The Answer to a Bulbous Nose: Tip Rhinoplasty By dsherris on May 15, 2015

A young woman with a perfectly shaped nose after tip rhinoplasty Nose reshaping surgery, clinically known as rhinoplasty, is a procedure that can bring the nose into improved harmony with surrounding facial figures, giving the patient a more symmetrical and balanced overall appearance. Rhinoplasty is one of the most versatile and customizable procedures in plastic surgery; it can be performed to make a prominent nose smaller and to make a disproportionately small nose more prominent. It can be used to flatten a hump on a bridge or to widen a base that is too narrow. Quite often, the procedure is performed to correct the appearance of a bulbous tip, through a technique known as “tip rhinoplasty.”

Tip rhinoplasty, as performed by Buffalo plastic surgeon David A. Sherris, is a safe, effective procedure that has helped hundreds of his patients feel more comfortable and confident in their own skin. If you are dissatisfied with the appearance of your nose due to a bulbous tip, he would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and explain how you might benefit from tip rhinoplasty, too.

Reasons for Seeking Tip Rhinoplasty

One of the most common reasons patients turn to Dr. Sherris for rhinoplasty is that the tips of their noses are rounded and ill-defined, rather than sloping gently to form a triangular shape with soft angles. This round shape is caused by the malformation of the lower lateral cartilages within the nose. The wider and rounder these cartilages, the more bulbous the tip of the nose. This causes the tip of the nose to be significantly wider than the upper part of the bridge, when it should ideally be only slightly wider than the upper part of the bridge.

Tip rhinoplasty can improve the appearance of the nose by narrowing the lower lateral cartilages and improving the definition of the tip.

Tip Rhinoplasty Techniques

There are several techniques available for performing tip rhinoplasty; Dr. Sherris carefully evaluates the patient’s nose to determine which technique is most appropriate in his or her individual case. While it may seem that tip rhinoplasty would always involve the removal of cartilage, this is not necessarily the case. The technique known as cephalic trimming, in which small amounts of cartilage are carefully removed from the upper edge of the lower lateral cartilages, is the oldest method of performing tip rhinoplasty, and it is still appropriate in certain cases. However, more conservative techniques in which no cartilage removal is needed are generally preferred whenever they will yield good results. These techniques include:

Reshaping with sutures: Permanent sutures can be used to bring the lower lateral cartilages closer together, narrowing the tip and improving the definition of the nose.
Cartilage grafting: By strategically placing cartilage grafts in the lower lateral cartilages, Dr. Sherris can alter the contour of the cartilages, thereby narrowing the tip of the nose.
Fat removal: If the fat pad that exists between the skin of the nose and the cartilages is too thick, it can be trimmed during rhinoplasty to improve the appearance of the tip.