Does Scar Tissue Softening Go Hand In Hand With a Decrease In Swelling?

Swelling and tissue inflammation with scar are often interchanged in rhinoplasty. Actually the swelling will subside after several weeks. The tissue remains firm as scar is laid during the healing process and will be slightly thickened. Over time the scar matures and thins and the nose will get ever so slightly smaller and most importantly gain definition. This 'biologic clock' for scar maturation runs about a year, so we tend to avoid revision until the time is up. For some the... more

In general, hardness of the nasal tip is indicative of residual swelling. If you still have hardness of the nasal tip one year postoperatively, it may be advisable to delay surgery even more to allow all of the residual swelling to disappear. Hope this helps - best of luck.

Open rhinoplasty with grafts and sutures often creates a firm and hard tip which softens slowly and over a long time. Yours should continue to do better and I wouldn't rush into getting a revision. It can take up to 18 months for the tip to feel soft and pliable. If it doesn't and remains hard due to scar tissue getting a revision may only create more and increase the problem.