Rhinoplasty Options for Wide Nose Bridge?

A wide nasal bridge may be from just that, wide nasal bones. The nasal bones make up the upper third of the nose. However if the nasal bones are very small, as is common in African American noses, narrowing them often has little effect. Sometimes actually raising the profile of the nose by adding what is called a dorsal graft can make the bridge appear narrower. The rest of the nose can be made more slender as well yet not sacrifice ethnicity.

Dear Kendra, thank you for your inquiry and photos you attached. You are a good candidate for close rhinoplasty without no columellar incision.Regarding your photos you have wide nasal bridge and bulbous nasal tip .You may benefit from alar base reduction and tip definition also nasal bridge reduction can be performed.
I wish the best for you.

An open rhinoplasty can be used to narrow the bridge of your nose.  If you narrow the bridge, it might be a good idea to mildly reduce the tip and bring in the nostrils so that your nose stays proportional.  Making the bridge smaller than the rest may not look good.  If you're curious about how it would look, see a african american rhinoplasty specialist in your area that has the Vectra 3D imaging system that allows you to see what your nose can look like after surgery with or without any changes to the tip and nostrils.  Hope that helps!

The bridge, or dorsum, of the nose is made of a combination of bone and cartilage. The ratio of bone to cartilage varies from person to person and will be identified by the surgeon. In order to narrow the nose the sides are cut and moved closer towards the center. In patients who have a large hump, the hump is lowered before the sides are cut. In patients where the bridge is still too low after cutting the sides, additional cartilage is used as grafts to be added on top of of the bridge in order to raise it up. The skin is the final tissue that will contribute to the final effect. Thin skin will show more definition, thicker skin will make it more difficult to see detail. Thick skin over the dorsum will always make it look a bit wider. 

Hi Kendra,
There are some options regarding a wide nasal bridge. The bridge is made up of bone at the very top of the nose and cartilage in the middle part of the nose. Usually, with a wide nasal bridge, the bones are broken in a controlled way and pushed together. However; if the bridge is wide and flat the best option is to place a graft over the bridge and raise the height making it look narrower. The grafts can be synthetic material or they can be make from your own cartilage. 
Hope this information was helpful,
Mehdi Sina, MD

African American frequently desire rhinoplasty to create a thinner nose, especially along the nasal bridge.  There are a variety of techniques to thin a nose including:
1. Osteotomies- narrowing nasal bones.  This is typically the case where the bones are wider along the nasal cheeks and require further narrowing.
2. Augmenting the bridge- using cartilage to make the nose appear thinner.  Placing a thinner piece of cartilage along the bridge can make it appear thinner can improve the dorsal aesthetic line.  Some surgeons will use nasal implants which are artificial, however there is still controversy with the use of artificial nasal implants such as silicone or gore-tex.  I prefer the use of autologous cartilage from either the inside of the nose or ear or rib.