Hi, thanks for your question. Rhinoplasty surgery is quite disruptive of the normal supports within the nose, so part of the surgery is the use of sutures and grafts to reconstruct this support. Tip rhinoplasty involves reduction of the alar cartilages, but also the use of sutures and grafts to project and define the tip. Although a splint is generally used to splint broken bones and used post osteotomies, it can also be used generally for protection. In this case, it is a decision your surgeon makes based on their experience and operative plan. They aren't looking to annoy you, they simply want you to have the best possible result. Surgeons vary in how long they splint and tape- I prefer to keep splints in place for 10 days and tapes for a week after this. I hope this has been useful to you.