Upturned Nose - 4 Days After Surgery? (photo)

It is not abnormal for the nose to be turned up following rhinoplasty surgery. In general, the tip will relax to its final position within 2 weeks following your procedure. I would recommend communicating any immediate post-operative concerns to your surgeon, as they know the extent of your procedure and exactly what was performed. I hope this helps, and I wish you the best of luck.

A combination of the tape and the swelling immediately after rhinoplasty will cause the tip of your nose to appear excessively rotated in the early post-operative period.  With time, as the swelling resolves, the tip of your nose should descend.  

You can expect your nose to be pulled upward by the tapes and splint. Once they are removed the tip will start to come back down again. No need for concern at this point.

   At this point, the splint can cause distortion as well as swelling.  I would not be assessing anything at this point.  Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

The splint, tape, sutures (inside) and edema (swelling) all make the nose seem upturned.  Even when the splint is first removed, the nose will look upturned.  It takes a week after the splint is off to drop a little and will drop more for weeks and months.  This is a time for blind faith.  If you did your research and chose a good surgeon and had good pre-op visits to be sure you are on the same page, you should have nothing to worry about.  For now, ice, ice ice (if that's what your surgeon recommends).

At 4 days after surgery there is a lot of swelling which pushes the tip up.  The tip will come down considerably after the swelling subsides.  Don't worry too much as watching it 50x/day only adds to the anxiety. 

It is not uncommon for the nose to appear upturned this early after surgery due to swelling and taping.  Your nose is still very swollen.  Your tip should come down with time.