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Rhinoplasty Swelling

I had a Rhinoplasty 3 weeks ago and my nose is still very swollen. How long is it normal to have rhinoplasty swelling after surgery?

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Swelling and Rhinoplasty a match made in Heaven

Swelling after rhinoplasty can be very annoying for patients. Often times I have less patience than even my own patients to see what we have really created in the nasal shaping! However, you must trust your surgeon in that he/she knows what was created in the operating room. That is what counts. Your surgeon should not leave the Operating Room until everything looks as good as possible. Then it is just a matter of being patient and waiting for time to pass. Taping and massaging can... more

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Ashkan Ghavami, MD

Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Swelling after Rhinoplasty: Gradual Improvement

The amount of swelling and how long it persists after rhinoplasty depends on several factors such as the surgeon's technique, open versus closed approach, whether the nasal bones were broken, and the number of prior nasal surgeries. Patients in whom open rhinoplasty techniques were used, cases in which the nasal bones were broken, and a history of one or more previous nasal surgeries often will have more prolonged swelling. During the first week, most patients will have moderate swelling .... more

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C. Spencer Cochran, MD

Dallas Facial Plastic Surgeon

Rhinoplasty swelling

Rhinoplasty swelling is common immediately after surgery. The amount of swelling can depend on procedure performed, surgical technique and individual differences in your healing. Tip swelling is usually the last to resolve. Head elevation and post-operative splinting can help reduce swelling and speed recovery. I hope this helps

Steven H. Williams, MD

San Francisco Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Rhinoplasty is an operation that takes at least a year...

Rhinoplasty is an operation that takes at least a year to fully recover from. I recommend icing and sleeping with the head of the bed elevated during the first 7-10 days to keep swelling to a minimum. My patients all get Aquaplast nasal casts placed to keep swelling down for 7 days. It can take 2-4 weeks before the nose shrinks enough to become socially acceptable to most patients. The biggest change in swelling occurs between the 8th-12th months. Postoperative massage and injectible... more

Manish H. Shah, MD

Denver Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Rhinoplasty Swelling

Swelling after Rhinoplasty can last anywhere from a few months to a year before all of the sweeling has disappeared. This would not be unusual.

David Alessi, MD

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

Thick skin or reduction rhinoplasty takes longer

The duration of swelling depends on what was done, the thickness of the skin covering, and the change in size of the nose. The longer the surgery takes and the more maneuveres performed in general will lead to more swelling. Thicker skin will also take a longer to time to contract and resolve swelling. Finally reduction surgery (making the nose smaller) creates a situation in which the skin must "shrink to fit" the reduced infrastructure of the nose--this takes... more

David W. Kim, MD

Bay Area Facial Plastic Surgeon

Swelling 3 weeks after Rhinoplasty is normal

Rhinoplasty swelling occurs both on the outside and inside of the nose. Patients are generally "restaurant ready" and socially acceptable within 2 weeks following surgery. Most swelling after rhinoplasty resolves within a month. The final 20% of swelling takes a much longer time to resolve, up to a year after surgery. Fortunately, this final swelling is usually only evident to the surgeon and patient. Rhinoplasty swelling varies greatly and is largely based on the areas of the... more

Houtan Chaboki, MD

Washington DC Facial Plastic Surgeon

It can be

For patients undergoing rhinoplasty, swelling is not uncommon. In some approaches to rhinoplasty, swelling may persist for a year or longer. In general, most of the swelling will be gone in about a month. There are many factors which can aggravate swelling and can change this timing though. If you have a concern, I would suggest visiting with the surgeon who performed the proedure to ask them if this is something that is normal.

D.J. Verret, MD

Dallas Facial Plastic Surgeon

Approximately 70-80% of the swelling will subside one...

Approximately 70-80% of the swelling will subside one month after Rhinoplasty surgery. It takes a full year for the other 20-30% of the swelling to resolve. At this time final results are seen. Most of the residual swelling after the Rhinoplasty settles in the tip of the nose, this takes the longest to subside. These observations are based on the last several thousand nasal surgeries Dr. Portuese has performed.

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William Portuese, MD

Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

Rhinoplasty Swelling is Complex

Rhinoplasty swelling is different for everyone but I will generalize. Most patients have a good looking nose about 10 days after the surgery. The swelling is far from gone at this point but it is no longer obvious. Within a couple months it is over 90% gone. It may take several years for 100% of swelling to be gone. Swelling is very dependent on skin thickness. The thicker the skin, the more significant the swelling.

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Louis W. Apostolakis, MD

Austin Facial Plastic Surgeon

After Rhinoplasty, swelling lasts longest at the tip

There are several stages of swelling after rhinoplasty surgery. We advise our patients that they can expect to be "restaurant ready" one week after rhinoplasty surgery, meaning they can go out in public and not look, "strange", by that time. However there will still be considerable swelling, especially at the tip for up to 3-6 months. In some occasions, your surgeon may want to help decrease swelling and reduce scar tissue development by injecting... more

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David Mabrie, MD

Bay Area Facial Plastic Surgeon

Swelling after Rhinoplasty can present up to a year

Swelling after a Rhinoplasty surgery can be present up to 1 year post-surgery depending upon the extent of the procedure itself. Generally, the majority of swelling goes away in the first 4-6 months, but it can take up to 1 year for the results of your Rhinoplasty to truly be seen properly. The main thing is to make sure your surgeon is experienced in nasal surgeries to minimize recovery issues as much as possible. Given that you are only 3 weeks post-surgery, it is quite normal for you to... more

Scott W. Mosser, MD

San Francisco Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Rhinoplasty Swelling

It has been my experience that there is great variability in the amount of swelling after rhinoplasy. The swelling will depend on whether the rhinoplasty was 'open' or 'closed', primary or secondary, whether grafts were placed, the patient's predisposition to swelling and the thickness of the nasal skin. I agree that it generally takes about 12 months for the swelling to resolve. If you have an obvious hump, supra-tip fullness or asymmetry after 12 months, you should discuss the risks... more

Daniel Reichner, MD

Newport Beach Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Swelling after nose surgery

Due to the complex nature of the nose, swelling may take 12-18 months to resolve after surgery. Most swelling resolves after two weeks. If you have any redness, or increasing tenderness you should call your doctor. If any grafts were used in the rhinoplasty, check with your doctor to make sure you do not have any excessive swelling thqat could be a sign of infection. 8-10% of the population are MRSA carriers so it is always better to have your doctor evaluate you if you have concerns,... more

Brian Maloney, MD

Atlanta Facial Plastic Surgeon

Swelling After Rhinoplasty

This is a very common problem. Generally, I leave a cast on the nose for one week after surgery. This helps with swelling, but shortly after removing the cast, the nose usually swells. By the end of the second week, the nose is starting to take some of it's permanent shape, but is hard for most to envision what it will look like long-term. By the end of the 6th week, it is really getting close to the final look. If the tip is swollen, you can inject it... more

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John Bitner, MD

Salt Lake City Facial Plastic Surgeon

Swelling After Rhinoplasty

The swelling after Rhinoplasty slowly diminishes over an average of 18 months. Do check with your surgeon to be sure your swelling is not more than expected or a sign of a problem requiring treatment.

Paul C. Zwiebel, MD

Denver Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Rhinoplasty swelling after 3 weeks is expected

It is very normal and expected to have swelling after only 3 weeks following rhinoplasty. It is well understood that swelling can last up to a year so be patient and you should see a slow but steady improvement.

Jason B. Diamond, MD

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

Swelling from Rhinoplasty takes weeks / months to resolve.

While rhinoplasty patients look good enough to resume their normal schedule by 7-10 days, some swelling in the tip skin is present for months. The textbook answer given by rhinoplasty surgeons is 1 year for all swelling to be gone. It simply takes time for the skin to become supple again. This is a gradual and subtle process. Bottom Line: I tell patients they'll look good enough to socialize by 10 days, with about 85% of the swelling subsiding by 3 months, and the... more

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Randolph Capone, MD

Baltimore Facial Plastic Surgeon

Swelling after Nose Job (Rhinoplasty)

Swelling after a rhinoplasty can be vary patient to patient and is related to how complex the rhinoplasty surgery was. At 1 week, it is very common to be very swollen, but over the next 2 weeks people are usually only minimally swollen. Most of our patients in Naples, Florida return to school or work within 2 weeks with cover up makeup. If you are significantly swollen at 3 weeks, you need to see your plastic surgeon to be evaluated. It is true that swelling persists for 12 - 15 months... more

Kent V. Hasen, MD

Naples Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Rhinoplasty - Nasal Surgery and Bruising, Edema (Swelling) after surgery

There are many different variations of a standard rhinoplasty. The surgery can entail correction of the nasal bones, the cartilage, the septum, the mucosa, the skin, the nostrils, and the nasal tip, just to name a few. The more corrective the rhinoplasty procedure, the more edema and bruising you will get. The swelling is also highly dependent on how difficult and time consuming the surgery was prior to placing a nasal splint. In most cases, a rhinoplasty procedure consists of an... more

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD

Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon

Swelling after rhinoplasty

The general rule of thumb for resolution of rhinoplasty swelling is the following: 80% reduction of swelling within 6 weeks 90% reduction within 6 months 100% reduction within 1 year Although this serves as a good rule of thumb, it is important to remember that there is interpersonal variation. Some patients have very little swelling, and some have tremendous swelling that lasts a long time. Observations of patients with previous rhinoplasty has also demonstrated that some patients... more

Behrooz Torkian, MD

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

Healing after rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty may produce swelling that can last for a prolonged period of time. The definition of 'prolonged' may be different between patients and surgeons, so I always try to talk to my patients in absolute time periods. Typically, I tell my patients that reduction of swelling to a point of 'social acceptability' is between 1-2 weeks. Healing occurs over a long time but 70-80% of swelling will be gone by 1 month. This is especially true in the tip and the sides of the bones near the eyes if... more

Richard W. Westreich, MD

Manhattan Facial Plastic Surgeon

Swelling of the Nose Following Rhinoplasty

I advise my patients that 80% of swelling resolves over the first 2 months following rhinoplasty surgery and that final results will be achieved between the 6 and 12 months later. Tip swelling is the slowest to resolve and is usually more evident in thick skinned individuals. In a patient who has swelling that is excessive, a course of oral steroids or steroid injections may be considered, however, this would have to be discussed with your surgeon.

Andrew B. Denton, MD

Vancouver Facial Plastic Surgeon

Swelling after nose reshaping.

The early results of this surgery are evident in two to three weeks and are usually quite gratifying. However, you will continue to notice an improvement in the contour and form of your nose for six to twelve months as the last remnants of the swelling disappear. see video

Otto Joseph Placik, MD

Chicago Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Swelling After Rhinoplasty

This is one of the more commonly asked questions about Rhinoplasty. It takes a year or more for all of the swelling to subside and that for the "result" to appear. In fact, the nose can change for up to 5 years after Rhinoplasty surgery. Most of the swelling you will notice will be in the nasal tip. Things that are relatively apparent immediately after surgery include removal of a nasal hump, straightening of a crooked nose, and rotation of a nasal tip. more

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