True Story: This Guy Has a Nose Growing Out of His Forehead on Purpose

When a friend of mine, who dabbles in improv comedy, posted this story on Facebook earlier today, I was certain it was of the Onion variety. But then I saw the link went to ABC News and I was all, “Um, what?!”

Because the story, my friends, is about a guy in China who lost his nose to an severe infection and who, subsequently, is having a new replacement nose grown on his forehead. Like, directly out of the front of his head. In other words, there is a nose in the middle of this guy’s forehead.

And based on this quote from a Johns Hopkins expert, it sounds like the procedure isn’t all that uncommon. Or at least, to those in the medical community, it isn’t particularly surprising.

Dr. Patrick Byrne, the director of Facial, Plastic and Reconstruction Surgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, said forehead skin is used to help reform noses because it is the closest match to skin on the nose. However, usually the nose is reformed during surgery instead of on a patient’s forehead.

“My guess would be that they felt that the tissue in the nose was so damaged they had to use the forehead skin on the interior part of the nose,” said Byrne. “It’ll be a real nose and [have a] breathing passage way.”

Check out photos of the forehead nose here.

Photo: Shutterstock