Wearing Eyeglasses After Rhinoplasty?

Hi,
Thank you for your quesiton.
By about three weeks after the surgery, the nasal bones are pretty solid. Until then, you can wear your glasses over your splint. Once the splint is removed(usually 4-5 days), you can either tape your glasses to your forehead or you can by a small device that allows for your glasses to rest on your cheeks. You can find this in most pharmacies. This is a common issue with rhinoplasty patients. If you really want to change your nose, don't let a few weeks of looking awkward stand in the way.
Best regards,
Dr. Speron

The first postopeative week after rhinoplasty, you can put your glasses on your nasal splint. We often fashion a new light aluminum splint to place on the bridge of your nose, after your dressing is removed, so you can continue wearing your glasses until your nasal bones heal. Hope this helps. Dr Joseph.

The first consideration is whether your surgeon is going to perform osteotomies (breaking the nasal bones) or not.  If not, then there is no real risk of wearing the glasses other than temporary weird indentations where the glasses rest and pushing on the swollen soft tissue.  If there are osteotomies, listen to your surgeon, but in general, pressure should not be placed on the nasal bones for several weeks afterwards.  Lighter glasses that distribute the weight are better than heavier ones with narrow foot pads.  People become pretty creative with taping the glasses to their forehead or suspending them from the bill of a baseball cap, etc.  Eight weeks is pretty long, but everyone has their own post-op regimen that they advise.

                  We
recommend that patients don’t wear eyeglasses for at least four weeks following
rhinoplasty. During this period the nasal bones aren’t totally healed and
slight pressure can cause distortion, indentation and secondary nasal
deformities.

In patients who are dependent upon their eyeglasses
alternative strategies are occasionally necessary. When nasal splints are
present, eye glasses can be placed directly on top of these stable structures
without concern. The splints are usually removed after the first week and other
approaches become necessary.

                  We
often recommend taping the eyeglasses to the forehead. In some cases additional
padding can be attached to the nasal eyeglass pads as well.

                  When
patients require eyeglasses to function these maneuvers represent a significant
disruption of daily activities. With this in mind, it’s important to remember
that the benefits of rhinoplasty will last an entire life time. 

It’s okay to wear eyeglasses on top of your splint for the first week, but after that I really recommend that patients do not wear eyeglasses for 4 weeks. After that patients can resume wearing eyeglasses. That is really to minimize the indentation of the swelling on
the bridge of your nose.

 You can use 1/2 inch flesh colored paper tape and only a tiny piece to keep the weight of the glasses from pushing in the nasal bones.

This is a common problem for those dependent on eyeglasses for vision. While it is best to avoid the glasses if possible, there are some accommodations which work.
Taping the glasses to the forehead so they barely make contact with the nose is one option, though it isn't great if you must be with at work face-to-face with other people.
Some glasses are ultra-light and barely put any pressure on the nose. If you put small pads on the nose pieces of the frames this can be acceptable. Some frames are designed to barely rest on the nose, and depending on the rhinoplasty techniques used these may be acceptable.
Your surgeon can also make a small plastic frame out of splint material that rests between the nose and the eyeglass frame. This can be socially acceptable and protect the nose for the first four weeks after surgery.
So it is not hopeless! We have several ways to work around the problem.

Hi Brooke,
By 18 to 21 days after rhinoplasty, the nasal bones are fairly solid and you can wear your glasses without support. There are three methods that patients are advised to use with their glasses during the immediate post operative period.
During the first 5 to 7 days while your splint is on, glasses are worn on top of the splint. For the following two weeks, they can put their splint back on with glasses on top, they can tape the bridge of their glasses to the skin between the eye brows, or they may purchase a small device (available in pharmacies) that clamps to the bottom rims of their glasses to allow the glasses to rest on the cheeks instead of their nose.
If the appearance of your nose bothers you enough, don't let 2 1/2 weeks of unorthodox eye glass fashion keep you from a lifetime of a pleasing nose.
Good luck and be well.
Dr. P

 In most cases, waiting a month or so is sufficient for not wearing glasses after a rhinoplasty.  However, you should follow the instructions from your surgeon.  Additionally, if you need to wear your glasses, take a piece of tape to suspend them from your forehead, so they do not rest on your nose.

Taping to your forhead is on option.
The other is to use special "cheek rests" that clip on to the bottom of the frame and let the glasses rest on your cheeks reather than your nose.