What kind of pain can I expect with rhinoplasty?

Hello and thank you for your question.  The
best advice you can receive is from an in-person consultation.  I recommend taking one week off from work/school after surgery.  This will allow enough time for bruising and swelling to start to resolve to a point where you can return to work/school.  Post-operative pain is not too bad compared to other types of surgery.   Make sure you specifically look
at before and after pictures of real patients who have had this surgery
performed by your surgeon and evaluate their results.   The most
important aspect is to find a surgeon you are comfortable with. I recommend
that you seek consultation with a qualified board-certified plastic surgeon who
can evaluate you in person.
Best wishes and good luck.
Richard G. Reish, M.D.  FACS
Harvard-trained plastic surgeon

Thanks for your question Karen.  Often my patients are pleasantly surprised that their rhinoplasty recovery and discomfort are much easier than they expected. During my 20+ years of rhinoplasty surgery, I have improved my technique to minimize post-op pain and provide the best results. There will be some discomfort after surgery with swelling and some discoloration around the nose and under the eyes. The most common complaint I hear after surgery is that patients can’t breathe through their nose until the packing is dissolved. Overall, our rhinoplasty patients do really well and tell us the recovery was well worth it for the results they receive.  Meet with board certified plastic surgeons with many years of experience with this surgery to help answer these questions for you.