How to Reduce Length of Entire Nose?

The answer is definitely yes- the length of entire nose can be reduced. It is usually easier than elongating the noose. Too bad you did not include a photo of your nose with your question.   Please schedule a consultation for rhinoplasty with a board certified plastic surgeon. Many offices provide a computer program based simulation to allow patient to see possible final results of the procedure. Patients are really thrilled knowing what they can expect. During the consultation you will be able to discuss how the procedure is done and  your recovery time.

There are a variety of shortening the nose during rhinoplasty.  It generally involves removing excess cartilage a nasal lining in a specific fashion depending on each individual case.  I often over correct slightly, as the nose will often drop back down to some degree.  An experienced rhinoplasty surgeon will know how to deal with it.  Good luck!

The first question is to see if your long appearing nose is really too long or if there are factors that make it appear long. This refers to the concept of the "balanced nose" where the relative proportions of the nose including it's projection from your face, the point from where it comes off of the forehead, the angle of the dorsum, the lip to nose angle and tip projection are important factors. There are different strategies to a "bulbous tip". Small changes can add up to a pleasing result without things looking operated on. Discussing your aesthetic sensibilities and doing a good image analysis is key to helping to understand your goals and develop an treatment plan. We have the new Vectra 3D imager to assist in accomplishing this. 

Reduction of the long nose can be done by shortening and not ROTATING. An experienced rhinoplasty surgeon knows how to do this.

Dear ygraine,

Yes, the nose can be shortened from both the bottom and the top

It can be done in a way that looks natural and balanced

A consultation will be able to answer all of your questions

Best regards,
Nima Shemirani

Yes, it is possible to reduce the nasal length. The radix can be lowered to lower the starting point of the nose between the eyebrows. The tip can be deprojected or the tip rotated somewhat to further reduce the overall nasal length.

The simple answer is: yes, it is very possible to correct a long nose without making it appear upturned.  

Without photos it's difficult to say ways to specifically reduce the length of your nose, but in general there are a number of techniques available.  Lowering the radix and/or dorsum (bridge of your nose), deprojecting the tip (pushing your tip closer to your face), and rotating the tip of your nose (turning the nose up slightly) are some of the ways that this can be achieved. 

There are several maneuvers that are used in rhinoplasty surgery to reduce to overall length of the nose.  There are also several maneuvers that can give the illusion of reducing the length of the nose.  None of these should result in an upturned nose if done correctly.

If you have a bulbous tip, you will need some tip work to be done and this can  reduce the length of the nose without rotating the tip up.  

There are certainly options available to achieve the result you seek.  A consultation with a  board certified surgeon should get you on the right path.

Douglas M Hargrave, M.D.

It is possible to reduce the length of the nose without turning up the nasal tip. We suggest simulation studies so you can finetune the description and pin down the 'look' on your photos.

 Because of the complexity, Aesthetically of the nose, it's best to provide photos for evaluation so everyone is on the same page.  Noses appear elongated when the nasal tip is under-rotated from the aesthetic ideal of 105 -110 degrees.  This can be addressed during Closed Rhinoplasty, if other attributes of the nose are to be refined, or with an isolated procedure that manipulates the anterior septal cartilage.  An up-turned (appears shortened) nose will have an over- rotated nasal tip with an angle greater than 115 degrees.  Hope this helps.