Addressing nostril size in one Rhinoplasty procedure?

The alarplasty (nostril surgery) can be done as an isolated procedure, but it is usually done at the same time as the remainder of the rhinoplasty to include reducing the bridge, size of the tip, and narrowing the nostrils. If it is obvious that the nostrils need to be done, it should be done at the same time... more

Many surgeons would be willing to perform all this procedures at one setting but your individual surgeon may have a different opinion about this due to concerns with blood supply to the tip being compromised. This will cary from surgeon to surgeon.

The portion of the rhinoplasty procedure you are talking about is called an alar base resection. It basically narrows or decreases the size of the nostrils. If I am 100% sure I need an alar base resection, I do it at the time of the initial rhinoplasty surgery. However, if I am the least bit uncertain if it is... more

Hi! You are probably a borderline candidate for nostril reduction, and your surgeon wants to see what you wil look like afterwards and decide if you really need it.  This is very reasonable, and I have done it myself a number of times. The nostril reduction alone is very simple surgery.

The beauty of surgery is that no two surgeons think and practice exactly alike. There is often no absolute right way of doing things and there are several ways to arrive at a satisfying result. However, this can also be confusing for you if you seek multiple opinions for your concerns. While some surgeons may... more

Hi N,It is not usual to perform rhinoplasty and wait for the nose to heal before re-evaluating the need for nostril narrowing. Especially if the nostrils are borderline. It is better to avoid an external scar and irreparable change if possible. You have chosen your rhinoplasty surgeon hopefully based on... more

 In general, all of the procedures that you describe can be preformed at the same time.  If you provide pictures of yourself, we may be able to give you more specific advice.  Good luck with your procedure.

I have been doing noses for over 30 years and do it all  in one operation. If at the end of the surgery, I am not sure if you need a nostril reduction, I won't do it. But 95% of the time we will do an alar base resection at the same time as the main surgery. The is something that the skill of the surgeon... more

It is possible.  A lot of surgeons are hesitant to do it at the same time as other rhinoplasty steps like tip refinement, hump reduction etc. The reason is two fold; 1. It can be hard to assess till the end of a rhinoplasty as to how much a nostril should be changed. 2. If an open approach is used, the... more

The idea is to respect the blood supply to the skin of the nose. When an open rhinoplasty is performed few of the blood vessels supplying the nasal will be divided to access the deeper structures. While the nostril excision procedure (weir's procedure) could be performed in the same time, I would still have to... more