Can using a small cotton swab to clear mucus or sneezing through mouth loudly after a cold be harmful 6 weeks after rhinoplasty?

Hi, It has been almost 5-6 weeks since I've had a rhinoplasty, 2 weeks ago I started getting a cold, and up to now I have been sneezing through my moth loudly every now and then. As a result I have tried to cleared my mucus gently with a cotton swab. I did make the cotton on the cotton swab smaller just to not make one nostril bigger than the other? Is it bad, is it going to make my nose bigger? My doctor never recommended a solution to clean my nose with.