In short. How to look at your own base in a mirror and in front and profile photographs, name what you dislike in your own words, and arrive prepared.
Key points
- Two photographs tell you more than a mirror does.
- One straight on, one at a true side view, both with the head level, the camera at eye height and the light even.
- In the front view, read the base against the width of your cheekbones and jaw; in the profile, read the nose as a line from the forehead to the tip.
Most patients arrive with a feeling about their nose and no words for it, which turns the first half of the appointment into translation. Naming what you see is not the same as deciding what to do about it, and a patient who can do the first gets more out of the second.
Look at the parts, not the whole
Stand at arm’s length from a mirror, with the light from the front rather than from above, and look at four things in order. How far the nostrils turn outward instead of facing forward: that is flare, and it lives in the rim. The distance across the outer edges of the nostrils, which is the width of the base. And the strip of skin running from the nostril towards the upper lip, travelling straight down or slanting outward. That last one is the sill, and it is the component patients most often miss.
The front and profile pair
Two photographs tell you more than a mirror does. One straight on, one at a true side view, both with the head level, the camera at eye height and the light even. In the front view, read the base against the width of your cheekbones and jaw; in the profile, read the nose as a line from the forehead to the tip. If the base looks wide while the profile line looks low or flat, the two readings disagree.
Separate the base from the rest of the nose
Cover the lower third of the nose in the front photograph with a finger, then uncover it. If the nose still reads wide with the base hidden, the base is not carrying the impression and narrowing it alone is unlikely to satisfy you. Then cover everything except the base, and ask whether the strip that remains is what you dislike. Patients who find the base alone looks unremarkable have learned something valuable.
Name the complaint, leave the plan alone
Write down what you would change and what you would keep, in plain words: the nostril edges sit too far apart, the base looks heavy from the front, the sill runs outward. Do not write a technique, or a target taken from someone else’s photograph. Bring the photographs and the written description. That is enough for a surgeon to start from.
Do not conclude these from a photograph
- Whether your airway can afford narrowing: the inside of the nose is invisible in every photograph.
- Whether the width is at the base, the bridge or the tip: a single view can make any of the three look responsible.
- Whether your skin will scar well: thickness and pigment behaviour are an examination finding, not a visual one.
Bringing a named complaint rather than a request for a specific operation is the most useful thing a patient can do. It is also what makes an honest no possible, because a surgeon can answer a description of your nose in a way that a request cannot be answered.
Frequently asked questions
What should I look at first when I examine my own nose?
The distance across the nostrils rather than the nose as a whole. Look at where the outer edge of each nostril sits relative to the inner corners of your eyes, and at how much the nostrils turn outward rather than forward. Those two observations separate a flared rim from a broad floor before any clinician sees you.
Are selfies useful for this?
Rarely, because a phone camera held close distorts the nose and changes the relationship between the base and the rest of the face. Photographs taken at a distance, in even light, with the head level and the camera at eye height, are far more informative. Bring those instead of a folder of close-range selfies.
Should I decide from the photographs whether I am a candidate?
No. What you are doing is naming a complaint, not reaching a verdict. Candidacy turns on the airway, on how much of the width comes from the bridge and the tip, and on skin and scar behaviour — none of which a photograph can show. The naming is what makes the consultation efficient.
Risks & Limitations
- The scar is the mechanism of this operation rather than a complication of it. It stays, and it matures over a year or more.
- Tissue removed from the alar base does not come back, so over-narrowing is difficult to correct.
- The nostril opening is part of the airway. Narrowing it can reduce breathing, and function comes before width.
- The two sides are rarely symmetrical to begin with, and a scar behaves worst in skin that tans easily.
When to Seek Care
- Difficulty breathing through the nose that is worsening rather than settling, or breathlessness at rest.
- Fever with spreading redness, warmth or discharge around the incision.
- Bleeding from the incision that does not stop with gentle pressure.
- A nostril that pulls inward when you breathe in, or an edge that is becoming notched or tethered.
References & Further Reading
- American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) — procedure and safety guidance
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, UK) — relevant guidance
- Cochrane Library — systematic reviews
- Chinese Medical Association Plastic Surgery Branch — clinical guidance
This page is patient education, not medical advice, and it does not cite individual studies. Discuss your own case with a qualified clinician. To arrange an assessment at Chongqing West District Hospital, see Contact & Consultation.