I’ve been meaning to write a short article on the subject of cleft lip nasal molds for a while now, but I’ve had so much going on that I’ve put pen to paper a few times and then cut it off a few times. Recently, I received a commission from Mr. Admin to write an article on cleft lip nasal mold, and it seems to be too urgent to delay any longer. The cleft lip nasal mold we are talking about here is not an implantable prosthesis for cosmetic rhinoplasty, but a finished silicone support for shaping and adjusting the nasal cartilage, nasal vault, anterior nostril morphology, and nasal base of the cleft lip nasal deformity. The application of cleft lip nasal mold has a history of more than ten years in developed countries, especially after the change and affirmation of the concept of one-stage revision surgery for cleft lip and nasal deformity, the role of cleft lip nasal mold becomes more important. However, at present, the cleft lip nasal mold is still an unfamiliar thing to most of the clinicians and patients in China. In order to ensure the effect of the nasal morphology after cleft lip surgery, we should understand the cleft lip nasal mold, and this is the purpose of my article to introduce the cleft lip nasal mold. A cleft lip nasal mold is a medical silicone product based on the normal shape of the nasal vestibule, which is worn after cleft lip nasal deformity surgery to induce the normal development of the external shape of the nasal vestibule. Its role is mainly as follows: 1. During the revision of cleft lip nasal deformity, extensive separation will be done between the nasal cartilage and the skin, and the purpose of the separation is to make the misplaced tissues reattach again in the normal position. During the operation, we will make suture fixation at some important points, and the application of cleft lip nasal mold can stabilize the effect of reattachment after correction. 2.The liner of cleft lip nasal mold can make the widely separated cavity between the nasal cartilage and skin eliminated, in order to avoid too much hypertrophy of the nasal vault in the future. 3.The shape of the nasal cartilage in cleft lip nasal deformity is not arched like that of a normal child, and it is mostly flattened. In the early stage of the child, the nasal cartilage is plastic. Using this physiological feature, the application of cleft lip nasal mold can make the original flat nasal cartilage into an arch with normal curvature. This is especially important because the curvature of the nasal cartilage has a significant impact on the shape of the nose, and it is very difficult to change the curvature of the nasal cartilage by surgery later. 4, we in the cleft lip nasal deformity of the second stage of plastic surgery, occasionally found some patients with the affected side of the dorsum of the nose development is very small, this problem is very tricky to solve, so far I do not have any good way. The support of the cleft lip nasal mold can increase the area of the dorsum on the affected side, which may have a preventive effect on the occurrence of this situation. 5. We know that the surgical scar at the base of the nose is more obvious, and the closer the base is to the nasal columella, the more obvious the scar is. The cleft lip nasal mold is a kind of silicone product, and the silicone itself has a role in inhibiting the growth of the scar. 6, for hidden cleft lip infants, in the child’s pre-surgery period of the newborn began to wear, can be in to the collapsed side of the nose to play a supportive role, adhere to wear, can improve the nose of the raw L shaped. The use of a cleft lip nasal mold is a special, hand-off process between the doctor and the parents. The doctor has to choose the right size for the child, teach the parents how to use it, and the parents have to come back to the doctor after a period of time at home to see if the cleft lip nasal mold still fits and needs to be replaced. …… This process can take up to a year. It is important to choose the size of the cleft lip nasal mold. The right size is the one that should feel slightly tight when the mold is put in. There are more than a dozen models of cleft lip nasal molds ranging in size from small to large. The doctor has a cleft lip nasal mold set that allows the doctor to use one of the models in the set to try on the child and choose the one that is currently the most appropriate. The cleft lip nasal mold is not used as soon as the cleft lip surgery is done, but should be supported by a medicated gauze wrapped tubular support for the first two days of the surgery. The cleft lip nasal mold is actually in better shape, so why not use it? Because just after surgery, the wound will ooze, and silicone products do not have micropores, which is not conducive to wound recovery. Generally, you can start to use it on the 3rd day after surgery, and after that, you can take it off and clean it once a day. Nasal molds can be taken off and cleaned every 4 hours and rested for 30 minutes before removing the stitches, and then continue to use it on the next day after removing the stitches. When you first start using the nasal mold, it is recommended that you put ointment on the mold before you wear it. After 2 weeks after surgery, when the nose wound has fully recovered, you can use baby oil or petroleum jelly as a lubricant. It is recommended to wear the nose mold with the narrow side facing up and the wide side facing down. It is important to put the entire nose mold in so that it holds the shape of the nose beautifully. Your baby will be uncomfortable and may cry when wearing it for the first time, but every baby is different and needs a period of adjustment. The longer the nasal mold is used, the better, but it still depends on the parents’ care and the child’s cooperation. The wearing time is usually 6 to 12 months. Generally speaking, children will start to move the nasal mold and refuse to wear it around 9 months to 1 year old. However, most children can wear the mold until they are about 1 year old, and it has been found that the nostrils change the most around the age of 1 year, and if they don’t continue to wear the mold, the nostrils on the affected side will begin to collapse, and the deformity will become more severe. Therefore, it is very important to wear the mold consistently. During the period of wearing the nasal mold for cleft lip, the size of the mold will need to be changed. Between the first lip repair surgery and the age of 1 year, the size of the mold will need to be changed to a larger one, probably about 2 times, and each time, the size of the mold will not necessarily be increased by one size, but may need to be increased by 2 to 3 sizes. It is important to note that the main purpose of the nasal mold is to support the shape of the nose, so it must be the right size, too big or too small will not be as effective as it should be.