Bone on One Side of Nose After Rhinoplasty

Question

I asked my surgeon to remove the hump on the bridge on my nose. It has been fractured to make the bridge narrow and rasped the bump down. One side is perfect but on the other, I can still see and feel a big lumpy bone which looks like it used to before surgery. I called him up and he said give it 6 months as it will be swelling, but I recognize the feeling of bone! Could there be swelling underneath the bone, pushing it up? How come the other side is perfect? What if he didn't rasp enough?

Richard W. Westreich, MD · Answer

It is hard to tell early on whether this is permanent or part of healing.
Bone heals by forming what is called a callus, which is a thick deposit of bone materials. This callus will feel like bone to the patient. Over time, however, the callus gets replaced with normal, smoother bone. This process can take many months to become noticed and even up to a year to settle down.
Be patient. If there is a small bone irregularity that needs to be addressed, that's one of the easiest things to revise.

C. Spencer Cochran, MD · Answer

Following a hump removal during rhinoplasty, it is very common for there to be excessive swelling of overlying the area where the boney hump was removed.
If the bone was adequately reduced, that bump should disappear as the swelling subsides over the first several months. If the hump persists beyond the first several months, it may indicate that the hump was not entirely reduced during the surgery.
Most surgeons recommend waiting a full year after a rhinoplasty before making any deteriminations as to whether a revision is needed. In some cases it can take the full 12 months for all of the swelling to subside.
Reduction of the residual hump can easily be performed with further rasping (filing down) of the hump through intranasal incsisions. There is usually minimal downtime and minimal bruising and swelling.

Toby Mayer, MD · Answer

Sometimes one side of the bone has more swelling and it goes away. If it is significant after 6 months your doctor can do a minor filing of that side. Be patient and I'm sure your doctor can fix this if needed after that time.

Bone on One Side of Nose After Rhinoplasty

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Bone on One Side of Nose After Rhinoplasty

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Everything you need to know about Rhinoplasty

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