Rhinoplasty and Soft or Hard Cartilage - How Can You Tell?

While an skilled surgeon who examines many noses over many years will have a better context for making this determination, you can also get a sense of your cartilage strength with a simple test.


lightly push on the tip of your nose at its exact highpoint. Make sure to push it towards your face.

Look at your columella (the skin separating the nostrils) and see if it bends or simply shifts.

Also, try to appreciate if the nasal tip resists this retrodisplacement.


If your tip feels stiff to the tough and the columella bends significantly, then your cartilage is likely strong.

If your tip feels sot and the columella just slides back towards the face, then it is probably soft.

Best of luck

Firmness of cartilage is important, but, as a patient, your most critical analysis is which doctor to choose.  Rhinoplasty is one of the most frequently revised procedures.  Do not worry as much about the technical considerations as the final outcome.  In LA, you can visit dozens of good plastic surgeons at no cost.  So, I would do so and gather as much info as possible.  This will all contribute to your decision making.  I know of no home test to guage the hardness of cartilage and its contribution to your outcome.  Each surgeon is different.  Some use ear cartilage, some septal cartilage, some rib cartilage, and some, none.  You real concern is the final outcome, which is technician dependent.  Good luck in your decisions.

Jason Hess, MD

This should be of no importance to you the patient. It is the job of an experienced rhinoplasty surgeon to get good results from all different types of noses. Spend time picking the surgeon and the kind of noses he does than the type of cartilage you have,