Can the Sides and Base of my Nose Be Made Narrower And/or Thinner?

The base of the nose, nostrils or ala can be made to be both narrower and have less flare.  That can be done as part of a primary rhinoplasty or even under local anesthesia after the primary rhinoplasty has healed and swelling has gone down.  It is usually reserved for patients with excessively large or flaring nostrils which doesn't seem to be the case from your photos.   I would hold off on judging how small, narrow or thin your nose is for now because at 3 weeks you are definitely still swollen.  The majority of the swelling will be gone by 6 weeks but some changes in the skin particularly at the nasal tip may not be apparent for even up to a year. 

There are procedures available to make your nose thinner and narrower, including your alar base. From your pictures, it seems that you are still swollen and recovering. I would advice against doing anything before six months after your surgery, sometimes even a year. Allow for the swelling and scarring to settle down, then reevaluate yourself down the line.

The skin along the ala can thin out over time.  The surgery itself causes inflammation when you separate the skin from the cartilage.  It is still very early how much the skin will thin out, but I would be patient.  it very difficult to get an exact amount of skin to be thinned out, usually we remove some fat from the underneath the skin layer and let the forces of healing do the rest.  Some people just have thicker skin and it can be hard to it to thin out in a reliable fashion because everyone heals differently.  I would just wait and see what happens when all the swelling comes down, it is still very very early in your healing process.

 

Best,

Nima Shemirani