Increasing the length of a congenitally short nose (Photo)

Hello and thank you for your question and the pictures. You actually have a difficult problem. To properly address your nose and improve your facial balance, you would need an open septorhinoplasty with lengthening of your nose to improve the overall harmony of your different facial features- I would need to place multiple grafts to address both the length and projection of your nose. This would also allow for any other potential refinements to the size, shape, and definition of your nose.

This truly a surgery of millimeters- and whether you're looking for a minor adjustment or a major transformation, it requires exceptional surgical skill to achieve natural-looking results! Because your nose is the DEFINING feature of your face- I would only recommend seeing a surgeon who specializes in rhinoplasty procedures, and who has significant training and experience performing these surgeries. I actually trained under one of the world leading rhinoplasty experts (who performs 1,000+ nosejobs annually).

I recommend for you to setup a formal consultation with me (or another plastic surgeon who is extremely comfortable with rhinoplasties) to thoroughly discuss your surgical goals, undergo a formal examination, evaluate your options, and develop a personalized plan just for you. I hope this helps!

Dr. Donald Groves
Aesthetic Plastic Surgeon

We do not utilize septal extension crafts in our practice, however, they may be employed for adding length to a congenitally short nose, and also for adding nasal tip projection. Based on your photos, you appear to have a wide nasal appearance, with an underprojected nasal tip. I believe you would benefit more from nasal tip projection then from nasal lengthening. Please consider visiting with several reputable rhinoplasty specialist who are familiar with advanced rhinoplasty techniques so you could see what to expect moving forward. Thank you for this question. Sincerely, Dr. Joseph

If you do not like the distance between the nose and upper lip then you would benefit from a lip lift, not a rhinoplasty. A lip lift does 4 things: shortens the distance between your nose and upper lip, increases the mucosa of the upper lip, increases the incisor show and pulls up the corners. This takes 1 hour to perform under local anesthesia and costs $3,000.

Best Wishes,

Gary Horndeski, M.D.

Thank you for your query. A septal extension graft as well a cartilage tip graft will increase the length of your nose. A shortening of the upper lip, that is the distance between the lip and the nose does not pull the nasal base down, rather it lifts the upper lip., and hence will not be very useful. Please find an experienced board certified Plastic surgeon who can examine you and help you with all your concerns. All the best!

Hello and thank you for your question. Based on your photographs, tensioning the tip is critical to provide tip support, tip derotation, and tip refinement. Tip derotation can be achieved with use of extended spreader grafts. With good surgical technique, you could have an outstanding result. I recommend that you seek consultation with a qualified board-certified rhinoplasty surgeon who can evaluate you in person.

Best wishes and good luck.

Richard G. Reish, M.D.
Harvard-trained plastic surgeon