3 Weeks Post Op : Crooked Nose or Uneven Swelling?

Lindsay,

It is too soon to determine what the final outcome of your rhinoplasty surgery will be.  Swelling resolves in stages and after 6 weeks from surgery about 75% has resolved.  It is the final 25% that can take up to year.  It is this final 25% that can also be frustrating for patients because if the swelling is asymmetric, your nose may look crooked when in reality it could end up being straight.  I have had many patients contact me for revision rhinoplasty because of perceived imperfections or crookedness to their nose within the initial healing period- surgery performed by other plastic surgeons.  In most cases, I will refer them back for follow up with their surgeons and wait out the healing process.  The worst thing one can do is go in to try to fix a nose that doesn't need a correction.  Be patient with the healing process.  There can be no harm in waiting, only in rushing in and doing a second surgery prematurely. 

Once the year is up and healing is complete, it would be helpful to see pre operative photos.   If your nose was crooked before surgery, most likely it will never be fully straight as this is rarely possible.  It would be a good idea to compare your pre and post results.

Good luck and remember, be patient.

Sincerely yours,

Ran Y. Rubinstein, MD

Your nose appears to be slightly to the right; however, if you are only 3 weeks out from surgery, this could very well be swelling. I tell my patients that between 3 weeks and 8 weeks the nose changes quite a bit, sometimes day to day. The best thing to do is not to worry to early and allow the swelling to subside. If you are concerned, talk with your plastic surgeon about the asymmetry. Good Luck.

Hi. Three weeks after surgery is very early to judge if it is related to surgery or from uneven cartilage versus uneven healing. You would be best served by being patient and waiting for 6 months before a final diagnosis and determination can be made.

Best wishes,

Dr. Sajjadian

Your nose looks fine and will continue to improve overtime. You will need to be extremely slow to judge any result until one year has passed.

Dr.ES

I believe I had answered a very similar question many months back. You might look thru my library of answers to find what was a fairly detailed explanation of your situation.

In short, there is some reason to be concerned given what appears to be a slight drift in the position of your nasal bone. Since you are only 3 weeks out from surgery, there is recourse. If you were my patient, I would recommend digital exercises, which involve pushing on the nasal bone in a very specific manner to help realign the bone into a more favorable position. Check with your rhinoplasty surgeon before doing anything like this. But I have a feeling you will benefit from something along these lines.

3 Weeks Post Op : Crooked Nose or Uneven Swelling?
Hello,I had open rhino 3 weeks ago to narrow the upper 1/3 nasal 'bones',shaving a slight hump and the tip tweaked for refinement, since the swelling is going down it's now apparent that the upper 1/3 portion is deviating to one side making it look crooked (begining to look like a donkeys hind leg)the opposite side towards the tip is more swollen.my nose was straight pre op.uneven swelling?or should I be concerned? Thankyou!

You are so early in your recovery that I would not be getting too nervous about how things look.  The asymmetry that you are concerned about is very small and may be due to swelling but it may be due to the surgery itself.  I would recommend waiting until you are 6 months out and see how things look then. 

Not much that you can do right now other than be patient and wait and see.

Good luck.

Hi Lindsay,

Again, it does take time for nasal swelling to go down after rhinoplasty, and often times there is some minor asymmetry during the process.  It appears that your left nasal bone is more medial than your right.  Discuss this with your rhinoplasty surgeon. If it persists, a very small injection of hyaluronic acid on your left upper 1/3 will give your nose a straighter appearance while you wait for the swelling to resolve.

Good luck and be well.

Dr. P

Lindsay: Please refer to our answers to the same question 2 days ago. I'm sure your nose has not changed in the last 48 hours. Best of luck !