There are two broad categories of things to consider when deciding whether or not to resume a particular activity after nasal surgery. The first is swelling. Immediately following the surgery there is a great deal of fluid in the soft tissues of the nose. While this swelling will ultimately dissipate if it persists for a long time, it might pose an increased chance of scar tissue forming under the skin. For this reason I request that patients avoid activities that might worsen the swelling such as those where the head is down or there is a great deal of heat generated which increase blood flow to the nose. Activities such as using a reclining bicycle or a treadmill without too much resisitance are OK and I allow my patients to do these things after six days. There is going to be some degree of swelling within the soft tissues for many months because the lymphatic channels which normally serve to remove such fluid are not yet reestablished. I do not think patients need to worry about activities during the extended post operative period because of this long term swelling unless they identify a specific activity or behavior that causes a great deal of acute change; in which case they should avoid that specific thing.The second category has to do with trauma to the nose causing the nasal bones or cartilage to shift. We know that after 8 weeks the nose will be fairly well set, obtaining a significant amount of strength and that is the period that I allow my patients to resume contact sports. After 8 weeks there would be only a slightly greater chance of things shifting after trauma thanwould have been the case before the operation. For this particular instance I would recommend having your daughter refrain until the 8 week mark at which time she can go back without restriction. However, I have one piece of advice to share...do not let her exist at the bottom of a pyramid. I've had two patients over the years break their noses from girls above them falling and landing on their noses with their shoes!
