Thick Nose Skin or Excess Cartilage?

Assuming you have not had nasal surgery in the past, your nose possibly has a combination of both.
Feel your ear and you can feel the cartilage, now feel the cheek. You can tell the difference between both now.
It will be easy for a rhinoplasty surgeon to tell by examining if you have a combination of both thick skin and excess cartilage or more cartilage than skin. In either case your nose can be improved by surgery.
Regards

Optimal results for rhinoplasty surgery are dependent upon an accurate assessment of the patients anatomic deformity.  This requires a physical examination by a surgeon with experience in this area.  In most cases a relatively accurate assessment of the nasal anatomy can be made prior to surgery when patients have prominent nasal structures.
            Unfortunately, even when an experienced surgeon examines a patient, it can be difficult to distinguish thickened nasal skin from excess cartilage.  Under these circumstances, appropriate adjustments can be made in the operating room to optimize the surgical result.  When these steps are taken clinical results are excellent and levels of patient satisfaction are high.   

The way to tell the difference between thick skin and cartilage on the nasal tip is to perform a physical examination and feel the actual cartilages themselves. Sometimes it is very difficult to tell, but an experienced surgeon will be able to make the differential diagnosis. Performing a rhinoplasty on thick skin can be challenging since it will completely blanket and cover the new cartilaginous framework of the nose making it difficult to determine an excellent result from that.

During your consultation, we can usually tell by examining you what your actually anatomy is-- this is relatively straightforward. Different skin types also tend to have different levels of thickness and quality, but whether or not you have significant cartilages can also be determined at the time of your exam.

In general, individuals of darker skin types usually have thick skin and wide cartilages in the tip of the nose. This is only a generalization.
Other individuals may have a variety of thicknesses of skin and cartilage. The best way to determine this is to undergo an examination by a plastic surgeon. Sometimes pinching the skin can reveal just how thick it is. Determining the quality, size and shape of the cartilages takes much more experience and practice.

The relative thickness of the skin of your nose, along with the underlying cartilage can be examined, and properly identified by an experienced, board-certified rhinoplasty specialist.
If you'd like to change the appearance of your nose, make sure to see many photos demonstrating favorable results before moving forward.
I hope this helps, and best regards.

 He can tell by examining your nose if you have thick skin and or cartilage responsible to a large tip. Look at good before/after photos of his work since that is the type of nose he does.

A trained rhinoplasty specialist will discuss your anatomy as well as what contributes to the overall size and shape of the tip of your nose. He/she can also discuss the best ways to treat both thick skinned noses vs. thick cartilage; they are different.

Hi,
Without an examination by a surgeon, it's hard to determine exactly if what you are seeing is thick skin or cartilage in the nose. However, if you have prominent pores on your nose, chances are the skin is thick. Similarly, darker skin, as in African-Americans and Middle Easterners, tends to be thicker on the nose. Caucasian patients are more likely to have prominent cartilage if they see fullness on the tip of the nose. Keep in mind that these are generalizations only and may not apply to you. The treatment for both cases is very different, so be sure to visit a surgeon who is experienced in rhinoplasty. Good luck.

The distinction of thick skin vs. thick lower lateral (tip) cartilages should not be your major concern. You should focus on picking an experienced plastic surgeon and discuss with him/her what nasal feature you would like to see improved or refined.
A rhinoplasty surgeon would readily determine this for you and based on YOUR wishes will use the surgical techniques best suited to shape the nose accordingly.
Personally, I like the patient to bring in photographs of noses he/she likes AND hates. That gives me a clear idea of what you may be looking for. I also have you analyze your own set of pre-operative photographs -- asking you to be "the surgeon" and modify the nose to your liking.
Based on this information, I would then suggest to you which surgical techniques may be most likely to produce the results you seem interested in.