Barsky Nasal Rasp, Straight Reverse Cut

What a Barsky nasal rasp is

There are two Barsky rasps and they are bought for different parts of the same face. The glabellar pattern is curved and works on the brow ridge. This one, the Barsky nasal rasp, is straight and works on the bony dorsum, the stretch of nasal bone between the root and the cartilage. Ordering the wrong one is the commonest mistake made against this name, which is why the first table on this page is about that choice rather than about sizes.

What defines the pattern is the reverse cut. The teeth lean back toward the handle, so the face removes bone when it is drawn toward the surgeon and skates when it is pushed away. That one decision sets the whole feel of the instrument, and it is the reason surgeons who like it tend to like it a great deal.

Key design features

The reverse cut

On the draw the working force runs back out of the nose. On the push it runs along the nasal bone and into the root, which is the direction a green stick fracture likes to travel. A reverse cutting face makes the safe stroke the working one and turns the return into a free repositioning move, which is why a surgeon can stop a pass halfway through and reassess.

A straight shank

Straight keeps the whole instrument in one line, so there is no twisting moment at the wrist and nothing sits between the hand and the bone. It is the right choice when the dorsum is exposed and the handle has room. Through a narrow closed incision the curved Barsky is the one that reaches, because a straight handle fouls the nostril rim.

Cut teeth, and the job they are for

Machined teeth remove bone far faster than any bonded grit, which is what a hump reduction needs. They also leave fine ridges, and under thin dorsal skin those show within a year. A toothed rasp is the first instrument on the bone and never the last.

The handle

Flat and wide, held in the palm rather than the fingers. On a draw stroke the grip does less work than on a push, and the handle is sized so the face can be kept at a constant angle through a long pull without the hand tightening.

Which Barsky to order

Two Barsky rasps, two jobs. We carry no length or width options against either, so this is the only decision that has to be made.

Where it is used

A straight reverse cutting face has a narrower brief than the general purpose patterns, and that is the point of it.

What it abrades, and what it must leave alone

The draw stroke ends outside the nose, which is exactly where the skin is, so the last line of this table matters more on this pattern than on a forward cutting one.

How it compares with the other finishing surfaces

Reverse cut is the choice that defines this instrument, so the comparison worth reading is against the other three directions rather than against other surgeons’ names.

Materials and finish

Every Barsky nasal rasp we make is cut from high quality medical grade stainless steel. The steel itself is made to a German specification. We do not publish a grade number, because the number on a certificate tells a surgeon nothing about how an abrasive face holds up after fifty autoclave cycles, and the answer to that is in the finish rather than in the alloy.

Teeth are machined into the face rather than applied to it, so nothing is bonded and nothing can shed into the wound. The body is passivated and satin finished so it throws no glare under the light. A steel toothed rasp does not fail, it fades: the tips go round, the face stops cutting cleanly and starts skating, and that change in behaviour is the signal to replace it rather than any change in appearance.

Caring for it

Rinse it before the case is cleared. On a reverse cutting face the debris packs against the side of each tooth that faces the handle, which is the side a brush misses entirely if it is worked in the wrong direction.

Brush along the teeth in the direction they lean, which on this pattern means toward the handle. Soft nylon only, never wire. Enzymatic cleaner, ultrasonic cycle, deionized water rinse, dry fully, autoclave at 134 degrees Celsius. Store it with the face clear of other instruments.

Ordering and wholesale

The Barsky nasal rasp is made in our own workshop and sold direct, which is why the price sits where it does against the catalogue houses. Order one for a single set, or in quantity for a hospital list or a distributor line; we do OEM work under your own brand and your own item numbers, and we will hold a run to your pattern rather than ours if you send a sample. Stock items ship from our own workshop. Backorder items take 10 to 12 working days to make. Every instrument carries a three year replacement warranty against manufacturing defects. Production is controlled under an ISO 13485 quality management system.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Barsky nasal rasp used for?

Removing a dorsal hump and refining the bony bridge of the nose in rhinoplasty. It is a straight, reverse cutting rasp, so it takes bone off as the surgeon draws it back out of the nose, and it is a reduction instrument rather than a finishing one.

What is the difference between the two Barsky rasps?

Where they work. This one is straight and works on the bony dorsum, the bridge of the nose. The Barsky glabellar rasp, AO-12.09, is curved and 18cm and works on the brow ridge and the nasal root above it. They are not substitutes for one another.

Why is the Barsky nasal rasp reverse cut?

Because the draw stroke sends the working force back out of the nose rather than up into the root. It also makes the return stroke free, so the surgeon repositions without removing anything, and a pass can be stopped partway through in a way a push cannot.

Can this rasp be used through a closed approach?

It can, with less room than a curved pattern gives. A straight shank puts the handle near the nostril rim, so through a narrow incision the curved Barsky or the Aufricht will reach more comfortably. Through an open approach the straight shank is the faster instrument.

Does it need a finishing rasp after it?

Yes, if the skin over the dorsum is thin. Cut teeth always leave fine ridges, and on thin skin those become visible over the first year. A diamond coated face takes them out in a few passes.

Related products and categories

The rest of the named nasal rasps: McIndoe nasal rasp, backward cut straight for the same draw stroke on a different pattern, Maltz nasal rasp, 7.5mm wide when a hump has to come down in narrow strips, and Aufricht nasal rasp, three cut directions for a curved shank that follows the dorsal line.

The family is in raspatories and saws, and the procedure tray in rhinoplasty instruments.