Swelling of cartilage after surgery?

You are still very early out from your surgery and you likely still have significant soft tissue swelling to the inside and outside of your nose.  Swelling to the internal nose can temporarily cause difficulty nasal breathing, but should resolve with time.  In addition, dried blood/mucus inside the nostrils can block airflow as well. If the breathing does not seem to be getting better, you should discuss the concerns with your surgeon. 

Cartilage does not swell, but the soft tissues surrounding the cartilage does. Typically, you should be able to breath better than you ever have following the removal of your internal splints at one week if you had a septoplasty and a turbinoplasty. It can swell back up some like taking your finger out of the doe, but this will completely resolve in six weeks. If not, you have a structural problem that was either not addressed, needs addressing, or was created during your surgery.

Hi and welcome to our forum!Congratulations on your recent surgery! After rhinoplastic surgery, it is not uncommon to experience obstruction of your nasal airway for a short period of time. Internal swelling of the soft tissue lining of the nose will shrink your nasal cavity. This usually subsides over several weeks. I recommend that you speak to your plastic surgeon as he / she may offer a nasal spray to improve your nasal breathing for the short term.Best wishes!