A nose too many for MJ

‘‘What he’s done is to go from a Negroid or black nose, which is round and broad and flat, to a Caucasian nose that’s narrow and projecting,’’ said Harvey Zarem, a former chief of plastic surgery at the University of California.

‘‘To do that, you have to put cartilage or silicone or bone in the nose like a tent stake to make the nose stick out. But when you do that enough, the cartilage or silicone or bone pokes through.’’

After so much work, can this nose be saved? Never say never, say doctors, especially about the king of Neverland. ‘‘If what is protruding is artificial material such as an implant, the treatment of choice would be to remove the implant, let the nose heal and reconstruct it later with some of his own tissue, such as cartilage from the ear or bone from the rib,’’ said Bolton.

Edward Domanskis, a Newport Beach plastic surgeon, agrees. ‘‘Short of wearing a prosthesis, which maybe he even does now and that’s why he covers his face with a mask (Jackson entered the courtroom with a surgical mask, then removed it before taking the stand) you could take tissue from the forehead or the back of the ear to build up the area. But I don’t think he wants that.”

Most surgeons say that without a code of ethics, it’s difficult to know when to refuse a request for more surgery. Domanskis believes that drawing a line with some patients is particularly difficult.

Jackson ‘‘probably should have stopped three or four noses ago. But there are enough plastic surgeons out there who are going to feel special if he goes to them for a do.’’ (LATWP)