Rhinoplasty: Stories

Hi. I am 23 years old and finally got my rhinoplasty done after 12 years of wanting to get it done. I have always hated my nose and wanted to get it done but I was either too young, too scared or didn't have the money. Finally every thing fell into place and got it done about 4 days ago. I am still in the process of healing but I am really excited to see the results. I can already see a change thought the splint and bandages. I have literally read every review on here so I decided I should post my story as well.

Well the day of the surgery everything went really well. I went into surgery a little later than schedule and it lasted two hours. So I was out around 7 pm and my parents drove me back home. The first night I didn't have any pain but I still took my meds as instructed. I didn't sleep that much since I kept waking up because my throat was so sore and I kept needing to drink water. I think that was probably the worst part. I didn't really mind breathing through my mouth since I have always had breathing problems and had to breath through my mouth while I sleep, so it wasn't that much different.

The next day I went to see the doctor and they were really impressed as to how well I was doing. Barely any bruising or swelling and no pain. Over the next few days swelling has increased but I still have no bruising. I've also had headaches but I guess that's normal.

I've been trying to clean my nose as instructed but I'm terrified I am going to mess something up. I supposedly have dissolvable packing and stitches and I am not sure when this will be gone, but hopefully soon.

Okay so I just got my splint off today and I am so happy with my new nose!!!' It's still really really really swollen but slowly getting better. You a definately see the changes in my profile and front view. I keep stopping at every mirror twice still in kind of a shock. I feel like my nose is a little upturned but from I have heard, this will get better with time, so Im not too worried.
When they took the splint it off is was more uncomfortable than painful because you nose it's still so tender. My tip its still really swollen and it feels really hard to the touch. I found that my nose had a layer of dry skin and seemed very oily. As soon as I got home I took a long shower and lightly cleaned off my nose and that seemed to help remove the dead skin, lower the swelling and clear the stuffines of my nose a bit.

I've uploaded some pictures from my recovery and from today when the cast was removed.

Hi all! Today I am 10 days post op and to be completely honest, I am having a little bit of a hard time adjusting to my new nose. I feel like my face has completely changed. And to add to it I have lost my smile :(. I was hoping to be completely back to normal by this weekend and go to work but I'm sill having trouble breathing, still have a ton of swelling and I can barely move my lips. Every morning when I wake up the swelling gets a whole lot better, but by the end of the day, it's back. Even my lips are extremely swollen.

I've been cleaning my nose with cold cloths to kind of remove the oiliness and hopefully reduce swelling, but im not sure of this is helping. Does any body have any tips to reduce swelling?? Do I still need to sleep with my head elevated? Any tips on gettin my smile back??????

Hi all. I'm at day 13 post op and I am still having trouble getting used to my new nose. I hope it's just the swelling because its starting to make me really sad. I still can't move my upper lip or smile. I also called my doctor today to see if he had any tips on reducing swelling but all the nurse said was to keep my head elevated and ice. And wait till my next visit with him which will not be for another two weeks. I haven't actually talked or seen him since the day of the surgery which I think it's a bit odd.

I was supposed to be going back to work yesterday but I still don't feel comfortable walking around like this. My nose is still very swollen. I hope it gets better as the days go by.

Hi all. Just wondering if anyone knew any tips on removing black head from the nose after surgery???? It's starting to look terrible and I'm not really sure what to do!!! I've used peroxide, a mild soap the doctor gave me and even astringent and the arnica gel. Not sure what else to try....Any ideas??

Hi all. I am at day 20 post op and I am feeling pretty good. I still have a lot of swelling at the tip but I think it may be getting better with the arnica gel and pills. I think the swelling is going down but its really hard to tell. I just posted some pics. And by the way I still can't smile....

Hi all. So it's been 1 months since my surgery already and I am really happy with the results so far. I know that I still have a long way to go but I'm happy. I can finally smile again. Not completely normal but a lot better than before. I almost feel like i can do everything normal again. I actually went on a short bike ride and I felt great. I'll probably be heading back to the gym pretty shortly. I have returned to work and have gotten a lot of compliments from my co workers and friends as well. Some people can't even tell I had anything done. I know the changes are subtle but to me it was a huge change. Most people don't really pay attention to the little details of your face so they don't really see a huge difference so I'm happy about that. I didn't want my face to look completely different.

I've still been sleeping with my head above my heart and with pillows on my side so I don't turn over. I am terrified I hit my nose or something. Even just walking around, I get scared that someone is going to bump into my nose or hit me with a door or something. But I guess that fear will go away with time.

I've been cleaning my nose like usually and the blackheads have gotten a lot better. I actually went out and bought one of the spinning brushes by Olay and it came with a light scrub and its helped my skin and the blackheads on my nose a lot!!

Anyways. I got asked by someone to post Pre op pictures of my nose and I realized and I had none. I always hated my profile and always avoided takin pictures that way. The only one I found was the one taken by my doctor. I just posted the picture and you can really see the difference!!

So it's been around 3 months and a half and I can't say I love my nose. I'm not sure if its because its still early but I still don't completely love it. My nose looks crooked and swollen all the time. It looks different from one side to the other and my nostrils looks crooked from the bottom. Also, every time I smile I get a huge crease on top lip and I hate it. I'm actually ashamed of smiling. Anyways I just posted some pics. I'll be going to the doctor in a few weeks and I hope to get some resolution to all the questions I have. To be honest my doctor hasn't been of much help.

It's been almost five months since my surgery and I guess Im seeing a bit of improvement with the swelling. I did go see my doctor and I asked him about the crease and he acted as if he didn't know what I was talking about. He looked at my before pictures and tried to point out that I had a crease before my surgery which is not true. I also mentioned that I felt it looked crooked and he proceeded to say that if I wanted to get critical my eyes were crooked too. Oh well. Hopefully it gets better with time. I posted some pictures.