2026-05-25
Answering All Your Questions About Alar Reduction Surgery!
Hello. This is Vibe Plastic Surgery. Rhinoplasty is known to be just as popular as eye surgery. There are various surgical methods for rhinoplasty. Among them, alar reduction surgery is not as widely known, so many people might be unfamiliar with it. We will take a detailed look into alar reduction surgery, including when and why it should be done. When looking from below or from the front, if it looks wide...

Hello.
This is Vibe Plastic Surgery.
A surgery that is just as popular as eye surgery
is rhinoplasty.
There are various surgical methods for rhinoplasty.
Among them, alar reduction surgery
is not as widely known,
so many people might be unfamiliar with it.
When alar reduction surgery should be done,
and why it is needed—we will take a detailed look
into alar reduction surgery.

When viewed from below or from the front,
this is a surgery that reduces a wide-looking alar,
or the nasal wings.
In particular, when viewed from below,
if the nasal wings are flared outward significantly,
undergoing alar reduction surgery can provide
highly satisfactory surgical results.

Whether you are a case that requires alar reduction
should be accurately diagnosed first
before deciding on the surgery.
Because alar reduction surgery
involves removing skin and tissue,
once the surgery is done,
it cannot be reversed.

Usually, Asians or those considering rhinoplasty
often have a low and droopy nasal tip.
In this case, simply elevating the nasal tip appropriately
can create an alar reduction effect.
Since there are cases where only nasal tip surgery is needed,
rather than thinking you must do alar reduction first,
if alar reduction is still needed after rhinoplasty,
we recommend doing it at that time.

For alar reduction,
there is an incision method that does not affect nostril size at all,
and a surgical method that can reduce
the nostril size itself.
Therefore, even if the nostrils are small,
if the skin and tissue on the outer nasal wings are thick,
it is possible to perform alar reduction
without altering the nostril size.
For this reason,
it is best to consult with a board-certified plastic surgeon
before deciding on alar reduction surgery.

If there is a lot of unnecessary skin flaring outward,
and that part can be excised and gathered inward,
you can achieve the most effective results.

Outer incision and inner incision—
it can be broadly divided into these two.
The outer incision is made along the outer groove,
so because the incision is made there,
the scar can be hidden along the inner groove,
making it a surgical method that minimizes scarring.
The inner incision uses the floor inside the nostril
to make the incision, so compared to the outer incision,
it is a surgical method that can hide the scar even more.

The muscles we use to smile
pull from the outside of the nasal wings to both sides,
and include these pulling muscles,
and since there are also pulling muscles below the columella,
it is natural for the nose to flare on both sides whenever you smile.
However, if it flares too excessively when smiling
and causes stress,
we recommend a procedure or surgery
that can slightly suppress the smiling muscles themselves.


- Botox procedure
- Alar tying
- Incision method
If it cannot be suppressed even with a Botox procedure,
we recommend a closed, or less invasive method,
which is alar tying.
Alar tying uses threads
to tie the nasal wing areas together,
reducing the flaring phenomenon when smiling.

The incision method is the most active treatment
among the three methods above.
Through the incision method, or alar reduction,
by removing the flaring tissue itself,
excessive flaring can be prevented.

When it comes to alar reduction injections,
they usually use ingredients that shrink the skin and fat tissue itself,
or a slight mix of Botox.
This is what is generally known to be used.
Because of this, not only is the effect very temporary,
but if the nose skin is thick or flares significantly,
it can be difficult to achieve satisfactory results.
Since everyone has a different alar shape
and there are various suitable surgical methods
accordingly,
we hope you proceed with alar reduction surgery
through a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon.





