Can I Sunbathe 2 Weeks Post-rhinoplasty if I Completely Cover my Nose with a Towel?

In general, you will want to avoid sun exposure for 6 months following rhinoplasty. I would recommend speaking with your surgeon, as they may have specific guidelines they would like you to follow. I hope this helps, and I wish you the best of luck.

    If the nose is completely covered, sunlight is essentially not contacting the skin of the nose.   This probably would not have negative effect.  However, you should always ask your surgeon.  Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

In general, your nose has less natural protection from the sun right after rhinoplasty. All the tissue was just elevated off of the internal structure of the nose, including the bone and cartilage, and blood vessels were coagulated in order to do this. There fore we weakened the nose's natural defense since we weakened its blood supply. This blood supply grows back , but it can take quite a bit of time to happen. In the first 6 weeks, your nose is less naturally resistant to UV rays and is more likely to burn and get discolored. Also, since your nose is mostly numb early on, its less likely that you are to notice the problem until its too late. I recommend you stay out of the sun as much as possible in the first 6 weeks after surgery. If you are in the sun for short periods of time, stay in the shade, and wear a big hat and a good sunblock. Do not wear sun glasses in the first 6 weeks, or any glasses for that matter, if osteotomies were performed, (breaking of the nasal bones). You can get your nose wet as soon as the splint comes off, but I would be careful about chlorinated pools early on until the incision is fully healed an more mature, as the chlorine can irritate the incision. The gym and anything that increases you blood pressure will increase the swelling of your nose and delay your healing time. I recommend 6 weeks for this as well.  If your nose is completely covered, then its not exposed.Best Wishes, Pablo Prichard, MD

You should be able to sunbathe with a towel over your nose as long as it is completely covered. Sunblock is of utmost importance.  If it is not completely covered, it may affect the healing of your scars if an "open approach" with an incision at the bottom of the nose is used.

I think that placing sunblock on the nose or even better avoiding excessive sun exposure is important.

The reasons for preventing direct sunlight are that sun exposure can affect the incisions (if this was an open rhinoplasty) and how they heal and can also cause more swelling in a recently traumatized nose. That can lead to poor healing. Even though covering with a towel prevents some sun exposure, UV light is still able to penetrate. There are inexpensive 90%+ UV protection headwear options. Check out Buffwear. I recommend these for my post-op patients after chemical peels or laser resurfacing.

 

I would not suggest sunbathing after surgery without a good layer of sunscreen and other protection i.e. a hat etc. If you have an open rhinoplasty you do not want any sun exposure on the incision. Sunbathing and excessive heat also causes the tissues to swell which will slow down your healing process and recovery. I would suggest a natural bronzer for now until you are fully healed. Best regards, Michael V. Elam, M.D.