I Have Thin Nostril Rims And Weak Lower Lateral Cartilages, What Can I Do To Firm Up My Nose?

To strengthen the lower part of the nostrils, additional cartilage support is required.

The most common grafts would include lateral crural strut grafts (using septal cartilage to support the lower lateral cartilage), and alar rim grafts which are very thin grafts placed at the margin of the nostrils.

Hope that helps,

-Dr. Asaria

Like many patients of African descent, your nose has softer, broader cartilages.  This contributes to a wide tip and hanging tip and columella.  The line you see in your columella is a shallow vertical cleft between the inner edge of your two tip cartilages.  Structural grafting in rhinoplasty can serve to add support to strenghten your nose while changing the shape.  Cartilage grafts could be used to add support to elevate the tip and columella and strengthen the lateral (side) wall of the tip.  A thin camouflage graft could be used to efface the cleft in the columella.  Depending on how you feel about your flared nostril, a reduction could reduce the prominance of the flare. 

Rhinoplasty for the African-American nose such as yours involves nostril narrowing, alar rim grafts, elevation of your hanging columella, refinement of the tip cartilages an an increase in tip projection. This needs to be done by an experienced rhinoplasty surgeon who has done many African-American noses!