4.5 Weeks After Rhinoplasty, my Tip is Too High and Nostrils Show Too Much, What Should I Do?

You need to have patience with your body as it begins to heal. The skin, bone and cartilage are all traumatized during surgery. Inflammation (swelling) is the normal response and will help your nose to heal and look beautiful in the end. Right now, concentrate on other things you like to do and let your nose and under eyes take the time to heal. It can take up a year for your final results. I hope this helps.

Thank you for your question,
4 weeks of post operative is still too early to determine if the result is or not what you expected.approximately at the end of the 3rd or 4th month the back of the nose should have been quite de-inflamed, the tip is softer and the mobility of the nose (and face) will be more natural.
 Rhinoplasty is an intervention with a long postoperative period that usually tests the patience of the patient. Unfortunately, little can be done to accelerate the healing process to see the results in a short time.
please be patient !

I read your concerns.

You're still very early in the post-operative period, and your tip may still drop a bit with time. If your nostril margins are retracted causing too much nostril show, a well performed Injectable Filler treatment may be helpful in lowering the height of your nostrils. My personal preference is to use Silikon-1000, an off-label filler for permanent results. It's tough to tell if this would be appropriate for you without a photo showing your concern.

I hope this is helpful for you.

Regards from NJ.

The nose undergoes significant changes in the many weeks after rhinoplasty. At 3 months you will have a general idea of its final coniguration, at 6 months a better idea, and by a year you will see 90% of your result. Much to early to judge now. The tip may very well drop with time (as is most typical). Stay in touch with your surgeon. Keeping the conversation open will suit you best!

It's hard to advise without seeing your photo. Generally though i would say you are panicking to early. The tip usually settles as more swelling resolves. Talk to your surgeon.

Before and after pictures would help us to give you good answers. The rate of revision for rhinoplasty is about 10-15%based on the study. You discuss your concerns with your surgeon.

You are very early in the healing process. Depending on what was done, you tip will probably drop over the next few months. Please be patient. Nose surgery patients tend to check their nose way too often. Relax and let it heal.

Most often it can pay to wait and see if the rhinoplasty result will settle in, however if the tip is quite high and all nostril it can make sense to revise now while the skin envelope may retain some softness. If it really is as bad as you say, then see another surgeon and get help right away.
Best of luck,
peterejohnsonmd

I wish I could give you more guidance, but without pictures it is hard to give you an opinion as to whether these concerns are temporary and expected from the swelling , or they are from the actual surgery.

All these things you are describing are part of the swelling/healing process, but within reason. In other words, if the tip is really too "piggy" and the nostrils are very asymmetric, even when the swelling goes down the issues will not resolve.

Again, if you have before and after pictures, it will help.

Michel Siegel, MD

If you are only 4.5 weeks out of surgery, I feel that this is still early to make any hard and fast outcomes on your nose.  Your nose continues to go through changes over the course of the inital 6-12 months after surgery.  I would be patient with your inital changes, as your tip may drop a few millimeters.