symptoms? — Silicone Implants and the Causes of Contracture, and Why Revision Approaches with Autologous Rib Cartilage

01

How do contracted nose symptoms appear?

A contracted nose refers to symptoms where the site of a previous nose surgery shows, over time, the tip curling upward and the overall nasal length shortening. It's one of the problems that can commonly appear years after using a silicone implant.

As an actual case, there was a man who had rhinoplasty 5 years prior with silicone and septal cartilage. At the time of surgery the shape was satisfying and there was no functional discomfort — but over the years, these changes began.

• A feeling of the tip gradually hardening
• Each look in the mirror showing the nose shortening and lifting
• Nostrils showing upward — an upturned-nose impression

Beyond appearance, the pulling sensation when making facial expressions grew stronger too — a state where he began feeling discomfort in daily life.

02

Why does a silicone implant cause contracture?

Silicone is a material long and widely used in nose surgery because it's easy to shape and holds its form well. But no matter how stable the material, our body recognizes silicone as a foreign material that came from outside. Over time, if the body can't accept the silicone, the surrounding tissue can react by wrapping the silicone and hardening.

When the following factors act in combination, the tissue surrounding the silicone contracts and contracted-nose symptoms appear.

The important point is that a contracted nose can occur at any time — not just right after surgery but suddenly even after 2–3 years or 5 years. General criteria for judging revision are in the revision guide.

03

Why is autologous rib cartilage used in contracted nose revision?

A state where contracture has developed is one where tissue is already adhered and atrophied — so simply exchanging the implant for a different one hardly solves the problem. In that situation, autologous rib cartilage (cartilage harvested from the patient's own rib), with strong support and stability, helps.

The advantages of autologous rib cartilage are as follows.

• Almost no foreign-body response — because it's tissue from your own body, phenomena like the body pushing it out or hardening, as with silicone, rarely occur.
• Excellent support — cartilage harvested from the rib is hard and structurally strong, favoring rebuilding a collapsed nasal pillar or stably supporting the tip.
• Low absorption rate means long-lasting results — some cartilage used in nose surgery gradually absorbs into the body over time, but autologous rib cartilage has excellent shape retention and a low absorption rate, so results can remain stable over a long period.

Contracted nose surgery using autologous rib cartilage is a high-difficulty process that precisely analyzes tissue state and releases existing adhesions and contracture — so focus matters especially. That's why our clinic performs only 2 surgeries a day — because how deeply one case is done matters more than how many are done. The method of microparticulating autologous rib cartilage and fabricating it into a shape matching the nasal structure is called RIBFIT™, covered in more detail in the RIBFIT™ guide.

04

Summary — the later a change appears, the more cause confirmation comes first

A contracted nose can appear suddenly even years later, arriving as a major source of stress. If you feel the tip pulling and the nose shortening, the first step is being diagnosed on whether the tissue state around the silicone needs checking and whether an approach releasing adhesion and contracture is needed. If you're curious about your nose's state, it can be checked directly in a 1:1 video consultation.