How to Correct my Drooping Nose Tip?

If you're a woman, an attractive angle between your nose and upper lip may be between 95 and 100 degrees. In our practice, we do not cut the depressor septi muscles. Droopy nasal tips are typically addressed by reconstructing the alar tip cartilages for a more pleasing appearance. We also add support to prevent drooping with a columellar shoring strut that may be custom carved from your septal cartilage. Hope this helps. Dr Joseph

It’s virtually impossible to make a specific recommendation in this particular case without pictures or a physical examination. For this reason, it’s important to consult a board certified plastic surgeon who can perform a comprehensive evaluation and formulate a treatment plan.
                In general terms, droop of the nasal tip can occur for a variety of reasons. In this particular case nasal drooping appears to be associated with smiling. When this type of animation deformity occurs it’s usually always related to muscles that insert onto the nasal tip.
                Under these circumstances, division of the depressor septi muscle can result in significant improvement. In some cases support of the nasal tip with cartilage grafts may be necessary as well. When these steps are taken clinical results are excellent and levels of patient satisfaction are high.

Hello,The good news is that is there is a relatively simple and extremely safe approach to correcting this with our scarless technique.  The key is to rotate the nose upwards and prevent the excess pulldown when smiling. We utilize multiple maneuvers to carefully rotate the tip of the nose to lift it to an elegant height and design without any telltale signs of surgery. By doing this via a scarless (closed) approach, there are no external cuts ever on your nose.  This prevents the dreaded complication of external scarring at the base of the nose, which even if rare, if it occurs, is devastating.  Through a scarless approach you can accomplish almost everything needed to be done to the nose with no scarring, less healing time, less bruising, and less swelling. Consult with a board certified facial plastic surgeon for an in person consultation. All the best, Deepak Dugar, MDScarless Rhinoplasty ExpertBeverly Hills, CA 90210

Thanks for the great question! Correcting a droopy or hanging nasal tip can result in a significant improvement in overall facial aesthetics. Cutting the depressor septi muscle during rhinoplasty can help in some patients, but this is not the primary issue for everyone. In a lot of cases, the septum is too long and it forces the tip downward. The septum can be trimmed and/or the tip cartilages can be rotated back and attached to the septum. These techniques result in rotation of the nasal tip upwards relative to the lip.

The depressor septi muscle can be easily clipped at the time of the rhinoplasty surgery. When successfully clipped, the tip will no longer drop when smiling after the surgery. This is commonly performed and has no consequences to it.

A nice alternative to try before surgery is a small injection of Botox. A skilled physician who understands Botox and facial anatomy can put a small amount of Botox into the muscle and this can give you the "fix" you are looking for before turning to surgery.

As a facial plastic surgeon, I can recommend rhinoplasty as the more permanent alternative. Of course, cutting the muscle is one option but muscles do heal. There are pros and cons to putting a cartilage graft to elevate the tip. It really depends on your individual nasal tip. Factors like skin type, shape of your nasal cartilages, septal deviation can all play a role. You can try the Botox and schedule your consultation with an expert.

The anatomy in siblings will not be exactly alike. What worked for one might not be the right thing for the other. Rhinoplasty is a very complicated operation. If you doubt what has been recommended to you, I would speak to other rhinoplasty experts before deciding.
Post photos and we can offer more advice.

Cutting or removing the depressor septi muscle is one of many techniques used to decrease a droopy tip.  However, often that by itself is not sufficient.  Cartilage grafts and repositioning of the tip may be needed. You need to be examined by a rhinoplasty expert.  Your nasal tip may actually need to be rotated up a bit.

To answer the question of how to best treat your droopy tip, I'd have to see you or pictures of the nasal tip on profile, front and from below the nostrils looking up...both at rest and when you are smiling.  Droopy nasal toips can be from:


Enlarged upper lateral cartilages literally pushing the nasal tip doen (tension tip)

weak nasal cartilage that lacks the proper support and so it sags

a full angle of the anterior septum causing the nasal tip to point downward giving the illusion of drooping

any combination of above with active nasal muscle


To plan the best course of action during a Rhinoplasty one must first have a thorough evaluation, of the nose, to plan the appropriate corrective measures.

Cutting the depressor muscle does help to inhibit tip drop with facial animation, as you saw with your sister. Discuss this again with your surgeon. Interrupting the muscle is an easy, minimally invasive procedure. The placement of cartilage at the end of your septum (we call this a strut) will help support the tip. If you're happy with the position of your tip when not smiling, this may not be necessary.