Phantom bad smell and numbness in nose years after rhinoplasty?

Question

I had a nose job done in 2017 at the age of 17. Back then I experienced some bad smell in my nose, which I was told is normal. However, every once in a while, very rarely, I feel the same type of smell very faintly. I don't know if this is possible. Maybe it's psychological. Also, the tip of my nose never stopped feeling weird, kind of numb. I can defiately feel it when I touch it, but it's not like touching any other part of my skin. Does this mean the surgery was somehow done improperly?

Eric M. Joseph, MD · Answer

This is fairly common during the early healing period, and nasal saline washes are helpful for removing nasal mucous that may become thickened and foul. If it’s occasional now, see if it gets better with large volume saline nasal washes. Hope this helps. Dr Joseph

Robert Ciardullo, MD · Answer

The smell in your nose, and the numbness of the tip: on rare occasion I have had patients mention a smell in the nose, but this is usually during the early postoperative period is probably due to thick mucus which does not get completely cleaned out or perhaps to some drainage from the sinuses that had built up when the nose was swollen inside. As far as the numbness of the tip, there is usually numbness in the first few weeks to months after rhinoplasty. Some of this numbness may persist for a long period of time depending on the type of rhinoplasty that was performed. During the surgery tiny nerve endings under the skin get cut and have to grow back for the sensation to return to normal. In some cases this may not occur completely and there may be areas of patchy reduced sensation though probably not complete numbness . There is no harm in that. It just means that little nerve endings did not completely grow back

Phantom bad smell and numbness in nose years after rhinoplasty?

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Phantom bad smell and numbness in nose years after rhinoplasty?

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Everything you need to know about Rhinoplasty

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.