Revision Rhinoplasty

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am interested in revision rhinoplasty. With rhinoplasty surgery my surgeon shortened my nostrils, cut my hump on my bridge, and my nose tip didn’t cut at all, just is rotated upward. I need to know how to reduce with revision rhinoplasty that distance between upper lip and nose and the fat philtrum and how to narrow nose like it was before. Can nose be longer like it was before and narrow with all size. I’ve heard that by lengthening nose with cartilage graft, nose can get wider. I must say again, that I don’t won’t to go with a lip lift, just thinking about revision rhinoplasty.

A: No revision rhinoplasty can reduce the distance between the base of your nose and your lip. Only a lip lift can make that change. There is no procedure of the lip that can reduce or thin out a ‘fat’ philtrum. The only way to narrow the nostrils is by lengthening the nasal tip and this will require a cartilage graft to do so. But this will make the tip longer which may be an undesired aesthetic change. You may instead consider shortening the tip and use alar rim grafts to help wide the nostrils.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana