Changing the Nose – Nostril Size

By Rhinoplasty and Revision Rhinoplasty Specialist Dr. Michel Siegel, Houston, Texas Plastic Surgeon

Nostrils vary in shape and size. It is very hard to change the shape of the nostrils, but the size can be made proportional to the rest of the nose during rhinoplasty.

To better understand this, let’s look at a normal nostril size on this woman’s nose.

We have colored the nostril green and the columella in purple. On this nose the size of the nostril and the size of the columella, are about the same size. Her nostrils look proportional to her nose. Now let’s see how the appearance of the nose changes as the size of the nostril gets bigger.

These photos show the progression in nostril size. The red arrows show the height of each nostril. In most noses the columella is about 3-5mm in height, what varies is the size of the nostril. We can see that in all these noses the columella are about the same size, but the nostrils get bigger. As we compare the 2 pictures on the right to the left one, we see that the two noses on the right do not look natural.

There are many reasons why this disproportion may be present. It is important to identify it and corrected during Rhinoplasty, so the nostrils and the columella are about the same size and give the nose a natural appearance.

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