How successful are bulbous tip reduction procedures?

When noses appear to look ‘ball like’ at the tip, i.e., too round and bulbous, this can be disconcerting. Most bulbous tips are due to excess cartilage (the lower laterals) but very thick skin can also contribute. (We can usually identify an ancestor with a similar nose so this is not due to something the patient has been doing to cause it.)  With a carefully designed surgery, precise reduction and/or grafting techniques, adequate time to heal (more than 1 year often) and realistic expectations, most patients see a satisfying improvement in the appearance of their nose following tip rhinoplasty. 

Hello and thank you for your question. Some patients with bulbous tips may benefit from a tip refining rhinoplasty. Your surgeon can
accomplish this by trimming, suturing, and reshaping the cartilage in your
lower nose. Cartilage grafts may also be used to help improve tip refinement.
Swelling can take up to one year to fully resolve.  The most important aspect is
to find a surgeon you are comfortable with. I recommend that you seek consultation
with a qualified board-certified plastic surgeon who can evaluate you in
person.
Best wishes and good luck.
Richard G. Reish, M.D.
Harvard-trained plastic surgeon

A rhinoplasty procedure can accomplish reduction of the bulbous tip with a combination of suture techniques and conservative cartilage removal. Occasionally a cartilage graft is also required. The limiting factor on bulbous tip reduction is the presence of thick skin in the tip area. In many instances when patients have thick skin in the tip of the nose, that represents more of the width of the tip than the cartilages themselves do. For more information, diagrams and many examples of bulbous tip  reduction, please see the video and the link below