This was a question that I answered for a person who had a procedure done somewhere else by another physician:
Rhinoplasty during a rhinoplasty / nose shaping / nose reshaping / nose job procedure are done for big nostrils, wide nose near the nostrils, or big noses in general. The area around the nostrils are called the alae and alar reduction or augmentation is used to change the shape of the alae. Alar reduction results should be earlier than later compared to other results with rhinoplasty / nasal reshaping / nose job such as tip reshaping / tip rhinoplasty or modifications for a bulbous, big nasal tip. Alar base reduction swelling and the results should be faster when compared to work done on the tip area. Generally, healing takes place on a logarithmic scale. Simply put, 60% of your healing should take place the first 6 weeks, 80% at 6 months and 89% at 2 years. You will never have 100% of the strength that your tissues had before the procedure. So in general, by 6 months 80% of the results should be present. This is a generality and this is important to understand though. The above percentages are based on wound breakage strength and many surgeons and physicians use this to assess how healing in general takes place. Usually results with procedures that are done in the tip take a while to be realized while other areas are a little faster like your nasal bridge and work done around the alae. Your physician should best direct you. But a second opinion never hurts in my opinion.
Dr Young is located in Bellevue near Seattle, Washington