The plastic surgeons then had the challenge of covering the nose with skin from another part of his body. The face is an aesthetic unit with all these associated subunits. The secret is to make incisions along the natural crease lines to camouflage the scars. Then after surgery, when you glance at the patient, all that's noticeable are natural contours and shadows. That way, the scars are hidden.
Plastic surgeons try to match skin that has been removed with skin from another area of the body.
In this case we made a template and drew it out of the top of the forehead, since there is a blood vessel running right through the center of it, and carried the whole thing down to cover the man's nose. After the swelling goes away and the scars heal in two or three weeks the surgical incisions will be well disguised. Joel E. Pessa, MD, clinical assistant professor and director of plastic and reconstructive surgery's cleft palate unit, frequently teams with Dr. Garza. His interest in pediatric plastic surgery recently prompted him to travel to Mexico City where he learned a surgical technique for creating a new jawbone distraction osteogenesis. So now when a child is born with only half a jawbone, it's possible to rebuild his face.