High-tech treatment uses 3D printer to cure Long Island woman's migraines

NEW HYDE PARK, Long Island (WABC) -- A revolutionary treatment on Long Island is helping to cure one woman's chronic migraines.

It turns out the cause of her problem was something she least expected, and the solution was a new nose, courtesy of a 3-D printer.

If it's possible to hold your nose and breathe easier, Amanda Faraglia and her doctor have figured out a way.

"They took 3 pictures of me, I go in 2 weeks later, it's like my face is in my hands. It was really cool!"," said Amanda.

Her plastic surgeon at Northwell Health used a 3-D printer and figures to assist in Amanda's recent rhinoplasty.

The beauty is, a patient can hold their before and after in their hands.

"Because it really improves patient communication because they're able to see where they are, and where they're 're able to feel that," said plastic surgeon Dr. Neil Tanna.

And the doctor says the implications for this technology are amazing.

Within about a month he plans on using it for breast reconstruction patients as well.

In Amanda's case the surgery was far more than cosmetic. She was having blinding headaches.

"Turns out it was a lot more than I thought it was," said Amanda. "I had a fracture here, there was a deviated septum on both sides. None of this I ever knew."

"So you had a fracture? Do you know where that came from?", we asked.

"Yes, when I was a toddler maybe like 2 or 3, I hit my face on a flower pot," she said.

She just thought this was her nose. Now all the physical problems that went with it are gone, and for her surgeon..."As the nose is undergoing change, we can look back at where we started from and where we're going," said Dr. Tanna.

A new tool for a tangibly better outcome.