Unhappy with Results - Should I Get a 2nd Rhinoplasty?

When I had my rhinoplasty, I noticed swelling for 18 months! It is very common to have swelling early in the healing process. Swelling can be affected by your diet (salt and alcohol especially), activity, and even your position when you sleep. I would not recommend considering revision for at least another 9 months. You can try taping your nose at night to minimize swelling, and sometimes steroid injections are helpful- you can talk to your surgeon about different options to help you. Keep in mind if you were totally happy with your nose now, you would probably not be pleased when all is healed!

Give your nose a minimum of 6 months to heal before making  a decision, but you may ultimately want a secondary, as your nose appears to have quite a bit of projection.

I know it is hard to be patient, but you must wait for an entire year after rhinoplasty before you really see the changes made during surgery.  Additionally, it takes one year for the scar tissue to completely soften so that any revision surgery can obtain a predictable result.  The WORST thing you can do right now is have another surgery.

It is normal for some swelling to still be present even 3 months after surgery and the skin has still not contracted down to conform to the underlying bone and cartilage which was shaped during rhinoplasty.

it can take up to one year for all of the swelling to go away from the tip of your nose. It is best to wait at least that long even if a revision is necessary since this could make your result worse if you had surgery sooner. I would follow regularly with your surgeon as there may be interventions that can be done during the healing process to improve the results.

It takes at least one year for the nose to fully heal following rhinoplasty. The last part to come in is the tip of the nose. If you had a lot of initial swelling and/or thick skin it can take even longer. I try to dissuade my patients from even considering revision surgery at three months. This should not be addressed verbally until at least 6 months and not done before a year or more. Your surgeon should be able to judge how much swelling remains at 1 year.

I read your concerns and reviewed your photos. You appear to have significant residual swelling in your tip even though your Rhinoplasty was 3 months ago. I don't think your laryngochondroplasty (Adam's apple reduction) is contributing to your tip swelling. Ask your surgeon if he thinks a steroid (triamcinolone acetonide) injection to your nose might be helpful for the tip swelling. 

Based on how good you look now, I don't think you'll request further nasal surgery. I think your tip will significantly improve over the next 3 months, so sit tight for now.

All the best from NJ.

Your nose will change much more over the next 6-9 months. It is too early to say whether or not you will need anything further before that time.

It is completely normal to have swelling (edema) 3 months after Rhinoplasty.  It is also completely normal to be somewhat equivocal/ anxious about your results at this point.  The reason?  It takes a full year and sometimes longer for your result to unfold, for edema to subside, and for your comfort level to improve.  The speed of healing across a broad variety of patients follows a Bell curve.  Some patients heal rather quickly, some very slowly, and most others somewhere in between.  Discuss your concerns with your Surgeon and give your final result more time.  Whatever you do, please understand that 3 months postop is far too early to seek revision.

You need to be patient.  There is no question that the nose will take on significant edema after rhinoplasty.  I would not make light of the fact that you do not like the way it looks now, but I would place that fact into context.  The nose will change greatly between now and the one year mark.  

Although I understand your concerns and worries about the final result of the rhinoplasty - I agree with the surgeon. You simply have to wait until all swelling is gone to assess the final result. A happy patient is a product of a skilled surgeon and also having reasonable expectations presented by the surgeon. With time your concerns will probable improve significantly - possibly disappear. However, if you continue to have some issues they can be addressed at a second procedure - but only after waiting an appropriate amount of time. Best of Luck