Facial Reconstruction w/ Rhinoplasty - Long-Term Swelling?

After a rhinoplasty, most patients require ~10 days of social downtime during which time the majority of the swelling and bruising of the nose resolves. However, the final results of rhinoplasty surgery can take up to 12-18 months. During this time the nose become increasingly refined as the small bit of residual swelling in the skin of the nose disappears. At 3 weeks, particularly after a major reconstruction of the nose with rib cartilage, you still have a ways to go before your nose has... more

Final results following rhinoplasty and, certainly, nasal reconstruction usually take a full year. However, it seems like you have had extensive surgery over the past year requiring multiple staged procedures. As a craniofacial surgeon, I treat all types of complex facial injuries involving the skull and soft tissue and it is not uncommon to progress to the next reconstructive stage every 3 months. However, a final result will still require a full year from the last procedure (not the... more

While most of the details of your original facial injury and the latest round of facial reconstruction are not given, it is fair to say that your last surgery was quite extensive. If it took 12 hours to perform that would be a long and extensive operation. Even without knowing any details, I would expect that three weeks is too early to see any details of the outcome and it will likely be months before you will see visible results.