Does revision rhinoplasty recovery take longer?

Yes, recovery is often longer after revision Rhinoplasty. The surgical area is no longer natural and untouched. The surgery is more difficult and often complex. Skin color changes are common and usually resolve with time.

Hello and thank you for your question. Swelling usually does take longer after revisions. The final results take at least 1.5 years for the swelling to fully resolve. This can require lots of patience and waiting. Steroid injections performed by your surgeon can be extremely helpful. I usually start steroid injections around 1 to 2 months after surgery and continue as needed. I recommend that you maintain close follow up with your qualified board-certified plastic surgeon who can evaluate you in person.

Best wishes and good luck.

Richard G. Reish, M.D.
Harvard-trained plastic surgeon

Revision rhinoplasty sometimes has little in common with a primary rhinoplasty. Depending on what transpired during the previous rhinoplasty(s)and the degree of scar tissue formed in combination with other factors, then ja unique surgery creates yet another new healing cycle. This is guaranteed to take at least one year and quite possibly two.

I typically tell my revision rhinoplasty patients that the recovery process is likely to take a bit longer than the original surgery for a variety of reasons. That said, I would not think it unusual that you are still having these symptoms 12 weeks later. However, it is critical that patients work closely with their revision surgeons to monitor the recovery process carefully and address possible complications as soon as they arise. If you are concerned, I encourage you to schedule an appointment with your surgeon for further assessment.

Hello and thanks for the question.  The duration of the recovery depends a bit on the extent of the surgery. No two revision rhinoplasties are the same. Some can be smaller procedures with relatively minimal modifications being made, while other revision surgeries can be quite extensive.  If you required extensive cartilage grafting etc...then yes it is not uncommon for the recovery period to last several weeks up to several months. And in fact the final result can take up to 2 years.  Hope that helps. Good luck

In general, revision rhinoplasty surgery is more complex, and longer, so there could be more swelling, or a prolonged healing period. That said, artful concealer usually gets patients back to social activities in 7-10 days. Thank you. Dr Joseph 

Great question and the answer is yes most certainly. This is especially true for open septorhinoplasties. Revision open septorhinoplasties can take even longer than 1 year for the swelling to clear and the final result to be apparent.
Dr. Callum Faris

The recovery is usually longer with revision surgeries. The more work that is done in a rhinoplasty,  in your case, cartilage grafting, the longer you have swelling. The color changes you are experiencing are common and should disappear over the next 6 months--hopefully. These color changes are due to altered blood supply to the skin, it's rare to have an infection.  Avoid smoking, excessive alcohol, and if possible very cold temperatures.
Good luck, you should be fine.

Revision rhinoplasty healing depends on the amount of work performed, but in general revision rhinoplasty takes longer to heal than primary rhinoplasty. Revision rhinoplasty healing time is longer because the scar tissue from the initial rhinoplasty slows the resolution of surgical swelling after revision rhinoplasty. If the necessary revision rhinoplasty changes are minimal then swelling may resolve more quickly, but if a moderate or extensive amount of work is required then a longer healing time should be anticipated.
Best of luck,
Dr. Kaniff

As complex as a primary rhinoplasty is, the revisionary rhinoplasty is even more of a challenge, both technically for the surgeon, as well as in the healing.  What you are describing is often seen.  Part of this persistent swelling and prolonged redness is due to the healing bed that is now more laden with scar tissue (or collagen) that is more susceptible to swelling, and diminished blood circulation. In my patients in the initial post-operative phase I recommend early massage, elevation, low salt diet, fresh pineapple, and other natural counter inflammatory agents to optimize the areas ability to properly heal.  

My best,

Sergio P. Maggi, MD, FACS

drmaggi.com

Austin Plastic Surgery Center

Revision rhinoplasty usually takes longer to heal as compared to primary rhinoplasty because of many reasons.  There is scar tissue from the previous surgery that may make the current swelling difficult to regress.  Usually it is difficult to know what's underneath the skin before the rhinoplasty so if the nose was made smaller during the initial rhinoplasty (very common) then support has to be built in with the revision with grafts and more cartilage which increases the swelling and healing time as well.  Patient with thicker, oilier skin usually swell more as do patients with darker skin types.  The redness over the nose is unusual but not uncommon.  It occurs from the increased bloodflow required for the healing and it may take up to 18 months for this to subside.  It is an unintentional side effect of revising a nose.  Sometimes, steroid injections to the area can help.