After Rhinoplasty Surgery Will I Need Nasal Packing?

Want to know the most significant complaint we hear about after Rhinoplasty surgery? It’s not pain, pressure, headache, or even discomfort. In fact, rhinoplasty is rarely very painful. The symptom we hear about most is nasal congestion. Most surgeons still use some form of packing or splint in the nose after surgery to reduce bleeding. These can either be merocel, ribbon gauze, xeroform or a variety of other forms of packing. The end result unfortunately is more discomfort for the... more

Typically, we don't use nasal packing unless there's an absolute need. It all depends on the amount of work your septum is getting and that is determined at teh time of surgery. Every rhinoplasty is different so you never really know what you're going to end up with when you're talking about details like this one. Best Wishes, DoctorMeade

Routine packing of the nose is not required with modern rhinoplasty techniques. Any surgeon who performs rhinoplasty on a regular basis should be able to place dissolving sutures inside the nose (called quilting sutures) that make packing unnecessary. Over the past 1,000 rhinoplasty procedures that I have performed there was only one patient who required overnight nasal packing due to persistent oozing. Packing is very uncomfortable when it is inside the nose, and even more uncomfortable... more

In almost all cases of rhinoplasty you can avoid packing the nose, which translates into a much more comfortable recovery for the patient. I have not 'packed' the nose in over 7 years now. In the past, this was done commonly to help minimize chances of bleeding the early recovery phase and to help encourage the internal lining of the nose to heal quicker. In most cases of septoplasty and rhinoplasty, an absorbable suture can be used inside of the nose to accomplish the same goal... more

   Its been at least 5 years since i used nasal packing!  I used to pack all my noses because that was what I was taught in training. I found my patients were uncomfortable and were very frightened by what all their friends told them about packing. Since I have stopped using packing I have not had any more bleeding than  when I used packing. If i do need to put something in the nose it is usually a small amount of material that stops minor bleeding. This material I use... more

Packing is used mostly to prevent bleeding.  In most cases, I do not find there to be significant bleeding by the time I am completing surgery.  I will place thin splints inside the nose if I do work on the septum during surgery.  But patients can breath around these spints and they do not cause discomfort.

 Placing packing in the nose depends on the surgeon's preference. While the term "packing" often reminds patients of  a long string placed in the nose after surgery as done in the "old days" and often told stories of removing large amounts of gauze. However, surgeons sometimes place small pieces of cotton in the nostrils that are not uncomfortable and barely felt. Removal is often easy and painless. The purpose of the small cotton ball is to prevent any... more

The decision to pack your nose after Rhinoplasty will depend on the surgeon's preference. In my opinion nasal packing is very uncomfortable for patients and not necessary. For this reason I NEVER pack my noses after rhinoplasty whether it be a comsetic rhinoplasty, functional nose surgery, or a combination. Instead I use dissolvable sutures on the septum that you will never notice.

I amost never use nasal packing because it is indeed uncomfortable and in my extensive experience, it is unnecessary in most cases. In the rare instance that a patient has a severe nosebleed one week postoperatively, nasal packing would then be indicated.

I think most surgeons, including myself, don't ever use nasal packing at the time of rhinoplasty and or septoplasty. The only rare exception would be someone abnormally bleeding at the end of the procedure. This has happened to only 1 of my patients out of thousands over the last 13 years.

The answer to this question is simple. If your nose requires a correction of a deviated septum or your surgeon requires the use of septal cartilage for cosmetic purposes, then your nose may be packed. The septum is the internal cartilaginous structure that devides the nose into the right and left nasal passages. If this structure is bent due to injury or just developed that way, then it could block one or both of your nasal passages. This would lead to difficutly breathing and could be... more

Nasal packing is only used if there is excessive bleeding after the surgery. When needed, I use a dissolvable packing that typically dissolves by the next day. Best, Dr. S.

Nasal packing is no longer needed or required after rhinoplasty surgery or septoplasty surgery. This is a technique that was very common 20 and 30 years ago. On a rare occasion (1 in 1500 rhinoplasties) a patient will have an uncontrollable nosebleed that is unresponsive to local anesthetics and nasal sprays. This is the only time nasal packing is would be required.