Rhinoplasty: Stories

I always dis-liked my nose from when I was in my teens. I sustained a nasal injury that left my nose crooked from my teens and on. I always wanted to get rhinoplasty but was too scared to make such a drastic decision and HOPE I like the result. I couldn't imagine going through the process and not liking the outcome. After my wedding this past April, I saw all my wedding photos and it was at that point that I decided I was going to finally do it. I couldn't stand seeing my crooked nose in all my wedding photos and the bump from the profile view.

I am 3 days post op now. I get my cast off and splints out on Tuesday and look foward to seeing what I look like. He advised that the swelling will be very present on Tues and not to be alarmed. I currently have a lot of pressure in my face and nose. My nose is very sore and the swelling has moved down my face. I look like a chipmunk hiding nuts in my cheeks. lol. I had 2 black and blue eyes and was very swollen. The black eyes are starting to fade and the swelling is just moving downward now. I can't wait to not feel so congested. I look foward to fantastic results. I plan to post some before and after pics soon!

I am 5 days post op right now. My black eyes and swelling have really subsided. I only have yellow and a tad of purple under my eyes. My face is back to normal since the swelling went down. I am only taking 1/2 pain pill twice a day for when I clean my nose. It is still very sore and sensitive esp around the stitches. I get my cast off, splints removed, and stitches out tomorrow. I am prepared to see a swollen nose with not much definition. It's all a part of the healing process. I am so happy I decided to go with Dr. Cochran from The Gunter Center. He and his staff have been so wonderful from day 1. Jane, the nurse, always takes the time to promptly answer my emails or phone calls, and Dr. Cochran has been fantastic. He really listens to your desires and works hard to achieve the best look for a well balanced face. We met again before surgery and I felt so comfortable going into surgery. Hearing his excitement when he came to visit me in recovery was very assuring. He told me how well the surgery went and that my nose looks great! I look foward to seeing my new nose tomorrow. I will try to post some pics soon!

I am exactly 1 week post op. I met with Dr. Cochran yesterday to have my cast off, splints removed, and stitches out. It felt amazing to BREATHE!!! Not only from the splint removal but from fixing my deviated septum. The air flowing through my nose is amazing! Looking in the mirror for the first time was a neat experience. My nose is definitely swollen, esp from the front view. My profile looked great right away although i could see the swelling from the side also. I felt great after we left his office. My husband and I went out to eat ... a bit of bruising and swollen nose and all! I didn't feel insecure going out. I was just happy for my new nose. As the night went on, the swelling went down slightly more and even a bit more this morning. I am so excited to see the definition take place over the next few months! I can already tell that I am going to love it! I am so grateful for meeting Dr. Cochran! I was so reluctant to go through with this procdure and I finally did it! Very happy I did and would reccommend Dr. Cochran to anyone considering rhinoplasty/septoplasty! It wasn't even close to as bad as I thought it would be to go through all of this. I will start posting more pics from the 'After' part of it.

Well, I have hit the 2 week post op point. I have posted some new pictures. I decided that I need to add the 3d imaging pics of the before and projected after result. My 3d 'after' profile, in my opinion, looks spot on! And my frontal view, although still swollen, looks even better than the 3d imaging. I am so thriled with my results so far. I know they are going to continue to look better as time goes on. I still need that definition in the tip of my nose. I am happy enough with my results already that I don't mind being patient. I still have swelling, I am tired of cleaning my nose with a qtip, and I am very dry in my nose. I am breathing great though. I feel that my incision site healed up very quickly and it has been closed up for a while.... but I still look a little pink and "raw" in that area if you look close enough in the day light. I imagine that is to be expected. My one nostril is pinched a tad more that the other but I have been told that this can be expected with swelling. My nose is still very tender in different places and my right nostril is still super numb and my left one isn't, lol. People don't even notice a difference (even though it's a major improvement all over!!) until they see my profile view. Which is funny to me... I mainly had the rhinoplasty because my nose was crooked from the front view. I guess people noticed the bump on my profile more than anything?? My sister is visiting from out of town. She forgot about it until I asked her what she thought. And then SHE noticed that my nose was much more straight...yay :) Glad that was her first reaction. I think people noticed more from the profile is because I am still swollen from the front and my profile looks more small and natural now. Thank you Lord and Dr. Cochran ... let's continue with the positive results :) Feel free to ask any questions!

P.S. I look back at all my post surgery pics and laugh at how awful I looked. I looked miserable because I couldn't even smile because of how swollen I was and my upper lip was so stiff. My husband and I are so hilarious together and we made my recovery song "Stiff Upper Lip" by AC/DC. lol. I promise I am not that mean looking in real life, lol.

In 2 more days (Aug. 1) I will be 3 weeks post op. Will post some new pics then. Today was my first day back to the gym. I take a cardio kick boxing class. I did some parts at low impact. Tried to avoid any jumping. It all went great and I felt great. No throbbing or swelling. I think I am ready to back full time to my regular gym schedule! Swelling continues to improve everyday. It looks so normal, nobody notices but me. I am starting to get more feeling back in the tip of my nose and nostrils... finally. I can't feel when my nose is running, lol, and that can be embarressing. Overall, I am still loving my results! So far, so good!

I am currently one month post op. It was great to get a phone call from Dr. Cochran at my one month mark to see how I'm doing and how I feel about my nose so far. I am very happy with the results so far. My nose is still sensitive to touch (tender), mainly in the tip. The swelling has gone down in my bridge and I still have some swelling in my tip. I can feel the swelling and my tip feels like a rock. Because swelling went down in other places and not my tip so much, my tip looks up-turned right now but nothing too drastic. I can only really see it. It's getting better each day. I'm sure in the next several weeks, I will start seeing more definition in my tip. I still clean with q tips all the time and I try not to blow my nose. My incision site is just a little bit pink yet. Dr. C said everything I am explaining is the normal healing process. My right nostril tends to run much more than my left. Overall, I feel great, look great, and I still look like me. Barely anyone has noticed so far. A few people made comments that I look different. My husband loves my new nose and so do I! Such an improvement!

3 months post op! Things are looking really good. I really saw some changes about 3 weeks back. I had some uneven-ness in my nostrils and my nose and that has all resolved. My nose is straight, nostrils are even, and swelling has subsided. My tip is still hard and is sensitive if bumped but my nostrils have feeling back. It feels sore still when I wear sunglasses. I don't like to wear them for long periods of time since I do have sensitivity. One thing I have noticed is that the right nostril runs more than my left. I feel like I always have the sniffles and constantly keep tissues with me. Especially when I am eating... weird. Anyhow, all is great and looking really good! I will post 4 month post op pics after my 4 month appt with Dr. Cochran!