My Nose Looks Larger After Dermal Filler of Nasolabial Folds

Rather than attribute this to an optical illusion, I believe that your interpretation of your before and after pictures warrants careful consideration and examination. Facial surgery or facial fillers can dramatically affect facial harmony and the relative proportion of one area with respect to another. Your assessment of the changes on your face are an exact representation of these changes, rather than an 'illusion.'
My advice would be for you to carefully review your before and after pictures with your physician and discuss the aspects of your facial proportions that you dislike. A skilled physician would be able to correct these anatomic subunits to acheive facial harmony.
Raffy Karamanoukian, MD
Kare Plastic Surgery & Skin Health Clinic Santa Monica, CA

When injectable fillers are used to treat nasolabial folds
the appearance of the nose can occasionally be affected. In most cases this
represents an optical illusion, but in some cases it may represent a real
phenomena.Injections
of the nasolabial folds can cause distortion of the surrounding structures for
a variety of reasons. In some cases deep injections of the nasolabial folds can
actually push the nasal base forward and ultimately increase nasal projection.
In addition injections in this area can obliterate the border between the nose
and cheek. This often makes the nose look larger as well.When
this situation occurs the clinical results and patient satisfaction rates can
be adversely impacted. Under these circumstances, it may be possible to reverse
hyaluronic acid products with the enzyme hylauronidase. When nasalabial folds
are treated with Radiesse or scultpra, it’s virtually impossible to reverse the
process.If you’re concerned about the
appearance of your nose after injectable filler treatment, consultation with
your physician is important. Your surgeon should be able to formulate a
treatment plan that addresses your concerns.

On the one hand, deep injections of the nasolabial folds may lift the nose away from the face by adding bulk beneath the nostrils thereby lifting the nose off of the facial skeleton and providing additional projection to the nasal tip. In some instances this is desireable and prevents or corrects a drooping nasal tip that is seen with and aged face. In regards to the nasal bridge, I am very puzzled by this because it is very far from the injection site and makes no immediate sense. I can only guess as there are some potential anatomic explanations but I must say that they are only theoretical and not widely accepted. There are blood vessels which travel from the jawine then up to and near the nostrils and end in the nasal bridge area called the angular vessels. Perhaps obstruction of these vessels could cause greater swelling but this is a highly unlikely possibility. You have made an unusual observation. There are some injectable agents i.e., hyaluronidase which could reverse some of the restylane or Juvederm but they would have no effect on the radiesse. I hope this helps.

Karen,
You have an unusual concern. Without seeing pictures, it is hard to tell for sure. Also, if you are using a pocket camera for the post-injection pictures, then these tend to make the nose look larger because of the angle of the optics with a small lens.
For pictures of the face, it is best to use an SLR camera, which will give much less distortion. As for the fillers, there are injections which you can have to decrease the Juvederm and the Restylane. There really is not much you can do about the Radiesse.
However, if it has been some time since your injections, then the original product is probably gone by now anyway. You might want to give your face a rest for awhile. Also, for your next treatment, you might want to consider fat injections. This is your own fat and you will not react to it like you may have to synthetic products.
I hope this is helpful.

Hi Kareni,
I have never had a patient who experienced your complaint with dermal fillers in nasolabial folds. I have seen swelling at the bridge of the nose with ill advised injections for the horizontal lines at the top of the nose. It is difficult to answer your question without seeing photos and knowing where and how much of the product was placed.
If this continues to trouble you, see a rhinoplasty specialist. Steven Pearlman, MD, and Norman Pastorek, MD are excellent nasal surgeons in New York City. Right here on this RealSelf answer are Dr.s Freund and Wallach whom you can consult with in person.
You are being truthful with us, because there was this patient named Pinocchio who..... Be well and good luck.
Dr. P

This very well may be an optical illusion.  Filler to this area does not effect the size of the nose unless it is some swelling.  As far as dissolving filler, yes this can be done.  I would return to the physician who last did your injections for evaluation.  There may be a very simple solution for this problem.

Thank you for your inquiry. Yourconcern is uncommon albeit interesting. Based on your post, you mentioned thatyou that you have had filler injection in the past years and from the firstinjection treatment, you already noticed that your nose seemed bigger thanbefore. Basing only from this statement, it is rather intriguing that your nosehas not gone back to its original size since fillers are only temporary and canbe gone in roughly a year after they are injected.
Having said that, dermal fillersgenerally used for improving nasolabial folds can sometimes affect the nose. Sometimes,it really is only an illusion, but at times it can also be a real issue.Nasolabial folds fillers can at times distort the surrounding structures on thearea for several reasons one of which is the nasal base being pushed forward.Moreover, filler injections in this location can eliminate the cheek and noseborder making the nose appear larger.
If your nose size concerns you greatly,you may need to consult a board certified plastic surgeon immediately. Yourdoctor can help assess the situation as well as create a treatment plan toresolve or manage the issue. I cannot provide a more detailed plan for thissince there are no pictures to look at as well as no other information toanalyze.  

I certainly agree with the possibility of optical illusion. The visual perception in humans has been known by artists for centuries and studied in depth for more than a century. Yet,  many do not consider its effect.
To explain the best I can imagine that you fill the area that creates shadows (nasolabial folds) and eliminate this visual distraction. You will see that anything of prominence in this region becomes visually more significant, more visible. One can not simply  escape this illusion although many may not understand it. If you, for example, decrease the volume of prominent calf muscle then your leg will appears longer; you simply eliminated the horizontal distraction. If the tip of one's nose goes down, as it happens with aging, you may perceive this as elongation of the nose. Our visual perception will alert us to changed proportion of the face with lower face "contracting" rather than being partially obscured by lower position of the tip. 
In summary, unless there is a true swelling due to filler injection, the perception of larger nose may be an optical illusion. If it bothers you it can be dissolved, preferably step by step, until it looks acceptable to you.

The nasolabial area is one of the most common areas of injection on the face to remove the smile or marionette lines.  However, if too much product is injected into this area then you can indeed raise the nasal area and change the facial proportions.  I would suggest you return to your treating physician for Hyaluronidase injections to dissolve the Juvederm or Restylane that was injected.  For the best cosmetic results please consult a board certified dermatologist with a great deal of experience with facial fillers.

Karen,
At the risk of cliche, I must first assume that you have had your injections performed by a board certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist. If not, it is conceivable that your injecting physician may be placing the product in the incorrect location. This would explain a widening of your nose. If the product is injected too deeply, it could also conceivably migrate up to the nose. The effects of swelling may also be contributing to the distortion. At any rate, the hyaluronic acid injectables (Restylane, Perlane, Juvederm) can be dissolved with an injection of hyaluronidase (Wydase). Alternatively, they can be massaged frequently, which might hasten their dissolution. Good luck!