Can My Flared Nostrils be Narrowed?

Q: Dr. Eppley, during my maxillary jaw surgery my upper jaw was advanced too much by 3mm and impacted by 2 to 3mms. As a result, it makes my nose look wider…is there anyway to make the nostrils look slightly narrower?

A: The nostril flaring to which you refer is very typical for a maxillary osteotomy and has nothing to do with that the fact that the maxilla was impacted or  vertically shortened. Every maxillary osteotomy detaches the facial musculature, and unless that is put back at the end of the operation by a V-Y mucosal closure and alar cinch sutures, nostril flaring (increased bi-alar width) is going to result. That can be narrowed by a very simple alar narrowing procedure through a sill excision technique.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana