Hey Dr Harris. I have a question about the alar base retraction or reduction. Not sure of actual term. Basically my situation is i have a typical black nose, wide base, wide nostrils, lack of definition. Im assuming I would have to have my alar base reduced to narrow the nose and then the bridge can be narrowed and stuff. But ive heard alar base reduction is the hardest part of a nose job and many surgeons avoid it. Is this true? You have to make incisions in the nose flaps right which will definitely cause scarring. there ar 2 types right? ive also read this can lead to the janet jackson type look. personally i dont mind her nose but i still think it screams "ive had surgery". The perfect rhinoplasty ive ever seen has to be kelly rowland.

http://f9.img.v4.skyrock.net/f92/celebr ... mall_1.jpg

In some ways my nose is quite similar. but the result is so natural. the alar base, or flaring nostrils have clearly been reduced and its a great result, way more natural than janets, like u said in a post before it looks like a nose she could have been born with. so i suppose my question is it true the alar base is hard to perform on as i think this will be my main goal, have you done this effectively on a lot of patients before? and will there be a lot of scarring? thanks dr harris for reading my thread

also dr harris, with african american rhinoplasty as our noses are commonly wide at the base and this is what you specialise in, have you dealt with alar base reduction a lot with your patients?

I just cant sleep tonight cos of election day!

Dr Harris i just looked at more of your before and afters and

http://www.harrisface.com/rhinoplasty_gallery.htm
http://www.harrisface.com/rhinoplasty_gallery9.htm

are 2 of the best results iv ever seen on african americans period. there just so natural but are both these cases examples of alar base reduction? Ive read it can sometimes lead to nostril uneveness but they look perfect (if they are reductions that happened)

thanks

obama 08!

Dear blackbeauty 74,

First let me say . . .THANK YOU! I very much appreciate your comment regarding my rhinoplasty results. I work very hard to achieve natural results, where my patients look like themselves BUT BETTER.

The two cases that you highlighted are interesting because in one case I did narrow the nostrils directly and in the other I didn't. In the first case(set 1), I did not directly narrow her nostrils. In select instances, you can minimize alar flare by increasing the projection of the tip . . .as I did in her case. In the second case (set 9), i did make an incision at the base of the nostrils to reduce the flare.

I believe that excessive nostril narrowing is the most tell-tale sign of a bad rhinoplasty in African American patients. As a result, I am extremely particular about nostril narrowing to make sure that when I do have to make an incision in the area . . . .we get it JUST RIGHT!

All the Best,

Dr. Harris