Secondhand marijuana and cigarette smoke after open rhinoplasty - 1.5 years post op.

Question

I had open rhinoplasty done a little over a year ago. During my healing process, I've had to have 7+ steroid injections in the tip and along both sides of nose from scar tissue buildup. I'm not a smoker, however the majority of my friends are and don't know of my surgery. I live in CA so they all have marijuana licenses, and/or smoke cigarettes on a regular basis. I try to avoid being around when they smoke, but it still happens a lot. Is it possible for scar tissue to reform at 1.5 yrs post op?

Jeremy B. White, MD · Answer

Second hand smoke might affect your early results after rhinoplasty, but should not be an issue after 1.5 years. Whatever scar is forming is likely just forming as you heal from your procedure. I would be cautious about having too many steroid injections in the nose. If you thin out the tissue too much, that can lead to other problems as well.

Robert S. Schmidt, MD · Answer

Thanks for your question. Sorry to hear about all the scarring you've experienced. In general, the healing process from a rhinoplasty can take up to a year. For patients with thicker skin, it can take up to two years for things to completely settle down and be stable. I don't think that the exposure to second hand smoke would have anything to do with the scarring. Don't get me wrong- it's really bad for rhinoplasty patients to be around cigarettes, but mostly in the first couple of weeks while the skin and inside lining of the nose are healing. Environmental factors really shouldn't affect the healing in the deeper layers of the nose. Good luck!

Arian Mowlavi, MD, FACS (license on probation) · Answer

smoke, second hand or first hand, is only detrimental to your incision line and skin healing in the first month after surgery; has nothing to do with scar tissue formation 1 year following surgery.

Michael Elam, MD (retired) · Answer

Dear Jess088, First of all I would not have any more steroid injections in your nose. I perform multiple rhinoplasty procedures per week and have done so for over 30 years and I have probably used steroids less then seven times let alone on one patient so I think this is excessive. As far as second hand smoke being responsible for the scar tissue is highly unlikely especially this far from the date of your original surgery. The first few weeks after surgery while the tissues are healing you want to refrain from being exposed to smoke and obviously for over all health purposes second hand cigarette smoke is not good for you. Best regards, Michael V. Elam, M.D.

Secondhand marijuana and cigarette smoke after open rhinoplasty - 1.5 years post op.

Answers (4)

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