Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I've heard that T can affect the bone and cartilage in the nose but I was wondering how true that is and to what extent it actually does affect the nose.

When I was a kid I broke the bridge of my nose in an accident that involved a baseball bat to the face...
The doctor set it and it healed but there was some excess bone growth from calcium deposits. Thanks to the fracture I've always had breathing problems and the shape of my nose is a little off. It's not very noticible but I've always wanted to get it fixed. Every doctor I talked to though told me to wait until I was at least in my twenties and knew that my nose wouldn't be growing or changing much anymore before having any kind of surgery otherwise there would be a risk of it continuing to grow and look mishapen later. Now that I'm old enough I finally have a consultation with an ear nose and throat surgeon in a few weeks to see what can be done about correcting the breathing problems and the shape of my nose. I don't think they'll do much with the cartilage, probably just chisel off some bone here and there, but I'm not sure what the whole process entails. Since I plan on starting T one day I'm worried that if I do have the surgery to correct the shape of my nose the effects of T will just change it again.

I could always just have the surgery done to correct my breathing problems but it would be nice to get it all out of the way at once since that option is actually available. Plus if I do get it done all at once, it'll all be covered by insurance whereas if I ever wanted to fix the shape of my nose later it would probably be considered only cosmetic surgery at that point and I would have to pay out of pocket for it.

Has anyone experienced something similar to this or had their nose change shape due to T?

Not very likely, both FtM and MtF get facial changes due to fat and muscle changes, fat in FtM and muscle in FtM mainly, but not changes in bone.

I would get the surgery for breathing and ask for a nose job at the same time.

It won't do anything to the bone structure but it may affect the cartilage over a long period of time. Old dudes often have bigger noses and ears, which I presume is due to testosterone (although maybe not).

(I just checked... yes it happens to both men and women, but more so in men - no apparent connection to testosterone though)

Some say it does change in some guys, others say it's impossible. All I can do is tell my experience. My nose got wider. I don't know if it actually did get wider or if testosterone changes in my face just caused it to look that way.

That's a good question. I have a deviated septum due to soccer balls. Maybe one day I'll get it fixed so my nose doesn't run as much.