Are There Risks in Flying After Rhinoplasty?

I like to have my patients around for at least a week prior to flying home or to convalesce. The risks of air travel following rhinoplasty are mostly related to changes of pressure and equalization. You will likely have some congestion and nasal edema which can effect your sinuses and eustachian tubes, but simple precautions like an over the counter nasal decongestant spray should be able to prevent this problem.

Thanks for the question. You should be able to flying by 1-2 weeks after your surgery. But this is valid only with assuming postoperative recovery is uneventful. If any unexpected incident happens in your treatment process, this time can be extended or shortened. I wish you all the best.

Travel of any type following rhinoplasty can potentially complicate the post-operative course.  In most cases, patients have recovered sufficiently to travel in about seven to ten days following surgery.
            Air travel often involves prolonged periods of immobilization and because of this, patients may be at risk for the development of blood clots in their extremities.  These blood clots, known as DVT’s, can potentially represent a life threatening phenomenon when they occur.

            In addition, nasal congestion can be extremely uncomfortable when patients fly.  For this reason, it’s appropriate to use nasal afrin before taking off and landing.  This maneuver will hopefully minimize nasal edema and relieve nasal congestion.

To avoid complications, it’s important that these issues be discussed with your plastic surgeon.  This will dramatically decrease the potential for complications.

Hello,
The issue that may arise when flying after rhinoplasty is an increase in swelling. Nothing inside your nose will collapse. I recommend waiting a minimum of two weeks before flying after rhinoplasty. If you fly before that time it is likely you will experience swelling. Hope this helps answer your question. Thank you, and best of luck.
Dr. Nassif

Typically, the only issues after flying involve pressure changes which can result in a nose bleed. The other potential issue is if you have swelling inside your nose for example if you had septal surgery at same time, you may have difficulties clearing your ears with the pressure changes on the plane. I typically recommend that my patients not fly for at least a week after surgery and up to two weeks in some cases. This varies from physician to physician.
If you absolutely must fly shorty after a rhinoplasty, I would spray your nose with afrin before you get on the plane and before descent to help keep your ears clear and minimize chances of nose bleeds. I hope this information helps.
By the way there are two superb physicians in Toronto: Dr. David A. F. Ellis and Dr. Peter Adamson.