How Long Before Smile Returns to Normal After Rhinoplasty?

It is very common for rhinoplasty patients to report (in the first several weeks after surgery) that their upper lip feels stiff and that it is difficult for them to smile. Fortunately, this resolves by itself in the first several weeks after surgery as the swelling subsides. Be patient, your smile should return to normal.

This is extremely common and there are a variety of reasons why this occurs which range from swelling, decreased sensation, wounds, etc. In most instances this resolves nearly completely. The time to resolution depends on the extent of surgery and can last from 3 weeks to 3 months

You do not mention when your surgery was done. It is normal to have swelling for several weeks after rhinoplasty. This will cause stiffness of the muscles of your upper lip and your cheeks, limiting their full range of motion. It is always transient.

You can typically see difficulty elevating the center of your lip for a month or so after Rhinoplasty. I see this in most of my patients when I place a columella-strut (cartilage graft) for tip modification, and the stiff upper lip is usually short-lived. Ask your doc if he placed a "C-strut". I'll bet he did, and your smile will likely be fine shortly. I hope this helps, and enjoy your new nose.

Your concern is very common. The lip often lags a bit after a rhinoplasty. This is often due to swelling and manipulation around the upper lip.. Give it some time, it should get better.

Swelling after a rhinoplasty is not uncommon and this can, at least temporarily, affect your smile.  Given more time this will most likely improve on its own.  Make your surgeon aware of your concerns and have confidence that over the next  6 months or so it will improve. 

Hi Perky, If you are happy with the results of your rhinoplasty, your smile should return very soon. Your "normal" smile may take a bit longer. Often times during septo-rhinoplasty the muscle fibers between the base of the nose and the upper lip are separated to allow the tip of the nose to heal without being pulled downward. This results in an upper lip that does not elevate properly, covering your gums and upper teeth when you smile. These muscle fibers usually grow back... more

After rhinoplasty, a few things can happen which can affect your smile. If work was done at the base of your nose or at the bottom of the columella (skin bridge between the nostrils), swelling in the area can affect the lip and cause it to drop a bit temporarily. As the swelling resolves, which can take months, the lip will return to normal position. Sometime if extensive work is done in this area, the muscles responsible for pulling the uppper lip up are temporarily weakened, a... more