Ear, Nose, and Throat Procedures

Our ear, nose, and throat experts use state-of-the-art technology to perform a variety of surgical and nonsurgical procedures for acute and chronic conditions.

• Botox and filler therapy — Botox is a selective muscle relaxer that works at the neuromuscular junction to block unwanted muscle activity. It’s particularly effective in relieving symptoms of synkinesis, such as tightness/pulling, excessive muscle tone, and facial asymmetry.  For patients with flaccid facial paralysis, Botox can be used to minimize asymmetries in facial function. Filler therapy can plump areas of the face with insufficient volume, mask asymmetries in the nasolabial folds or midface, and address functional issues associated with facial paralysis.
• Brow lift — This surgery lifts the eyebrow and refreshes the areas of the face that are often first to reveal the signs of aging, including the forehead. This procedure can be done endoscopically as a minimally invasive procedure.
• Chin implants — Chin augmentation can have a dramatic effect on facial harmony if a weak or underdeveloped chin is compromising facial balance. This procedure creates a natural look that fits in with your unique facial features.
• Chemical peels —This topically applied solution aims to improve the texture and appearance of facial skin. Chemical peels can help lessen blemishes, scars, uneven pigmentation, and wrinkles.
• DAO resection — Depressor anguli oris (DAO) muscle resection, or “smile release” surgery, is a minor office procedure done to improve smile symmetry in patients with facial synkinesis. The DAO is a fan-shaped muscle that pulls down on the corner of the mouth and tethers the smile in synkinesis patients due to an excess of tone. Removal of this muscle improves smile symmetry in up to 89% of people with synkinesis, providing a subtle lift to the corner of the mouth on the affected side.
• Ear pinning — Also called otoplasty, this technique addresses ears that are too prominent or protrude too far from the head. Surgeons make small, unseen cuts behind the ears. The results of otoplasty have a major positive impact on people’s self-esteem.
• Eyelid weights and lower lid tightening — Some people with flaccid facial paralysis experience trouble fully closing their eye on the affected side. This condition, referred to as lagophthalmos, puts patients at risk for eye dryness, irritation, infection, and corneal abrasion. Tiny platinum eyelid weights can be implanted to help people fully close their eyes. Sagging lower eyelids, a condition known as paralytic ectropion, can also affect a person’s ability to fully close their eye and give them an aged appearance. Lower eyelid tightening can reverse these effects.
• Facelift — Also called rhytidectomy, this procedure helps reduce the visible signs of aging by removing excess skin and sagging tissue in the face, jowls, and neck. Surgeons make small cuts along the ears and hairline, and treatment options range from mini-lifts to more extensive surgeries that may require overnight stays in the hospital.
• Facial reanimation — The goal of facial reanimation is to improve the functional and aesthetic impacts of facial paralysis. Many different surgeries constitute facial reanimation and aim to restore facial symmetry and movement, including eyelid procedures, facelifts, nerve grafting, and muscle transposition and transfer.
• Facial nerve exploration and repair — The complex anatomy of the facial nerve puts it at high risk for injury from trauma, certain surgical procedures of the face, or certain types of cancer that affect the facial nerve. Facial nerve exploration surgery can help surgeons decompress, repair, resect, or reconstruct a damaged facial nerve, as well as remove scar tissue. In some cases, a nerve graft may be harvested through a small incision in the neck or lower leg.
• Facial reconstructive surgery — This procedure can take many forms, depending on the patient’s needs. Most facial reconstructive surgeries are performed on injury-induced facial deformities, skin cancer, post-traumatic scarring, and botched nose surgery. These procedures can improve appearance and greatly enhance self-esteem.
• Fat transfer — Fat transfer volume enhancement helps people who have lost fat in their face achieve a younger, healthier, and more rejuvenated look. Fat cells are removed from one area of the body (most often the abdomen, thighs, flanks, or buttocks) and injected into facial areas affected by loss of volume (cheeks, lips, and under the eyelids).
• Gracilis free muscle transfer — This procedure aims to restore dynamic smile function in people with flaccid paralysis or synkinesis who are outside the treatment window or otherwise not ideal candidates for nerve transfers. A small slip of the gracilis muscle is taken from the inner thigh and transplanted into the face in the same orientation as the major smile muscle. It is then connected to an artery, vein, and nerve in the face, such as a cross-face nerve graft, the masseteric (chewing) nerve, or a small branch of the functioning facial nerve. 
• Nerve transfers — Nerve transfers are typically done on people with flaccid facial paralysis to restore static facial tone or dynamic movement. The goal of a nerve transfer is to recruit an alternative source of neurons and reroute them toward the paralyzed side of the face to restore function. The three most common types of nerve transfers — 5-7, 12-7, and cross-facial nerve graft (CFNG) — refer to the kind of nerve connection options the surgeon can use to restore facial function.
• Physical therapy — Many people benefit from dedicated facial nerve physical therapy (PT) during the period of weakness following a facial nerve injury or for the management of long-standing facial synkinesis. PT can help address the discomfort, excessive facial tone, and discordant facial movements that many people with facial nerve weakness experience.
• Rhinoplasty — Also known as cosmetic nasal surgery, rhinoplasty reshapes the nose to correct deformities or improve its appearance. Nasal surgery can narrow the nose or reduce overall size, refine the tip, remove a bump, or straighten a crooked nose.
• Revision rhinoplasty — This procedure aims to fix failed cosmetic or functional (breathing) outcomes from prior nasal surgery. Surgery is individualized to the patient’s needs. Like any other revision surgery, revision rhinoplasty can be more complicated than the original operation and may take longer.
• Scar revision —Scar revision treatment can help camouflage an unsightly scar using a variety of techniques and, in some cases, more than one procedure. The goal of scar revision is to make your scar less distinct by blending it into your facial features.
• Selective neurectomy — Also called selective denervation, this procedure helps recover facial symmetry, balance the smile, and improve facial tightness and pulling in people with facial synkinesis. Using a nerve stimulator, favorable distal branches of the facial nerve are identified and preserved. The branches contributing to facial synkinesis are identified and clipped to ease symptoms.
• Septoplasty —This surgery is designed to enhance nasal breathing for people with a “deviated septum,” meaning their septum is off to one side inside the nose. Septoplasty straightens the nasal septum to correct chronic breathing problems caused by structural abnormalities within the nose.
• Static facial suspension — People with flaccid facial paralysis may have facial asymmetry at rest and complain of facial drooping. Static facial suspension aims to improve facial symmetry at rest by providing extra support to the affected side of the face. Typically, fascia tissue is taken from the outer thigh and fashioned into strips that are grafted to provide support to the drooping side of the face, sometimes with a permanent suture.
• Upper blepharoplasty — Also known as an eyelid lift, the upper blepharoplasty is a minor procedure to remove excess skin and contour the upper eyelid. It may be done for functional reasons to improve the person’s visual field, or for aesthetic reasons to lift the upper eyelids, improve appearance, and minimize signs of aging.