Will Massaging the Nose After Rhinoplasty Help?

Rhinoplasty surgery
consists of a series of delicate maneuvers designed to alter the appearance of
the nose. These often consist of fine structural sutures and placement of
cartilage grafts. Manipulation of the nose can result in disruption of these
structures and displacement of cartilage grafts. For this reason, we generally avoid
nasal massage following rhinoplasty. 

Hello and thank you for your question. I never recommend massage or taping for any of my patients after surgery. In my opinion, this can be damaging to the underlying grafts. I recommend that you seek consultation with a qualified board-certified plastic surgeon who can evaluate you in person.

Best wishes and good luck.

Richard G. Reish, M.D.
Harvard-trained plastic surgeon

Following your procedure your surgeon may prescribe nasal massage type therapy to help with the resolution of swelling and therefore reduce recovery time. It is vital to check with your surgeon before performing any physical therapy or massage after your surgery. In general, any recommended massage pressure must be firm enough to smooth any lump or swelling caused by oedema (fluid) or healing tissue (immature scar or bone) but NOT so hard as to cause pain, tenderness, bruising or deformity to the delicate underlying operated tissues. A vital precaution to remember is whenever you apply pressure to an area of the nose there should be no significant movement of other areas of your nose. The rest of the nose must be securely supported with other fingers to stop excessive or harmful movement under the effect of the manipulation.
I don’t recommend my patients perform any massage or exercise without my direct instruction as Excessive pressure, twisting or bending of the nose can cause damage leading to contour irregularities. You should seek advice from your treating doctor. 

Hi,
In general, patient's are advised to refrain from manipulating their nose after surgery. Many rhinoplasties require precise placement of grafts and sutures and massage or other manipulation of the nose can compromised the final results. Your surgeon will know exactly what he/she did during the rhinoplasty and if they recommend gently massage or pressure then it is safe to follow their post-operative instructions; but unless you are explicitly told to massage the nose, don't. 
All the best,
Mehdi Sina, MD

This is a good question but tricky.  First I recommend you ask your surgeon as each doctor has their own protocol.  While massaging can have some mild benefit in reducing swelling the downsides in my opinion out weigh the benefits.  In the hands of an untrained professional you can shift and mold the nose in an unfavorable way and hence I do not have my patients massage after surgery.  Your surgery should not require massage in order to get a beautiful outcomeGood LuckDr Rahban

Dear Rhino7,As a rhinoplasty surgeon that performs a good number of revision, or redo, rhinoplasty procedures I must say that massage is an important component of my improved result.  Many of these patients looking for a secondary rhinoplasty have firm, and prominent areas that they feel is unattractive and not the result that they expected- often this in the tip. I find that in many cases they where never instructed to massage by the primary surgeon. Perhaps this is due to the way the surgeon 'engineered' the procedure, and that they are concerned that it may disrupt the work performed. I often tell my post-op patients that if it is tender and firm, it will be prominent. By careful massage I believe that I can have the patient better control the amount, and the presentation of collagen (scar) that will form in the operative bed during the tissue "remodeling" phase.  I feel that for a superior, more natural result this understanding, and effort is vital to a optimal result. Timing, the details of how to massage, and the areas to massage are all instructed and modified during different phases in the healing period by me in the follow-ups post-op.  Thus the importance of  follow-ups as part of ensuring optimized healing.  Since the rhinoplasty is a surgery of extreme detail, and of millimeters- I feel scar control is vital to the result.  However my post-operative management is based on how I construct the procedure in surgery. Please discuss this matter with your surgeon for the best steps to take in optimizing your result.I hope this helps,Sergio P. Maggi, MD, FACSdrmaggi.comAustin Plastic Surgery Center