Healing After 6 Rhinoplasties

If you are still unhappy after multiple rhinoplasties you must consider a couple of possibilities:


1. Are your goals realistic
2. Are you choosing the best possible surgeon for your procedures

Yes, you're correct that with increased surgery on your nose, the tissue healing generally takes longer. The normal lymphatic channels that help divert excess tissue fluid are also more limited with increasing surgery.

With time the swelling should resolve but will likely evolve over the course of a few years.

You are correct in that the healing would be expected to take a lot longer after multiple rhinoplasties than after a single or repeat procedure. The tissues are more scarred and healing takes longer as does the swelling to resolve. If you had rib cartilage and fascia I would expect a much longer healing time.

There are two rules with multiple rhinoplasties:1. The more surgeries the longer the swelling and healing;  2. The more surgeries less changes("improvements") you can expect.

You are heading for a "nasal disaster" if you consider to have more surgeries. Pick one of the "super stars" in Rhinoplasty Surgeries, send them your picture and see what their opinion is: Names to consider in the USA: Dr. Constantian, Dr.Gunter .

Good luck!

 I have performed Rhinoplasty and Revision Rhinoplasty for over 20 years and yes, the more the nose is opearted upon...the longer the healing time will be, IMHO, after each subsequent Revision Rhinoplasty.  Your nose may have residual swelling for up to 2 years if this is your 6th or 7th Rhinoplasty.  Yikes, that's a large number of surgeries, IMO.

Six surgeries is an awful lot for a nose, and I shudder to think what your poor skin is going through.  If more and more surgery does not provide what you want you might want to consider revising your expectations.  Seek the opinions of several experienced surgeons to be sure you are on a track that has a chance for success. 

 

Each procedure will yield additional scarring and disrupt more lymphatic and venous drainage channels.  This will lead to slower and slower healing, longer and longer recovery time, and higher infection risk.  Less blood supply also interferes with graft incorporation and stability. Hopefully with the addition of rib cartilege the results will be sturdy and sufficient this time around. 

You need to stop asap in having more rhinoplasties as the results will likely get worse rather than better after this many tries.  Please consider where you are now, and whether it isn't something you can't live with.  Perfection isn't possible after 6 operations on any area of the body, especially the nose!