What is my nose type?

If you also intend to have a nose job, one of the questions you will probably encounter is "what is your nose type?" Depending on what your nose type is, the surgical procedure, post-operative care, recovery period, and swelling of the nose may be different. Different people usually have different nose types, some sharper, some wider, while some are just as tiny as possible. 

Whether you’re considering a nose surgery like rhinoplasty or nose lift or just want to know what type of nose you have, this list of the most common nose types will help you the insight you’re after.

What is my nose type? Bulbous nose or bony nose?

The skin thickness is determining factor for the bony and fleshy nose. Bony noses have thin or medium skin and fleshy noses have thick skin. Naturally, the skin of nose upper half, which covers bone, is thinner than lower half, which covers cartilage.

What are the characteristics of bony and fleshy noses?

In bony noses, due to skin thinness, bone details can be seen from under skin, and bone edge may be seen and touched if it has already been broken. Also in lower half, due to skin thinness, the cartilages are usually strong, and there is less width and sagging at nose tip. Unlike bony noses, in bulbous nose, due to skin thickness, bone and cartilage details are not observed, and due to weight of skin, the cartilages are usually thin and weak, for this reason, in these types of noses, nose tip is wide and drooping.

Bony nose with fleshy tip

In some cases, nose middle and upper skeleton may be bony and tip of nose fleshy, in which case it is called a bony nose with a fleshy tip, but in this case, people who want to identify their nose type at home may have get confused. The criterion for distinguishing nose type is thickness of nose skin, if nose skin is thick and has less cartilage, the nose type is fleshy.

Is it possible to confuse bony and fleshy noses?

In most cases, even non-experts can distinguish between these two types of noses, but sometimes in noses with thin skin, the cartilages are very strong and cause nose tip to widen and droop, and as a result, it is mistaken for a fleshy nose.

But if we pay attention to skin thickness which is most important difference between these two types of noses, we will make less mistakes. Bulbous nose have thick skin, and if we press nose skin between two fingers, the fat will seep out, while this does not happen in bony noses.

Bulbous nose surgery

One of existing concepts is bulbous nose surgery is reversible and after surgery, fleshy nose changes its shape or this operation is very difficult. In past, perhaps due to traditional nature of this operation and lack of proper techniques, it was possible that nose shape change after operation. The reason for this happened was surgery with e method of reducing fleshy nose tissue; Due to large volume reduction of cartilage and nasal tissue, after operation we saw nose tip drooping and nose being reversible.

But today, in this type of surgery, the goal is to make nose tip smaller and elegant so that its vulnerable cartilages are not damaged. In this method of rhinoplasty, the least amount of cartilage is removed from nose and cartilage reduction is performed only in cases where cartilage has made shape and arch of nose unattractive. Sometimes it is possible for surgeon to take help from ear cartilage and graft it to nose in order to strengthen cartilage in this operation.

Bony nose surgery

Bony nose rhinoplasty is performed in open and closed method, in open method, the surgeon can carefully work on nose details with incisions on nose blades. But in closed method, no incision is made on nasal septum and incisions are made inside the nose. One of things that cause problems in bony nose surgery is the excessive nose skin thinness, the excessive skin thinness can cause surgeon to face problems.

In bony nose surgery, the more number of nose strong bones and cartilages, the more likely patient will achieve the desired result. Also, rhinoplasty can solve problems such as: deviated nasal septum, crooked nose, breathing disorders, nasal polyps and broken nose, etc.

The result of Bulbous and Bony nose surgery

What determines patient's nose shape after operation is patient's own taste and nose type. According to nose type, you will have a normal nose after e surgery. The noteworthy point is that patient can request shaping according to nose type, fleshy noses have limitations that limit shaping.

In normal nose surgery, the surgeon will not create an arch or will create a very slight arch. The angle between upper lip and nose tip will be 90 degrees, which will be very natural.

If patient's personal taste is such that she wants a fancy nose, the surgeon will create an arch on nose. Also, the angle between upper lip and nose tip will be around 105 degrees.

Other differences between bulbous nose and bony noses

• In rhinoplasty, those who have bony nose can choose a variety of nose models, such as fantasy, semi-fantasy, natural, etc., while this choice is more limited for those with a fleshy nose, and in some cases patient only can choose a natural nose model.
• The defects of bony nose are more visible due to its thin skin, but there are no such problems in fleshy nose due to skin thickness.
• Often, bulbous nose surgery is accompanied by strengthening of nasal skeleton (nasal cartilage), but this happens less often for bony nose surgery.
• Another difference between fleshy and bony nose is the recovery period after nose surgery, the recovery period in fleshy nose is usually longer than bony nose.
• Also, reduction of swelling and bruising in bone noses is faster than bulbous nose.

Is cost of surgery different in fleshy and bony noses?

In general, it should be said that there is no difference between the rhinoplasty cost of bony and bulbous nose surgery, but in some cases, the cost may be slightly higher by nose surgeon due to many defects in nose. But to know the price of these two types of nose surgery, you can visit a nose surgeon and find out about it.