When can I blow my nose after nose surgery and nasal cleaning? Septorhinoplasty, turbinate reduction and perforation repair.

Question

I had a septorhinoplasty, turbinate reduction and septal perforation repair. I am 9 days post op and had the stents and bandages removed yesterday. I could breathe great for like 12 hours but now I’m having to rely on mouth breathing because my nose is so scabby inside. The consultant has said just to use a saline rinse once a day but I feel that this just isn’t enough. I forgot to ask about blowing my nose, when would I be able to blow my nose without damaging the septal perforation repair?

Yannis Alexandrides, MD, FACS · Answer

The recommendation I give to my patients is to wait 6 weeks after your surgery before blowing your nose.

Julian Rowe-Jones, MBBS, FRCS (Eng), FRCS (ORL) · Answer

I would recommend you visit your surgeon again as it may be possible to have the inside of your nose cleaned gently to help.  Saline sprays and gels and maybe ointments and creams can also help protect and moisturise your septum to help healing and minimise crusting.  I think gentle blowing after two weeks is OK.

Anup Dhir, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question.  Usually I tell my patients not to blow the nose for about 2 weeks after surgery, but this may depend on the extent of the surgery. It is always best to follow your surgeon's post operative instructions.

When can I blow my nose after nose surgery and nasal cleaning? Septorhinoplasty, turbinate reduction and perforation repair.

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