Should I be worried about mouth breathing after rhinoplasty?

Hello, and thank you for your question. Yes, depending on the surgeon, there could be some nasal packing placed inside the nose after surgery, which can make it more difficult to breathe. In many cases, splints or nasal tubes may be used in place of nasal packing which may allow for better airflow and breathing. I recommend scheduling an in-person consultation with a reputable board-certified facial plastic surgeon, particularly one with a strong rhinoplasty portfolio. You should discuss all your concerns with your surgeon ahead of surgery so you can have a smoother recovery process and achieve the best possible outcome.

Since we do not pack the nose, there is usually a little air that gets through. But even though you're quite congested, it does not affect your health at all. Some patients just feel bad if they can't breathe through the nose, but it will definitely start getting better after a week.

Most surgeons which perform significant number of rhinoplasties, will place minimal packing into the nose after rhinoplasty. In case that septum was operated on due to deviation or for harvest of cartilage grafts, special nasal tubes (Doyle splint) are placed to provide air passage after surgery. You should discuss these issues with your surgeon ahead of surgery. Good luck.

Rhinoplasty patients will have to breathe through their mouth frequently and this can cause irritation and dryness of the lining of the lips and mouth. Therefore, it is convenient to rest and have some type of entertainment: magazines, books or movies, etc. in the first two or three days. At this point we are going to be a bit tired, which is also when the inflammation has reached its limit and then begins to subside.
In this way it is determined that breathing through the mouth is part of the recovery process and after a few days you will have already forgotten that you had to experience discomfort when breathing.

Nose breathing versus mouth breathing: you will be quite stuffy after rhinoplasty. But if there is no packing you may not be totally blocked, but only partially. But even if you are totally blocked and can only mouth breathe this would not affect your health or your oxygen saturation. It may be a strange feeling and in some people it may produce a panicky response, but this is more mental than physical. If your nose was completely sewn shut and you could only breathe through your mouth you would do fine and have the same oxygen saturation as breathing through the nose or breathing through the nose and mouth combined.