Upturned Nose – Causes, Non-Surgical & Surgical Solutions

An upturned nose is characterized by an angled tip that points upwards. The nose may appear smaller than others, and the nostrils more prominent. It is not often a cause for concern. However, some people may have experienced nasal trauma or injury to cause this change in shape. Many people also do not like the appearance of it and choose to seek treatment.

What Causes An Upturned Nose?

An upturned nose shape is often referred to as a pixie or pig nose, but in other cultures, it is seen as a cute button nose. Either way, an upturned nose is a very normal facial characteristic.

If you are unhappy with the shape of your nose, surgical and non-surgical options can help. From a medical point of view, an upturned nose is no cause for concern.

We all have different shaped noses; unless yours has changed due to injury or previous surgery, you probably inherited it from your family.

However, you have many treatment options if it impairs breathing or quality of life.

Here are a few different causes of an upturned nose.

Genetics

The facial features have been passed on to you through genetics. Specific facial features are influenced by the environment your ancestors lived in.

The nose would have evolved with the climate your ancestral generations would have been exposed to, as its main function is to regulate air temperature and humidity.

Nasal Trauma

A change in the shape of the nose can happen after a severe injury, such as a broken nose. This could happen due to falls, hitting a hard surface, contact sports such as boxing, physical assault, and motor accidents.

Rhinoplasty

A rhinoplasty is a surgical procedure to change the shape of your nose. An upturned nose can happen when a surgeon removes too much cartilage from the tip and septum (like Michael Jackson). However, many people desire this result.

Birth Defects And Genetic Mutations

Certain medical conditions can cause facial deformities early in fetal development.

The most common conditions that cause an upturned nose are Cornelia de Lange syndrome, Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome, Kaufman oculocerebrofacial syndrome, and Toriello-Carey syndrome.

Surgical And Non-Surgical Solutions For Upturned Nose

If you are unhappy with the shape of your nose, there are several solutions or treatments to consider.

Remember that having an upturned nose is often very normal, and it is nothing to be embarrassed about.

If it has begun to influence your self-esteem and happiness, or if your quality of life is less, consider the following options.

Non-Surgical Solutions

Before opting for a more invasive surgical procedure, certain non-surgical options should be considered and tried out. If you are unhappy with a surgical procedure, you will need to undergo more surgery to correct it; this may take several surgeries.

Non-surgical options are almost immediately reversible and available sooner while also being cheaper.

Highlighting other facial features will help make your nose appear less prominent and distract attention from your nose.

However, there is a big chance that others do not notice your nose as much as you do. Individuals tend to fixate on certain parts of their body they are unhappy with, and this focus makes the feature appear worse than it is.

The following tips may be more beneficial to women because they use makeup.

Makeup Contouring

Use contouring and highlights to create the illusion of a different nose shape. Dark makeup tones are used to create shadows, and highlighters are used to bring other areas to light in the front of your face. There are a lot of online tutorials and videos to try out.

Other Makeup

Exaggerating other facial features with makeup, such as your eyes or lips, may draw focus away from your nose.

Change Your Hairstyle

Avoid hairstyles that draw attention to your noses, such as bangs (fringes) and harsh angles. Ask your stylist about softer cuts and styling options, such as creating a bouncy wave or medium-length layers.

Surgical Solutions To Fix An Upturned Nose

Below are the most common surgical procedures to fix an upturned nose.

Injectable Fillers

It is possible to get a non-surgical Rhinoplasty with injectable fillers that can be injected into different areas of the nose to alter its shape.

Some fillers have a gel-like texture. They are injected into the skin surface to give the appearance of fullness.

The practitioner uses his hands to manipulate the area and move the filler to maintain the desired appearance.

Depending on the product used, more than one session may be required. The number of syringes used to correct an upturned nose depends on the amount of correction needed.

According to a report published in 2016 by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the average cost of soft tissue fillers ranges from $644 – $1,920 per syringe.

Non-surgical rhinoplasty can take between 15 and 60 minutes in the office. The side effects are usually minimal if any. The results can last from several months to several years, depending on the product used.

Any injectable procedure has possible side effects and risks to consider. In rare cases, fillers can clog blood vessels in the nose and cause necrosis (death of the skin) when injected.

Fillers can also lead to blindness when injected into the eyes. These complications are rare but can be devastating.

It is important to find a certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist before getting facial filler treatment. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers fillers on the nose as an ‘off-label’ usage.

Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty, also called a nose job, is one of the most commonly performed cosmetic procedures in the United States.

The correction of an upturned nose can be carried out with either open or closed surgical techniques.

In both techniques, a graft is normally placed at the tip of the nose and septum to support and elongate the nose. The graft consists of cartilage taken from the rib or behind the ear.

In 2016, the average cost of rhinoplasty was $5,046. The operation is performed under general anesthetic and can take two to three hours.

Recovery depends on the surgery’s complexity and varies from person to person.

There are a few different rhinoplasty techniques you can discuss with your surgeon to determine which is best for fixing your upturned nose:

• Caudal Septal Extension Grafting
• Extended Spreader Grafts
• Correction from the previous rhinoplasty