The Bulbous Nasal Tip In Rhinoplasty

Dr. Haworth of Beverly Hills gained much of his advanced experience as both a primary and revision rhinoplasty specialist back in the Middle East. He performed literally hundreds of nose jobs there on patients from all walks of life. One of the most common complaints there are boxy and bulbous nasal tips.

What constitutes a bulbous nasal tip?

The bulbous nasal tip is most likely caused by thick alar cartilages (see accompanying diagram)and/or alar cartilages that are splayed out instead of shaped in a neat triangular formation.

How does an experienced plastic surgeon correct the thick bulbous nasal tip during a nose job?

In my hands, I prefer performing a rhinoplasty utilizing an “open” approach because it affords me vital binocular vision so I can assess up to half-a-millimeter asymmetries that otherwise I would would be unable to appreciate utilizing a closed approach. The closed approach is one where the incisions are solely confined to the inner rims of the nostril, whereas an open approach utilizes the same aforementioned incisions in addition to a small hidden incision below the columella (that fleshy partition that separate the left and right nostril). The open approach allows me to see both the left and right nasal tip cartilages simultaneously so that any maneuver I would perform on the other can be immediately assessed with its opposite counterpart. Sutures are meticulously placed in a strategic fashion in order to change the shape of the cartilages from a round convex shape into more of a triangular one which, in turn, will translate to a more refined, elegant nasal tip. Think of assembling a ship in a bottle via strings, so to speak. The rhinoplasty surgeon cannot just bend cartridges, he must utilize sutures in order to shape them. This is part of the stock-in-trade of nasal tip/nasal cartilage manipulation.

Swelling of the nose may take many months to even a couple of years to fully disappear. This does not mean that the patient would not enjoy the effects of a rhinoplasty before then. It is just that the skin can remain slightly swollen for prolonged periods of time. The last area for swelling to dissipate is at the nasal tip area. So even though great of a 95% of my patients love their nose at the 21st day postoperatively, some will say that they would like their nasal tip to become further defined. I may either inject some Cortizone underneath the skin to turbocharge the swelling to go away quicker or just recommend patients. Sometimes that’s the hardest thing for inpatient to digest.

For more information, click here and here

See the following example:

Another example of an isolated bulbous tip with thin skin: