Prematurely freaking out about wide round nose 10 days after rhinoplasty? How do I 'mould' the shape post surgery? (Photo)

Question

I had open rhinoplasty on my asymmetrical nose and bulbous tip 10 days ago. I was very swollen and my nose very wide right after surgery. (Is that normal?) While it has settled in my face I don't feel like my new nose is anywhere near what I wanted... A nice refined tip. I know there is swelling, but how much can the tip shape actually change as it goes down, will I get anything close to my goal? My surgeon said I should massage it to 'mould' it. How do I do that to get to my ideal? Help!

Jeffrey Epstein, MD, FACS · Answer

Yes, your nasal tip looks appropriately swollen for this far out of surgery.  I usually will start steroid injections to the tip and or supratip region at 8 to 10 days to push along the resolution of swelling and more importantly to help prevent scarring in these regions that can accentuate the appearance of fullness.Massaging has over the past 2 years become a valuable adjuvant, and I instruct my patients to apply gentle but firm pressure to those areas 10 times a day for 1 up to 3 minutes.

Michael T. Somenek, MD · Answer

At 10 days postop you are still very early in the healing process. Swelling is still present throughout the nose and will continue to decrease over the ensuing weeks to months. From your preop photo, it does appear that you have medium thickness skin which is a known risk factor for persistent swelling in the postoperative period. I will typically recommend nasal taping in the initial postop period to aid in the resolution of swelling. I would make sure that you have consistent followup with your rhinoplasty specialist to monitor the nose for changes and address any concerns you have along the way.

Daniel Greenwald, MD (in memoriam) · Answer

Swelling is a part of every rhinoplasty and this can take several weeks to begin to resolve.  You will not see your final result for up to 6 months.Be patient, sleep on extra pillows to keep your head above your heart at night, and see your surgeon every 4-6 weeks.  A series of properly matched photos taken over time will help you see the evolution of your result and will help you and your surgeon define when you have reached a healing plateau.  At that point if you are not happy you can consider a revision procedure.  In my practice I recommend waiting a full year before secondary rhinoplasty.

Donald Nunn, MD (retired) · Answer

You are still in the early post op period and swelling is normal.  Discuss with you surgeon about taping the nose;  sometimes this will help with swelling.   Good luck.  Donald R. Nunn MD  Atlanta Plastic Surgeon.

Prematurely freaking out about wide round nose 10 days after rhinoplasty? How do I 'mould' the shape post surgery? (Photo)

Answers (4)

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