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Would Alar Base Surgery be enough to fix my nose? (Photo)

WaitUntilOct 21, 2022
I dislike how my nose looks, probably because of the flare at the nostrils. One side is worse than the other. When I smile, my nostrils go up to the sides and make my nose look like an arrow. I think it makes me look mean. Would alar base surgery make my nose look better and would it change the tip of my nose at all? It's more the flare of the nostrils that I don't like, not really the rest of my nose.

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Dr. Andrew Miller, MD
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Answered on Oct 23, 2022
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Dr. Ronald J. Edelson, MD
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Dr. Robert Ciardullo, MD
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William Portuese, MD

An alar plasty simply narrows wide nostrils by making an incision at the base of the nostrils themselves and removing a small wedge of skin. This can be performed under local anesthesia Due to the dorsal hump that you have, a full rhinoplasty would be required, not a tip- plasty. A full...

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David M. Kowalczyk, MD, MBA, FACS

Hi there! Making nostrils bigger after an alarplasty is difficult but not impossible. It often involves adding material back which was removed. This can be done via composite grafts from the ears. Getting the nostrils to look exactly the same as before is unlikely, but improvements can be made....

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Robert Ciardullo, MD

Can alar plasty change the length of long nostrils? when a person has a long over projecting tip with long nostrils, it is not the long nostrils making the tip long it is the long over projecting tip making the nostrils long. Simply doing an alar plasty will not reduce the projection of the tip....

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Stephen J. Pincus, MD

My approach to a conservative alarplasty usually involves a few steps. I do not do all of these in every patient, if I am convinced on examination that one would work. Having said that, the first step would be to consider freeing the soft tissue of the lower one half of the nose from its bony...

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David M. Kowalczyk, MD, MBA, FACS

Hi there! Yes, there are ways to improve the position of the ala. An alarplasty wouldn't be my first thought based on your complaint. I would attempt small cartilage pieces under the base of the ala which can move it downward. A crescentic wedge excision under the nostril base to move the...

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Robert Ciardullo, MD

One sided alar plasty: if one nostril is larger at the base then the other it is theoretically possible to do a one sided Alar plasty to reduce the width of the base of the larger nostril. This is possible if the only discrepancy is the width at the base. If the shape of the nostril is different...

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