Is Taping the Nose After Rhinoplasty Necessary?

Post- operative care varies from patient to patient following rhinoplasty surgery and depends upon a multitude of variables. In the vast majority of cases we remove nasal tape at the time of splint removal five to seven days following surgery.
                In most cases, we don’t replace the nasal tape, but in rare cases nasal tape is utilized for an additional period of time. Tape is often used for longer periods of time when patients have extreme swelling. In addition, tape may be utilized to control skin remodeling when patients have excess skin following surgery.

Generally speaking, it can take 6 to 12 months to completely heal after surgery. Please keep in touch with your surgeon or his/her clinical team to discuss your ongoing concerns.

Swelling after rhinoplasty is one of the most common questions. Nasal taping and cast/splint help to partially reduce swelling. Most plastic surgeons use nose taping for one week after surgery. Some rhinoplasty surgeons may reapply tape after this first postoperative visit.

Rhinoplasty swelling occurs both on the outside and inside of the nose. Most swelling after rhinoplasty resolves within a month. The final 20% of swelling takes a much longer time to resolve, up to a year or longer after surgery. Fortunately, this final swelling is usually only evident to the surgeon and patient.

Time is the best treatment for nasal swelling after cosmetic surgery. Keeping your head elevated, maintaining the nasal splint/cast, ice, arnica montana, and following your plastic surgeon's guideline may help reduce rhinoplasty swelling. Persistent swelling may also be reduced by steroid treatment into the nose. Don't hesitate to speak to your plastic surgeon about any swelling.
 

One week of the cast  or tape is all you need. The swelling will slowly go down and taping longer won't help.

Hi,

It is always best to follow your individual rhinoplasty surgeon's advice.  I usually leave tape and splint on the nose for 5 days.  You should sleep with your head elevated above your heart to minimize swellling in the morning.  After that time period I have not found taping to be of further value.  Discuss your concerns with your surgeon.

Good luck and be well.

Dr. P

It sounds like your surgeon is recommending that you keep tape on your nose to reduce swelling. You should certainly follow your doctor's advice: it won't hurt.

I routinely remove all nasal tape around 7 days after Rhinoplasty Surgery, and I don't ask my patients to reapply tape. It's normal to see eyelid swelling and nasal swelling more pronounced in the morning than the evening. If you can, try to sleep with your head elevated to minimize facial swelling. The majority of your swelling should dissipate over the next 2 weeks.

I hope this is helpful for you.

Good question. I typically put steri strips (tape) on top of the nose immediately after surgery right underneath the external nasal splint. Once the splint comes off at the 1 week postop visit, I do not think the tape has any significant benefit and maniputlating the nose more at that point could potentially alter your outcome, so it's not worth it. I let time do its job and let the swelling go away on its own after a week.
-Dr. David Mattos, New York Plastic Surgical Group

I do not routinely tape the nose once the splint comes off. I do not think it helps in any way. The swelling will go away on its own and it takes several months or longer.

Taping after rhinoplasty is not necessary but it can be helpful in reducing swelling. As you can see, every surgeon has a different preference and experience when it comes to postoperative care. We tend to find taping useful, especially for patients with thicker skin or when the nose has been reduced a fair bit. It is important to maintain your relationship with your surgeon and follow instructions as only he or she knows what was done during your procedure. Hang in there. The swelling will subside fairly quickly at this point.

Taping the nose after nose surgery keeps the nose swelling to a minimum. Without it, the skin would be lifted by the swelling and it would take a lot longer for it to correct itself. There is no magic pill to take the place of following your surgeon's orders. you need to be more patient and follow the process.