Is It Normal to Realign Nose Without a Splint?

Most rhinoplasty surgeons will put an external splint made of aluminum, plaster, plastic, etc on the exterior of the nose after a nasal fracture or after the nose has been surgically broken. The purpose of this splint is to protect the nose and hold the nasal bones in position as they heal.
It is possible that the internal packing repositioned the nasal bones into proper alignment and that an external splint was not needed in your case. Visit with your surgeon about your concerns.

Anytime the nose is broken it must be reset. It sounds as though the patient has had a closed nasal reduction, which does not work as well as an open reduction of a nasal fracture. Full medial and lateral osteotomies need to be performed to straighten and realign the nasal bones after a fracture. No packing is necessary inside the nose. Packing is painful and has caused toxic shock syndrome in the past. Antibiotics and very strong pain relievers have to be used if the nose is packed. Nasal packing went out of favor over 20 years ago. It is important to have a splint placed across the bridge of the nose after the nasal bones have been reset. This is done under a general anesthesia and not done in the office.

Nasal fractures could be aligned easily if there is minimal comminution of the nasal bones.
I would like to keep a nasal splint in place to prevent movement of the pieces and to maintain the reduction. Think about it as having an arm splint or cast following a fracture.