Nasalis

The nasalis is a nasal muscle of facial expression. It is the largest of the nasal muscles and is comprised of two parts: transverse and alar.

• Attachments:
  • Transverse part – originates from the maxilla, immediately lateral to the nose. It attaches onto an aponeurosis across the dorsum of the nose.
  • Alar part – originates from the maxilla overlying the lateral incisor. It attaches to the alar cartilage of the nasal skeleton.
• Actions:
  • Transverse part – compresses the nasal opening
  • Alar part – widens the nasal opening.
• Innervation – Buccal branches of the facial nerve.
• Blood Supply – Facial artery and infraorbital branch of maxillary artery.

By TeachMeSeries Ltd (2025)

Fig 1
The nasal muscles of facial expression. Note the nasalis muscle is comprised of two parts.