The Wide Bridge

The wide nasal bridge is most noticeable on frontal view. This problem is due to the excess width or thickness of the nasal bones. This undesirable width is typically treated using a technique called osteotomies. This involves making controlled bone fractures which allows the nasal bones to be positioned inward thereby narrowing the appearance of the nose.

How are osteotomies made?

A medical grade chisel (osteotome) is used to make the controlled cuts in the nasal bones with the goal of mobilizing the bones enough to allow for bone repositioning. You can watch an intra-operative video of medial and lateral osteotomy placement here.

Osteotomies are often made after taking down a nasal hump even if the bridge does not appear wide prior to surgery. This is related to the fact that once the bridge hump is removed the bridge will then appear too wide. This also allows rhinoplasty surgeons to correct the resulting "open roof deformity" in which the bridge appears overly flat.

Wide Bridge Before and After Rhinoplasty Example Photo

The patient below provides an excellent demonstration of the power of performing these osteotomies as that is the only thing that Dr. Lamperti did to her nose (she did have a concurrent eyelid tuck or blepharoplasty). Using a closed approach fine bone cuts were made to gently narrow the nasal bones on both sides. You can see how an improved brow tip aesthetic line and better defined nose is now evident.

Additional Bridge Narrowing Before and After Photos