I had a slight hump in my nose as well as a drooping nose tip. I felt like I had a witch-like appearance. I had the hump filed down to more of a perfect angle, the upper bones broken and narrowed a bit and cartilage added to the tip to prevent it from hanging downward.
I experienced almost no bleeding after the surgery. I had very little bruising. I expected black eyes, however, I only had slight yellowing under the eyes, and it went away before the week had ended. I was able to stop taking pain pills after 2 days. I was diligent with my meds the first 2 days to prevent pain, but by the 3 day I was only taking an antibiotic. Sometimes I could breathe quite easily, while other times I felt a little stuffy. There was never complete blockage like I had expected. He did not pack my nose internally. Instead, I had a cast (for lack of proper verbiage) covering my nose. After one week I was able to have to the cast and the stitches under my nose removed. It was amazing to see the difference! What bothered me the most after surgery were the dried bits of blood inside my nose that I couldn't get out. I wanted to blow my nose, but of course, I couldn't. It also bothered me that I had lots of clogged pores after a week of my nose being covered with tape. I guess it's a minimal price to pay for a new nose. :-) The one thing that truly surprised me was how long it took me to feel like myself again. I thought being off pain meds after 2 days would allow me to bounce back quickly. However, I would think I had energy and felt great, but when I got up to move around the house, I would tire very easily. It wasn't until day 6 post op that I actually got out of the house and didn't take a nap all day.
I'm 2 and a half weeks out of surgery, and the swelling is continuing to subside. As the swelling lessens, the pain in my nose is also dissipating. As of the now the tip is still fairly sore, but since there are still stitches inside, that's understandable.
My experience with rhinoplasty was an extremely pleasant one, although I'm sure that most of that is due to a fabulous surgeon. I am excited, and can't wait to see the final results.