Asian Rhinoplasty

No two Asian noses look alike, but there are three themes that are usually present: (1) the nasal dorsum, also commonly referred to as the “bridge”, does not project from the face adequately: (2) the tip of the nose is overly rounded ,ill-defined, and underprojected: (3) the nasal base surrounding the nostrils is too wide. The extent to which these features exist vary from one individual to the next.

When the nasal dorsum is lacking height, it can be augmented in various ways with multiple materials. Although Dr. Okamoto uses the patient’s own cartilage for most other nasal areas, his favorite choice is a dorsal silicone implant, which comes in various sizes, and does not extend down to the nasal tip. A popular “L-shaped” implant exists for Asian rhinoplasties that stretches from the bridge to the tip, but, for reasons explained during your consultation, this type of implant is avoided.

An Asian presenting with a poorly defined, underprojected, rounded nasal tip, is a rhinoplastic challenge. When these circumstances exist, cartilage is taken from the nasal septum and used in multiple patterns to reformulate the nasal tip, almost always through an open rhinoplasty.

Overly-wide nasal bases require removal of part of the nasal base. Since this will always create external scars in this region of the nose, the cosmetic benefits for narrowing a nasal base must exceed the disadvantages of causing visible scars.