Hanging Alar

Hanging Alar: What Is It?

Overhanging alar are a common feature in Southeast Asian noses notably of Malayan origin. Countries included are Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and the Philippines. Such features are also seen in Taiwan, Hong-kong and Southern China.2

Although most patients complain of a wide alar and a rounded tip, which is the most common complaint or feature of Southeast Asian nose of Malay race,  there are actually several variations of the cause to include a low dorsum, rounded (bulbous) tip, wide and overhanging alar sometimes a retracted columella and drooping tip.

Alar lift is usually indicated in Asian noses which often require re-contouring or re-shaping of the nostril to achieve symmetry with the appropriate size and to correct alar overhang to achieve that foreign nose or mestizo nose that most Asians desire.

Many people who have nasal tissue that hangs lower than their nostrils are unhappy with the way this looks and decide to have a specialized nasal surgery, or columelloplasty, to level the tissue with the nostrils and create a more proportional nose shape.

What Type Of Surgery Do You Need For A Hanging Alar?

 If you have a rounded (bulbous) tip, wide alar base and overhanging alar rim then you need an Alar Lift.

In Southeast Asian noses, unlike Caucasian noses, the most common indication for alar surgery are wide and overhanging alar. Our proposed technique is an easy and safe method of correcting alar overhang. This procedure with its advantages represents a new, reliable and simple way of achieving predictable results in many rhinoplasty cases.

Alar lift surgery is an integral part of any rhinoplastic procedure but is often overlooked by surgeons performing rhinoplasties. This alar lift is usually indicated in Asian noses, which often require re-contouring or re-shaping of the nostril to achieve symmetry and appropriate size and to correct alar overhang.

It is also used in re-contouring cleft lip noses, equalizing asymmetrical nostrils, enlarging small nostrils, converting round to oval nostrils and correction of alar overhang. The alar overhang gives a poor aesthetic relationship of the alar rim with columella as exemplified by the low wings of the “gull’s wing in flight” appearance.