Recovery Time After Rhinoplasty w/ Rib Cartilage Graft?

At 6 days post-op, the things you describe sound normal. You should be seeing your surgeon in a day or two; if not, keep an eye on the area of pinkness near your rib graft donor site. This sounds like normal bruising, but if it enlarges, becomes tender or warm to touch. or you develop fever or chills, it might signify infection. I assume you are on antibiotics, but this does not guarantee "no infection," it just diminishes the risk of this. If you are concerned, see your surgeon before your scheduled recheck!

Get activity recommendations from your surgeon. Best wishes!

Only six days after surgery, you should expect temporary chances such as numbness, tingling, ext.  If you have any specific concerns, you should address these with your surgeon.  I would assume that you have a post op visit scheduled soon as you are only six days after surgery.  As long as you do not have fever, trouble breathing or pain out of proportion to the surgery that you had, you likely do not have any immediate need for concern.

 

Good Luck.

In general, almost all noses are numb right after a rhinoplasty. In most cases its the tip that is numb, but this numbness can extend down to the upper lip, and in rare cases some of the teeth. There are nerves that are cut and stretched during a rhinoplasty, and it takes a long time for those nerves to start working again. This is true of an open as well as closed rhinoplasty, although it tends to be more extensive in open rhinoplasty. This could also be more extensive if a septoplasty is performed at the same time. A revision rhinoplasty is a much harder surgery with a lot of internal scarring to cut through. This can also be a reason for prolonged numbness. This, along with the swelling, gives you a stiff, plastic type feel, and can give you an odd smile. However, the nerves will start working and again, and your nose stiffness will go away with time. As the nerves grow back, you may feel some tingling, itchiness and on occasion pain. This takes in most cases months, but can take years in rare cases. Extremely rarely, the numbness is permanent, although I have never seen such as case.Best Wishes,Pablo Prichard, MD

The recovery from rib harvesting definitely adds some discomfort and prolongs the recovery time from a rhinoplasty. It may take a few weeks for the rib discomfort to improve.

Recovery from rhinoplasty is typically about a week, though the rib graft will change things quite a bit. The ribs have multiple muscular attachments and the soreness may linger for many weeks. Full exercise may be delayed for four to six weeks without tremendous resolve. The pinkness surrounding the graft site deserves your doctor's attention.
Best of luck,
peterejohnsonmd