I am 16 months post-op revision rhinoplasty and want to know if swelling will decrease? (Photos)

Question

I had a revision rhinoplasty and setumplasty 16 months ago. My tip was reduced as it was too prominent. After my revision my nose is still quite swollen looking and I have scar tissue the the left side. I recently saw my surgeon and he said that he wants to wait till the 2 year mark to fix the scar tissue with an injection. Will the swelling stop and is the scar tissue fixable? I'm scared I made a mistake revising the tip of my nose.

Roger Tsai, MD · Answer

Great question!  It is true that the swelling from rhinoplasty can sometimes be prolonged and everyone has a different protocol with rhinoplasty injection.  I generally start my injections as early as 6-8 weeks if needed to help reduce the scar tissue right away before it really starts forming, but your surgeon may have his/her reasons to start later.  Scar tissue is fixable, may require a re-excision, but I would speak closely with your surgeon to see what his next steps are for your treatment plan.Best of luck and hope this information helps!
- Dr. Roger Tsai  @DrRogerTsai
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

Thomas A. Mustoe, MD, FACS · Answer

It is true that after revision rhinoplasty the swelling takes longer to resolve than after primary rhinoplasty and I have seen changes as long as 2 years.  However, there is no reason to not start monthly steroid injections now.  If the swelling doesn’t improve after 3 months then another revision  needs to be considered.  Unfortunately some patients are more prone to developing scar tissue with permanent swelling than others, and that would be a risk even with another revision.

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

I have seen swelling in secondary surgery continue to settle over 5 years.  Steroids can be injected before 2 years.  Most surgeons would wait for approximately 6 weeks before a first injection.  These are usually most beneficial in the supra tip area.  The full side of your tip may be due to greater curvature of the cartilage of the tip on this side and steroid injections will not change this.  Your surgeon will be able to describe to you what he found and what the tip cartilages looked like at the time of surgery.

I am 16 months post-op revision rhinoplasty and want to know if swelling will decrease? (Photos)

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