Social Downtime After Rhinoplasty

I usually advise my patients to plan on 10-12 days after rhinoplasty if they want to "get away with it." However, many patients look great at the one week point, once the splint and tape are taken off, and return to work and social activities at this point.

Each individual patient recovery experience varies depending on the patients skin type, propensity for bruising, and the amount of work which was done during the surgery.  Icing the nose, elevating the head, and taking supplements such as arnica montana and bromelain can help speed up recovery as well. 

Regards,

Dr. Mehta

The amount of downtime after your rhinoplasty surgery may depend on your age, skin color and skin thickness. Downtime in teen rhinoplasty patients is typically very short.Downtime after rhinoplasty surgery also depends on the extent of your surgery. Extensive grafting or osteotomies may play factors in affecting downtime when these are performed during your rhinoplasty surgery.Your doctor should also screen you with a short questionnaire  to make sure you don't have a bleeding disorder which could increase bruising and downtime.With artful concealer, normal social activity may be resumed well within two after well performed rhinoplasty surgery in most patients.Hope this helps many and thank you for this excellent and commonly asked question.Dr Joseph

I generally tell patients they may return to work on average after 1 week post rhinoplasty where they would look socially presentable in most cases,this of course may vary for revisions.I usually relate to my patients that there is about a 3-4 week frame during which time the vast majority of your facial swelling should reduce. Still, with the two week period that you have, your swelling should be relatively better. You can always apply a little bit of makeup and foundation to the face to help conceal swelling and bruising. I would advise that you do not miss out on your social event because of any concern with your swelling- just go and enjoy yourself, as the swelling is unlikely to be very noticeable by this stage of your recovery.