Narrow Nose

A narrow nose is generally seen as narrow when looking front on at a person’s face. Patients complain of a nose that looks too narrow less commonly than a nose that is too wide. Sometimes a nose becomes too narrow after a rhinoplasty procedure. Commonly a narrow nose can also have a narrow internal airway.

When we assess the nose front in front we firstly look at the brow tip line on each side. This should be a smooth, graceful and uninterrupted line extending from the eyebrow to the nasal tip. A pinched middle third or lower third will often be revealed.

Brow-tip line

It is also useful to compare the width of the nose (measure at as the distance between the sides of the nostrils) to the width of the eyes. The nose should be about one fifth the width of the face.

The face can be divided into vertical fifths which should be approximately the same width

The most common narrowing of the nose is the middle third. This can very effectively be widened both for cosmetic and functional purposes by spreader grafts.

Spreader grafts