Does removing a dorsal hump on a thick nose result in a wider appearance from the front?

Thanks for your question. It is important to understand that every case is different, and it is impossible to comment on the possible outcome of your nose without photos. A great Board Certified Plastic Surgeon can create a great plan for a patient's nose. Assuming you will go in for consultation with a plastic surgeon, it is important that you address your concerns and ask what techniques your surgeon will use to avoid a widened appearance of your nose. All the best,Dr. ResultsMiami, FL

Thank you for your question.  This is certainly an issue with dorsal hump take-down that must be accounted for if you expect a good result.  I have provided a link that explains this phenomenon as well as the technique that skilled surgeons use to avoid a wide nose.  Choose a skilled rhinoplasty specialist in your area who can walk you through the process of getting the nose you are hoping for.  All the best!

This is a great question and an important thing to consider when one seeks hump reduction rhinoplasty.  Yes indeed there is a tendency for greater width with reduced height (lower bridge).  There are 2 main reasons for this.  First, the nose sits on the face like a triangular pyramid.  With hump reduction, the top part of the pyramid, which is the narrowest part, is removed, leaving behind a wider surface.  Secondly, the skin of the nose may thicken if there reduction exceeds the limit of the skin's ability to shrink and contract and drape over the lowered bridge.  If this happens, the skin envelope can thicken and also increase width.These issues can be offset in the hands of a skilled rhinoplasty surgeon.  For example, the nasal bones can be cut and brought inward to compensate for the first issue above.  The skin thickening can be avoided by good judgment--reducing only to the appropriate level based on the patient's skin characteristics.If the surgery is planned well and executed skillfully, in most cases the patient can have the best of both worlds--an improved profile and a narrow sleek frontal appearance.

This is an excellent question and one that is often not discussed enough. Patients that have a tall overprojected bridge with a bump typically have a narrow defined front view.  They often like their front view but hate their profile. When the bridge is reduced typically as discussed by other surgeons the bones are narrowed at their base  ( where they join the cheek) this helps narrow the nose again from the front view. The top part of the bridge will however look less defined and slightly wider to some degree. This is usually in fact a positive change as it draws more attention to the eyes and makes the nose look softer and less prominent. The degree to which the bridge narrows depends on how the skin contracts after surgery. In general thicker skin will not contract as well as thin skin.  It is sometimes better to leave a taller bridge in patients with thick skin to preserve a a more defined front view. In your search for a surgeon review their before and after photos and in particular look at the front views in patients that had a large hump removed. Try not to focus on the absolute width of the bridge before and after but whether or not you like the overall change in the look and prominence of the nose from the front.

Dorsal hump takedown can make the nose look wider if osteotomies are not done. It should not make it look wider.  It may look wide initially due to swelling.

The dorsal hump is composed of bone bone and cartilage and it must be shaved down in order to remove it. After the hump has been removed during the surgery, an open roof, flat top nasal deformity is temporarily created. Osteotomies of the nasal bones are then required to close the open roof and narrow the bridge line. A very experienced rhinoplasty surgeon can accomplish narrowing a wide bridge line, or widening a narrow bridge line, depending upon the presenting anatomy. For many examples of narrowing a wide nose and widening a narrow nose, please see the link and video below  to our closed rhinoplasty photo gallery

This is both a great question and a common concern for many rhinoplasty patients who are interested in having a prominent dorsal hump removed. The truth is that removing the dorsal hump actually results in a narrower nasal bridge but, because the dorsal hump is typically visible as a thin ridge from an anterior view, the removal of the hump can subjectively lead to the impression that it has become wider. Although this seems paradoxical, it becomes easy to understand once you look at what a dorsal hump represents and what changes occur in attempting to correct it. The dorsal hump is formed primarily by a very prominent nasal septum. As you might already know, the nasal septum is the thin dividing wall that separates your right and left nostrils. The septum is a key structural portion of your nose and it serves to support your nasal dorsum. However, when the septum is too large, it can affect the shape of your nasal profile. In addition to the septum, a dorsal hump also includes the junction between the nasal bones and upper cartilages of the nose, and this area has quite a bit of significance as it represents the co-joining of all three major supporting structures of your nose (labelled as the "keystone" area by many). When viewed from the front, the hump is prominent as a thin ridge of tissue, mostly because it is primarily made up of the septum. Because of this, the nasal dorsum can appear as being very thin when in reality the rest of the nose is of normal or even longer width. When a surgeon removes a large dorsal hump, s(he) essentially cuts off the excess septum and bone/cartilage of the keystone area. When this is done, it leaves something known as an "open roof deformity" that represents exactly that, a nasal dorsum without a roof. In order to correct that, the rhinoplasty surgeon has to break the nasal bones in (imagine tilting the walls of a roofless house inwards to close the roof). When that is done, the nasal dorsum often becomes narrower, which is something that is usually sought after by both the patient and surgeon and therefore not problematic. So, you can see that even though removing the nasal hump actually makes the dorsum thinner, because the prominence of the hump is removed it can actually appear as if the nose is wider. To what degree your nose will "widen" following hump reduction depends on the size and prominence of the septum and in the hump. Ideally, your surgeon can offer you preoperative morphs that can illustrate the expected results. I recommend that you seek the recommendations of a local board-certified rhinoplasty surgeon for further information. Best of luck!

When a hump is removed, the nose IS wider, hence the need for osteotomies, to narrow the nose by moving the nasal bones closer to midline.Sometimes, there are incomplete osteotomies which result in less than ideal width. However most specialists can get a complete osteotomy.