Long before the rest of us, Conrado Estrada had been accustomed to wearing face masks.
The 57-year-old painter and construction laborer’s nose had gotten so bulbous that he had problems eating and breathing, but he decided to cover it nonetheless.
“They would stare at me,” the Portchester, NY resident told The Post. “Children would ask their mothers what happened to me — and I would get around it by using a face mask all the time.”
His oversized nose could not only be a cosmetic annoyance, but it could also block breathing, create snoring, and just get in the way.
“It had reached my lips,” he explained, “and whenever I took a bite, it would touch the spoon.”
Friends and relatives can now see Estrada smile now that the mask and his nose are gone.
It all started with an accidental encounter with Dr. Thomas Romo, director of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital.
When Estrada arrived at Romo’s home in Bronxville with a paint crew about five months ago, Romo told The Post he was “sort of excited” to meet him.
This was a bad one,” he said of Estrada’s “proboscis,” which appeared as if he had “a penis on his nose,” according to Romo’s description. “It was a smoldering infection … and it would have just kept going.”
As soon as he saw Estrada, he couldn‘t resist pulling him aside.
“I don’t mind telling people what I think,” Romo admitted.
Estrada had been suffering from rhinophyma, which had left him with a deformed nose, for years.
Because of increased sebaceous (oil) glands, people with this condition have thicker, pimpled, and pitted skin near the tip of their nose.
Though it’s been classed as a type of rosacea, an inflammatory skin illness, the etiology of the disorder is uncertain.
“I had spent six years seeing doctors and skin specialists and nothing would get better,” Estrada explained. Rhinophyma does not respond well to treatment. Surgery was the only method to reduce the size of Estrada’s nose in extreme situations like his.
Rhinophyma is rare, and almost exclusively affects men. It often develops during midlife,and if left untreated, it can grow uncontrolled.
“I hadn’t seen a rhinophyma in maybe 20 years,” said Dr. Romo, who performed Estrada’s operation.
“This has to be affecting his life,” Romo thought, “his relationship with other people … and his ability to get work, and [his] self-esteem.”
Normally, Romo does ”pro bono” work through his Little Baby Face Foundation, whichprovides surgery to underprivileged children with facial deformities. He added that “not many people know how to fix this,” and health insurance will not necessarily cover the procedure.
“He saw me, and he gave me a hug,” Estrada told The Post. “He said, ‘I’m going to help you.’ ”
Estrada was in the operating room within a few days of signing the paperwork. Now, it has been close to four weeks since the surgery and he is back at work and living his life.
Romo said, It’s not just the shape of his face that’s changed, “You’d think he won an Olympic gold medal,” he described. “Chest is out, face’s out, he’s a smiley guy. I feel great for him!”
Confidence makes “a better and more productive person in society,” said Romo. “I’m doing everything I can to help my community. I want this community to flourish.”
Estrada said the reaction from loved ones has been “enormous.” He told The Post, “I believe God sent an angel to take care of me — and that’s how I see Dr. Romo.”
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