I Broke my Nose Yesterday. Good Time for Nose Job?

The most important thing is making sure that your initial nose injury is taken care of. If you don’t have any nasal septal hematoma or if there is no significant deviation one does not need to do anything and then can re-evaluate at 6-8 weeks. If there is significant deviation or significant functional problems, one should have it fixed within the first 5-7 days. The earliest one should perform a rhinoplasty after a nasal fracture is probably 2-3 months after the injury and should be done at the hands of an experienced Board Certified Rhinoplasty Surgeon.

No! You should not get a nose job after breaking your nose. It is a better to have your nose reset by your ENT and let it heal for at least 3 - 6 months. After it has had some time to heal, then you can fix the cosmetic issues.

It is difficult to give you advice without examining you in person. If you were planning on having a rhinoplasty anyway, it would be necessary to wait for the swelling from the trauma to go down first.  If you were not planning on having a rhinoplasty right away, I would recommend having a closed nasal reduction within one week of the incident.  A great start would be to schedule a consultation with a board certified rhinoplasty specialist who has a great deal of experience. Thank you and I hope this helps.

Rhinoplasty is an operation of finesse. Right after a nasal fracture, there is usually swelling and bruising.This obscures the delicate nasal features that are assessed before and during rhinoplasty. In addition, the fractures in the nasal bones are usually irregular, random. If a nose requires osteotomies (controlled surgical breaks in the nasal bones) during rhinoplasty, a traumatic fracture can cause the surgical fractures to be uncontrolled.

Most surgeons will therefore wait 6-12 months after a nasal fracture before performing rhinoplasty. There are occasional exceptions to this rule.

Also note that the fracture should usually be repaired within 10 days of the injury. See a board certified plastic surgeon or otolaryngologist familiar with both fractures and rhinoplasty within a week of your injury. Good luck.

many borken noses ultimately need rhinoplasties.  the issue of weather a rhinoplasty can be done immediately after a broken nose is an interesting topic.  steve davidson, md (washingon, dc) published a paper discussing his expereince with this and it is cleare that in many situations this appraoch can be helpful.  it is also apparent that the appraoch needs to be customized for the patient based on his/her anatomy and the nature of the fracture.  getting insurance to pay for a rhinoplasty as a "treatment" for a fracture is a totally different issue.

 

by the way, the above comments relate to rhinoplasty as in restructuring the nose.  if we are talking about just reducing the bones (setting the fracture) this is usally done at about 2 wks when the swelling has resolved and the tiny bones are "sticky" and will stay put were they are placed.

It is certainly acceptable to undergo repair of the nasal fracture along with a rhinoplasty.  It is best to allow the swelling to resolve and schedule a consultation with a rhinoplasty specialist who also has ENT training, so that both your cosmetic and medically necessary surgeries can be done at the same time.  Just remember that a rhinoplasty is considered cosmetic and must be paid for by the patient.  Straightening a broken nose is often a medically related issue that is billed to the patient’s insurance.  

Doing a total nose change at the time of a bony fracture repair seems like a logical opportunity and it may be so. It would depend on how significant the nasal fracture is and what type of symptoms it is causing. It would also depend on what type of aesthetic rhinoplasty changes you need. You should get an early evaluation now but it will be necessary to let the swelling and bruising subside for at least four to six weeks before deciding whether a combined approach is advised.

If your nose is broken and there is no collection of blood along the septum, then you can wait to have surgery to repair the fracture and address your cosmetic concerns at the same time.  You should wait a minimum of six weeks, to allow the acute swelling to resolve.  It will make the surgery technically less challenging for the surgeon and will make the recovery faster for you! Good luck!

 

 

 

 

The time of acute injury is not the best time for rhinoplasty. Grossly displaced bones should be placed back in position as close as possible and then allowed to heal before further refinement.Think of it this way, it is easier to carve and sculpt a work of art from a solid piece of marble then to try and create one by piecing fragments together. 

One other note of caution, if you have always wanted to pursue rhinoplasty and this injury is the deciding factor then go for it. If you are hoping that because you have a fracture you will get your health insurance to cover it then you will likely be disappointed as health insurance does not cover nasal fracture repair for cosmetic improvement. Good luck!

While it is often a good idea to do functional surgery (such as septoplasty) at the same time as a fracture repair, cosmetic surgery should not be done.  There is always going to be some swelling of the nose related to the trauma which will effect the appearance at the time of surgery.  This potentially will lead to a less than optimal result.  As for timing for the fracture, this should be done immediately.  If you let it heal crooked, it will be much harder to achieve a nice result in the future.