Cold sore outbreak during rhinoplasty recovery?

Hi:Thanks for your question. Its a good point. Rhinoplasty or any procedure on an area that is prone to herpes outbreak can result in a re-activation of the virus. The good new is that the treatment (pre-treatment with an anti-viral) is very very safe and standard in procedures like peels or lasers. I would contact your provider and ask for an RX that you would take starting a few days prior to your procedure

Yes any surgery can stir up cold sores unfortunately. Since rhinoplasty is surgery and causes trauma (controlled trauma!) to the body, it too can be the cause of them. Is it common? No, it's very uncommon in fact. I've seen it once in thousands of rhinoplasties and there it had started a few days before her surgery from the stress of thinking about it! It had no effect on the eventual outcome, but her recovery was a bit worse than had it not happened.