Do Asians have a lot of fat in the nose tip? What are the disadvantages of defatting the nose tip?

Do seek the opinion of a less famous plastic surgeon... fame is never a good friend of excellence in the medical practice.

Making generalizations about a nose based upon ethnicity negates the individuality of each nose.  Areas can be defatted, cartilage can be molded and removed, and cartilage grafts can be added for refinement.  Find a
board certified plastic surgeon who has performed thousands of
these procedures and has hundreds of pictures and reviews. Kenneth Hughes, MDBeverly Hills, CA

Defatting the nasal tip is one way to improve refinement of the nasal tip.  The other is to use cartilage grafts.  It sounds like your surgeon has a good approach planned for you.

Hello,Along with possible defatting, a stable and strong cartilage structure needs to be assembled using septal grafts sewn into position on your native tip cartilage.  This will give your tip shape and strength.  The defatted skin can re-drape over the new cartilage complex and give the tip a more refined look.Best of luck!

Dear katrinawang,In general, the skin can be slightly thicker in Asian patients compared to other ethnicitiesYou can defat the tip, but this should be done conservatively If too much soft tissue is removed, you can affect the lymphatics (which are the vessels that drain swelling in the nose) leading to very minimal change in the definition of the tipInstead, I agree with Dr. Reinstadler, augmenting your framework to push up against the skin will give you the best definitionBest,Dr. Nima

Asian rhinoplasty often involves slight thinning of excess fat in the tip but this is not a large amount. Cartilage is often used to add definition to the tip. Seee a very experienced rhinoplasty surgeon who does natural noses you like.

 Asian noses tend to have thick dermis and  thick skin, not true fat in the nose. The cartilages of the nasal tip also are very thin. The majority of the bulbous component of an Asian nose has thick skin, not cartilage. For that reason, cartilage grafts are frequently used to give added structure to the nose

Everyone's nose is a little different. Asian noses are generally different in many ways compared to a Caucasian nose. Flat GlabellaLow Dorsum Thick Skin (especially the tip)Weak lower cartilagesSmall septumShort noseRetracted columellaThick alar lobulesAlong with the thick skin, the Asian nasal tip has a fat pad. Defatting is one technique to make the tip smaller. By itself, it has little effect because you still have thick skin in the tip. It's more important to create projection to refine the tip. Think of the skin on the tip of the Asian nose is like a balloon. When you just remove fat, the balloon deflates. It's smaller, but less defined. When you build up the structure to push the tip out from your face, it stretches the balloon, creating a refined tip. Be aware that this makes for a stiffer nose.Asian rhinoplasty is challenging. I encourage you to bring up your questions with your surgeon.

Your question would require an in person examination for a concrete answer. in general, Asian noses are less projected and the cartilage can be a bit less supportive. Many times there is no need to thin the skin in the tip if you can augment the underlying cartilage sufficiently. Again, I would recommend visiting with a few surgeons and see what they recommend after an in person examination. Best of luck

Nasal fatty skin is not uncommon and can benefit from both tip support with cartilage grafts as well as nasal tip fat removal; the latter has to be done cautiously as to avoid devascularizing the tip skin. Please see example below. BTW who is your famous surgeon?