What Type Of Rhinoplasty Do I Need For My Asian Nose?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am interested in changing the look of my nose. I am Asian and my nose looks too much like a button on the end. I would it to be slimmer. I have attached some pictures of my face. What type of rhinoplasty do you think I need or would be helpful to achieve this goal?

A: Your nose has many typical Asian features marked by a short columella and broad tip with thick skin. There is no definition to the tip which I assume is what you mean by a button tip. But the shortness of your columella has also created a nasolabial angle that is less than 90 degrees. This magnifies the ‘button’ appearance of the tip of the nose and certainly make it look flatter. This could be improved by a rhinoplasty that reshapes the tip through a columellar strut graft onto which the lower alar cartilages can be reshaped. This would help open up the nasolabial angle and provide a little bit more length to it. This would produce tip narrowing and elevation, effectively changing the flat and wider tip to a more shapely one. The thickness of your nasal skin will limit how much narrowing can be done but improvement can certainly be obtained. I have attached some rhinoplasty predictive imaging of the front and side views to illustrate these potential changes. These are provided with the understanding that they are predictions and not guarantees of the rhinoplasty outcome.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana