A common question posed by patients interested in Rhinoplasty is, “What is the cost of a nose job?”. The answer is that it depends. Patients that are only seeking cosmetic changes to their nose with rhinoplasty will incur a cost that includes the rhinoplasty surgeon’s fee in addition to cosmetic fees for the time spent in the operating room and anesthesia. Insurance will not pay for cosmetic rhinoplasty. Cosmetic costs vary from surgeon to surgeon and facility to facility.

However, if you have functional problems and can’t breathe through your nose, you may be a good candidate for functional rhinoplasty. This will depend on the evaluation by your rhinoplasty surgeon. You may have a deviated septum, nasal valve problems, and/or turbinate enlargement that are leading to your nasal airway obstruction. These issues can be covered by your insurance.

That said, a septoplasty is frequently performed to obtain cartilage during cosmetic only rhinoplasty. Also, the open rhinoplasty approach during functional rhinoplasty is the same that is used for cosmetic rhinoplasty. Therefore, much of the time spent addressing or preparing for the functional issues are also done during the cosmetic rhinoplasty. This frays the facility and anesthesia fees during surgery compared to cosmetic only rhinoplasty. My surgeon’s fees for cosmetic rhinoplasty are also reduced when performing combined cosmetic and functional rhinoplasty as I will submit the functional procedures to insurance as well.

The bottom line is that combining the functional components with cosmetic rhinoplasty will decrease costs for the surgeon’s fee, facility fee, and anesthesia fees as much of these will be payed by your insurance.