My Nose Expands and Looks Really Big and Flat when I Smile. Is There a Way to Fix That Without Losing Its Character? (photo)

Dear Hanne91;

Your nostrils are quite wide and the overall width of your nose, compared to the entire width of your face, is rather significant.  Smiling probably makes it worse because the cheek muscles pull the wings of the nose up and out to further widen the nose.

If your bridge is low, you may be well served by having the bridge improved either using natural tissue or an artificial bridge.  And there may be a place to narrow the floor of your nostrils.  Likewise, the tip might stand a little narrowing.  However, none of those things will prevent the nose from widening with smile.  Remember, other people have a problem where the tip of the nose depresses with smile; that is correctable.  Unfortunately, one cannot sever or paralyze the muscle that tend to widen the nose when smiling. 

Robert Kotler, MD, FACS
Facial Plastic Surgeon
Author, SECRETS OF A BEVERLY HILLS COSMETIC SURGEON
Author, THE ESSENTIAL COSMETIC SURGERY COMPANION

Great question. There are a lot of muscles on the face that are involved in smiling, and some of those muscles also connect to the sides of the nose. Therefore, when we smile, it pulls the nose up and outward, and every nose gets wider when the person smiles. Some get wider than others, and some of that depends on the laxity of your skin, cartilage, width of the nose, etc. From the photo it appears that you have a wide alar base. This is something that could be corrected surgically if it is particularly bothersome to you, but I would discuss your goals with a plastic surgeon and see if he or she thinks it's possible to give you the outcome you are seeking.
-Dr. David Mattos, New York Plastic Surgical Group

Hello,I saw your picture and although they are only a representative of what I may see in person, I think you have to be careful in making changes to your nose. It is a part of your body that is a focal point on appearance but caution needs to be taken in that changes that may affect the appearance can have consequences in function such as breathing and smell. Smell is a function that can affect taste. Many techniques that are used by surgeons to narrow a nose both at the tip and nostril tend to reduce the free flow of air through the nose. An expert rhinoplasty surgeon with significant experience can give you the best functional and aesthetic assessment of your situation and give you the most accurate expectation of results should you pursue surgery. Thick skin does not lead to fine detail in the tip area and nostrils can look unnatural if a routine alar wedge is removed.  There are techniques that can be performed to improve these areas without an unnatural look.