Does smoking have an effect on a Septoplasty / Nasal reconstruction?

Question

It's been over a month since my surgery and I started smoking cigarettes here and there once and a while. I was really worried if it would be effect by the healing or even the tissue repairing or recovery? Obviously it is not recommended to smoke for ANYTHING but will this do any major damage to my recovery process? thoughts? Thanks!

Jon Kurkjian, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question. Smoking will, without a doubt, cause a delay in healing in the delicate tissues of the nose and septum. In our office, we require patients to be nicotine free for 4 weeks prior to surgery and for at least 4 weeks post op.

Sapna A. Patel, MD · Answer

Smoking in general adversely affects healing and can prolong recovery. It affects the blood supply to tissue so that you could potentially be more prone to complications such as delaying wound healing, septal abscess, other infection, septal perforation, etc. It is difficult to quantify the 'amount of damage' that it will do, and additional factors play a role such as the technique of surgery, your overall healing, etc. If any of these are suboptimal then smoking could tip you over the edge and make it more likely that you have a specific complication.

Does smoking have an effect on a Septoplasty / Nasal reconstruction?

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