How Long Do I Have to Wait After Rhinoplasty to Go Tanning?

My general rule of thumb for prolonged sun exposure after surgery is 6 weeks.  However, if you desire a tanned look, the spray method is much safer and kinder to your skin in the long run.  Although this is a hard concept to grasp for someone in their teens or 20's,  excessive sun exposure prematurely ages skin and dramatically increases risk of skin cancer.

I am never an advocate of tanning, and would urge you to try a self tan or spray tan.  However, if this is not possible wait at least until you are done healing, a few months.
 

Not that I'm a big fan of tanning but my guess is that you could resume facial tanning 2-3 months after surgery. You certainly could go back earlier if you protected your face with a towel or something similar. You should definitely check with your own surgeon though. No sense in messing up. Good luck.

In general, your nose has less natural protection from the sun right after rhinoplasty. All the tissue was just elevated off of the internal structure of the nose, including the bone and cartilage, and blood vessels were coagulated in order to do this. There fore we weakened the nose's natural defense since we weakened its blood supply. This blood supply grows back , but it can take quite a bit of time to happen. In the first 6 weeks, your nose is less naturally resistant to UV rays and is more likely to burn and get discolored. Also, since your nose is mostly numb early on, its less likely that you are to notice the problem until its too late. I recommend you stay out of the sun as much as possible in the first 6 weeks after surgery. If you are in the sun for short periods of time, stay in the shade, and wear a big hat and a good sunblock. Do not wear sun glasses in the first 6 weeks, or any glasses for that matter, if osteotomies were performed, (breaking of the nasal bones). You can get your nose wet as soon as the splint comes off, but I would be careful about chlorinated pools early on until the incision is fully healed an more mature, as the chlorine can irritate the incision. The gym and anything that increases you blood pressure will increase the swelling of your nose and delay your healing time. I recommend 6 weeks for this as well.Best Wishes, Pablo Prichard, MD

When is it safe to go to the tanning salon after surgery? It's NEVER safe. Tanning salons offer a toxic brew of UV exposure that is far more cancer causing than natural light. You will age more rapidly and significantly raise your risk of skin cancer. I would echo the comments of my colleagues and tell you that tanning should be avoided at all costs.
Best,Stephen Weber MD, FACS

When the skin is healing on the inside it will be sun sensitive on the outside and burn faster that what your were accustomed to. The nose is well healed within four weeks, but as long as there is stiffness in the skin and tip, often for six months or more you may burn more easily. Care and sunscreen is best when starting out.
Best of luck,
peterejohnsonmd

You need to wait forever!  You obviously care about your looks or you wouldn't have gone to the trouble of having a rhinoplasty.  Now you want permission to destroy your skin with ultraviolet light.  You need to put on UVA/UVB blocking sunscreen every day, avoid the sun as much as possible and certainly do not visit a tanning booth.  If you want some color, get a spray tan.

I cannot recommend tanning but, if you must, wait 6 weeks and use a good sunscreen for 6 months and preferably forever.