Your Most Beautiful Nose: Understanding Your Nose Type

Dr. Philip Miller

March 8, 2022

Manhattan, New York, is a diverse city representing many ethnicities. While everyone has a unique nose shape, common ethnic features impact rhinoplasty concerns and ideal outcomes. Rhinoplasty, better known as a nose job, is a surgical procedure that improves the appearance of the nose by:

• Reshaping
• Reducing
• Straightening
• Removing a hump
• Refining the tip 

Customizable rhinoplasty solutions are essential to achieve the most natural results, especially for ethnic rhinoplasty patients. Ethnic rhinoplasty is a procedure performed on patients of different ethnicities and can improve the nose while preserving ethnic identity.

Philip J. Miller, MD, FACS, is a double board-certified facial plastic surgeon surgeon with skill, expertise, and an artistic eye. He achieves impeccable and life-changing results for his patients and is highly qualified to perform even the most complex rhinoplasty procedures. He uses a unique approach with ethnic patients as their goals and concerns typically vary from Caucasian patients.

Dr. Miller’s Manhattan office works with many different nose types, including:

African American Noses

African American rhinoplasty is an ethnic reshaping procedure designed with specific and unique characteristics and concerns of African American patients. African Americans tend to have:

• Wide, low bridge
• Bulbous, under-projected tip
• Wide alar base
• The goal for many African American rhinoplasty procedures is to:
• Low bridge

Dr. Miller recognizes the differences in nasal anatomy and can improve the nose while maintaining harmony with other facial features and ethnic heritage. As a skilled and experienced surgeon, Dr. Miller creates natural outcomes and avoids complications common in African American patients, such as keloid scar formation.

Asian Noses

Each ethnicity has a different look and requires a specialized approach to rhinoplasty, including Asian patients. Many Asian patients experience common nose characteristics, including:

• A flat nasal profile
• A slight nasal bridge
• Flared nostrils
• A wide nasal tip
• Poor nasal tip strength

Asian patients often want to:

• Reduce flaring
• Have tip or bridge implants for a more prominent profile

While Korea is an Asian country, Korean rhinoplasty varies from the approach to Asian rhinoplasty. Korean patients experience a flatter nasal profile, slight nasal bridge, broad nasal tip, and wide nostrils. Without overcorrecting, Dr. Miller can:

• Narrow nostrils
• Fix an overly punched tip
• Correct an over-augmented bridge

Dr. Miller is committed to creating a personalized treatment plan with an approach central to your ethnicity. With more than 20 years of experience, Dr. Miller can produce natural and beautiful results in his Manhattan, New York location.

Hispanic/Latino Noses

There are more than 52 million Hispanic and Latino individuals in the United States, making Hispanic rhinoplasty an increasingly popular procedure in Manhattan. There is so much diversity within the Hispanic and Latino communities, it requires special consideration for small ethnic groups regarding rhinoplasty procedures. Hispanic patients share common nasal features such as thick skin and a bulbous nasal tip that is difficult to refine with traditional methods. Other categories include:

• Spanish heritage: a large bridge
• Caribbean heritage: wide, flat nostrils
• Central and South American heritage: flatter nasal tips and bridges

These differences call for three distinct rhinoplasty procedures:

• High bridge with a hump: The cartilage is shaved down, and the bone is rasped to remove the hump
• Under-projected, dependent tip: The tip of the nose is raised and projected with supplemental cartilage
• Shorter, flatter nose with a broad nasal base, thick skin, and a wide tip: The shape of the nose is refined by narrowing the base and raising the bridge

Dr. Miller works extensively with patients on how to approach the procedure and how to maintain a natural and ethnic-looking appearance.

Middle Eastern Noses

Mediterranean and middle eastern rhinoplasty patients experience common nasal characteristics such as:

• Thicker facial skin with fattier tissue
• Longer noses and a higher bridge
• Droopy tips
• Nasal humps
• Asymmetrical nostrils 
• Wide bones

The goal of middle eastern rhinoplasty is to create:

• More symmetry
• Facial balance

Less experienced surgeons may create undesirable results, but Dr. Miller is a skilled surgeon that is knowledgeable about ethnic nose reshaping techniques. He can help create the best nose with ethnic rhinoplasty or revision rhinoplasty.

Indian Noses

With special techniques and years of experience, Dr. Miller can improve the shape of Indian noses without impacting ethnic identity with Indian rhinoplasty. Common nose characteristics for this ethnicity include:

• Rounder nasal tip
• Wider nasal structure
• Thicker skin on the nose
• A nasal shape that slopes downward
• Hump or bump on the nasal bridge

You can schedule a consultation in Dr. Miller’s Manhattan office to discuss all your concerns and identify if Indian rhinoplasty is right for you.

Other Types of Noses

There are many other ethnic nose shapes such as Greek, Persian and Jewish noses. Greek noses typically have a straight bridge without bumps or curves. It is a common reference as many rhinoplasty patients want a straight bridge for a sleek-looking profile.

A Persian nose has:

• Large nasal profile
• Downward sloping of the nasal bridge
• Bulbous nasal tip

A Jewish nose has:

• Amorphous nasal tip
• Over projected nasal tip
• Large dorsal hump

Getting Positive Results with Ethnic Rhinoplasty

Dr. Miller utilizes the NatraLook® Process to ensure the most natural and pleasing results for any procedure, especially complex treatments like rhinoplasty. The NatraLook Process is critical to achieving a unified vision and executing intended results specific to ethnicity. Evaluating the entire face is vital to achieving balance, beauty, and natural-looking features.  

#1 NYC facial plastic surgeon, Dr. Miller, has years of experience with ethnic patients and has the skills to create natural and ethnically centered rhinoplasty procedures. Contact Dr. Miller’s Manhattan, New York, office to schedule a consultation and learn more about ethnic rhinoplasty.

Dr. Philip Miller

Focusing exclusively on the face for more than two decades, double-board certified facial plastic surgeon Dr. Philip Miller blends art and science with innovation and skill to provide thousands of patients with impeccable results. He is known for pioneering the NatraLook methodology for rhinoplasty, facelifts, neck lifts, and other cosmetic procedures for the face.