Typically the news of a nose job isn’t too interesting unless you like to gossip, but a man from China has a nose job that would render even the biggest gossip speechless. A man who has been identified by the name “Xiaolian” has a nose growing in the most unusual place–his forehead.
Don’t freak out–the nose didn’t spontaneously pop up on Xiaolian’s forehead. Instead, this is a synthetic organ doctors are growing to use as a transplant at a later date.
After Xiaolian injured his nose in a car accident near the end of August and suffered an infection, doctors were unable to repair his nose. Instead of letting the 22-year-old man go through the rest of his life with a deformed nose, doctors decided to grow a new one. Doctors placed tissue expanders under the skin on Xiaolian’s forehead and used cartilage from his rib cage to form the new nose. After putting the expanders and cartilage in place, the doctors then cut the skin into the shape of a nose.
The nose on Xiaolian’s forehead won’t stay there permanently–after the doctors determine the new nose is ready, it will be transplanted and be used to replace Xiaolian’s damaged nose. A doctor demonstrates the extent of the damage to Xiaolian’s old nose below:
According to Dr. Patrick Byrne, the director of Facial, Plastic and Reconstruction Surgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, Xiaolian’s new nose won’t be just for looks. “It’ll be a real nose and [have a] breathing passage way,” Byrne told ABC. Byrne also said that, like most transplants, there is no guarantee that the new nose will work out for Xiaolian.
“There’s a lot that can happen,” said Byrne. “If he gets a little infection the cartilage can disintegrate… [what looked like a nose] now looks like a blob.” Hopefully for Xiaolian, he won’t have any further problems with his nose after the transplant is over, which his surgeons say will take place soon.