Re: Bulbous nose tip and hanging columella. Would I need a full rhinoplasty, and how long would recovery take?

Thank you for the questions. You are correct -- recovery from a rhinoplasty where all the of work is in the tip and columella is indeed faster and less involved than a full rhinoplasty.  If nothing is done to the bridge and the nasal bones, bruising is minimal. There will still be swelling in the tip of the nose, but this is mostly resolved in a week or so. Most plastic surgeons will reduce the fee for a "tip-only" rhinoplasty. In addition, there is less time required, so the costs for anesthesia and the operating room are less also. If you are interested in a consultation in the San Francisco or Marin County areas, please don't hesitate to give us a call.  Best of luck moving forward!#San Francisco Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty can be used to address your bulbous tip and hanging columella. The exact healing process depends a lot on what needs to be done to treat your concerns as it depends a bit on your anatomy. With just having surgery at your tip we would expect the swelling to be limited to just your tip area.I could give you a better idea of things including pricing after seeing photos of your nose, of course.In the meantime you can read more about hanging columella repair and see some before and after photos at my web reference link below

A bulbous nasal tip and hanging columella may require a full rhinoplasty if the nasal bridge is wide even without a hump. 

The tip can be refined as well as the columella through a closed approach without any visible scars. The closed approach can also reduce swelling and downtime.Kenneth Hughes, MDLos Angeles, CA

A columellar-plasty and a tip-plasty can both be performed at the same time. The price of the tip plasty is approximately half of a full rhinoplasty. It's important to note that the rest of the nose must be within balance of the new tip otherwise a full rhinoplasty is necessary. Since there are no osteotomies, a cast will not be required so there would be minimal bruising. There will be swelling in the tip but much less than a full rhinoplasty.

Tip and columella regions are often the areas with the most swelling. While you may not have as much bruising as work done on the dorsum, the tip swelling will probably persist for many months.

Your surgery can be limited to fixing your bulbous tip and hanging columella if that is all you need. Although the tip frequently takes longer to reach the final end result your immediate post-op recovery (such as obvious bruising) is usually shorter so you can get back to your normal life sooner. Cost will probably be less than a full rhinoplasty. An experienced specialist will clarify all of this.