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Why should people never get a turbinate reduction during nose surgery?
Turbinates are small flaps inside the nose that warm and humidify air before it reaches the throat. Having them reduced permanently impairs that function. Shani Suissa, who underwent the procedure herself, strongly urges people to never agree to a turbinate reduction — and points to her own lasting breathing difficulties as proof of the consequences.
Turbinates are bony, shell-shaped structures lined with soft tissue inside the nasal passages. Their role is to create turbulent airflow — hence the name — that warms, filters, and humidifies incoming air before it travels down the throat and into the lungs. They are not cosmetic structures. They are functional ones, and their loss is not reversible.
Turbinate reduction is often offered as a routine add-on during rhinoplasty or septoplasty. Surgeons may frame it as a way to improve airflow through the nose. But as Suissa explains in Habits and Hustle, the reality of life after the procedure is very different from the pre-surgery pitch.
The damage is not temporary. Suissa still experienced visible swelling two years after her nose surgery — confirmed by her own dermatologist during a laser facial appointment. Her breathing difficulties persisted well beyond any normal recovery window.
A procedure sold as routine — with consequences that are permanent
The central problem with turbinate reduction is that it removes tissue that cannot grow back. Once that warming and humidifying function is compromised, the nose can no longer condition air the way it was designed to. People are left with a nose that looks different on the outside and works worse on the inside.
This is a point Suissa raises with direct personal authority, discussed openly in this episode of Habits and Hustle. She did not learn about the long-term risks from a brochure. She lived them. Her experience also included a septum perforation — a large hole that developed in her septum following the combined rhinoplasty, septoplasty, and turbinate reduction — which required additional corrective surgery.
The broader warning here is not just about turbinates in isolation. It is about the gap between what a surgeon presents as a minor procedural addition and what the patient experiences for years afterward. As covered more widely in Habits and Hustle, the normalization of cosmetic surgery has made it easier to say yes to procedures without fully understanding what "yes" means over time.
"If you are pretty before, you're going to be pretty after. If you're ugly before, you're going to be uglier with a tighter face after. It's not going to change what you are."
Shani Suissa — Co-host / Friend and Foil, Habits and Hustle
Suissa is a recurring co-host on the solo episodes of Habits and Hustle, where she serves as host Jennifer Cohen's self-described "friend and foil." Approximately two years before this episode, she underwent a rhinoplasty, septoplasty, and turbinate reduction. The procedures left her with a septum perforation requiring corrective surgery, as well as persistent breathing difficulties she traces directly to the turbinate reduction. She also had direct, close-range exposure to a lower facelift outcome through her hairdresser — giving her a grounded, experiential perspective on cosmetic surgery that goes beyond the before-and-after photo.
See also
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Key takeaways
- Turbinates perform a critical function — warming and humidifying air — that cannot be replicated once the tissue is removed.
- Turbinate reduction is often presented as a minor add-on to rhinoplasty, but its effects on breathing can be permanent and debilitating.
- Suissa's breathing difficulties persisted more than two years after her procedure, confirmed independently by her dermatologist.
- The procedure was part of a surgical combination — rhinoplasty, septoplasty, and turbinate reduction — that also resulted in a septum perforation requiring corrective surgery.
This answer comes directly from Episode 580 of Habits and Hustle. Hear Shani Suissa walk through her full experience — in her own words.
Listen to the episode on Listenly