Options For Making my Wide Asian Nose Smaller? (photo)

Hello,

  Alar base reduction can be performed in the office with minimal recovery time required. 

  A better question to ask is if this procedure would meet your expectations and provide you a change with which you are happy.  To begin with, you have a very well contoured nose that balances with your other features.  I do not think anyone here would suggest that it is a big nose or “ruining your face”. 

  One thing to consider is that if you only narrow your nostrils it will make the tip of your nose proportionately larger.  The best way to evaluate the nostril-to-tip ratio is using a photograph of the base view, basically the camera is positioned under your chin and pointed upwards towards the nose.  During a consultation, a surgeon with image-enhancement software could demonstrate exactly what your nose would look like if only the nostrils were reduced in size.  If you are happy with the changes, great, if not you may consider recontouring the tip of your nose as well.

Hope this helps.

An alar base modification would
help improve the balance of your nose, as would some tip refinement. A
subtle dorsal augmentation would help make your nose appear more
"narrow", while still maintaining a look that is 100-percent you.

Looking at computer-morphed
images with your surgeon during consultation will give you a good idea of what
is possible, and also give you a great chance to convey to your surgeon what
you envision.

From your photos it looks like you are a candidate for alar base excision to narrow your nose. As some of the others have mentioned another way to narrow the nose is to build up the bridge, which can be done at the same time. Improving the overall projection of the nose would also make it look less flat.

You are a good candidate to have alar wedge reactions to narrow the base of your nose. This is a fairly smile procedure and can often be accomplished under local anesthesia in less than an hou, assuming no other work needs to be done on your nose.  The key element of alar wedge resection in experience and artistic sense on the part of the surgeon. Ask to look at some photos of patients who are similar to you so you are confident the surgeon understands what you want to achieve.

When a patient has a low bridge, the nose can look particularly wide. By building the bridge up with cartilage from the ear or an implant, the bridge of the nose will look narrower. Once the upper portion of the nose is set, I look at the tip.The tip of the nose in the picture looks like it needs support and narrowing. Because of the increased width between the eyes, narrowing the base of the nose may not be necessary for many asian patients.

Pinching the nostrils together narrows the nostrils but also gives your tip more projection, since the tip invariably gets pushed upward during the process of manipulating the nostrils with your fingers. In contrast, surgical narrowing of the alae will not alter the nasal tip. To achieve a desirable result, you would need to narrow the nostrils as well as surgically addressing the nasal tip to give more projection in the tip.

Asian rhinoplasty often involves augmentation of a flat nasal bridge with a silastic implant to increase dorsal height and create the illusion of a narrower nasal base.  Another common technique for Asian rhinoplasty is alarplasty, which is done to narrow the nasal base.

This is a common request from Asian patients and can be successfully performed to achieve the results you are seeking.

These photographs are not ideal for evaluating your nasal base. Nonetheless, it appears that the tip lacks definition. It is possible that tip plasty may improve the appearance of your nose: if the projection and definition are improved, you may not need reduction of the base.

Hi FlatNose,

First off, you're nose fits your face fairly well.  Here's what I think:

1.  You could use an alar base reduction but make sure the incisions are on the inside of the nostril, not cut on the outside and don't shorten the ala.  Simply reduce the width of the alar base.

2.  You will want to match the nasal tip with your new alar base but make it subtle.  You need a very conservative tip rhinoplasty to make your tip just a little less round.  This can be done without making cuts on the outside of the nose and your should heal in about one week, though you'd be a little swollen for about 2 weeks.  You can google endonasal rhinoplasty and tip refinement and your should find a lot of information.

But please be conservative!  You already have a very pretty face.  Don't do anything too drastic and see several surgeons.  

Best of luck

Chase Lay, MD