If I Wait Too Long to Get my Broken Nose Fixed, Will It Heal Incorrectly?

It is perfectly fine to wait to fix the nasal fracture. Doing it early often times does not work anyway. If your nose was straight before the fracture, a well performed procedure will usually leave it straight after the healing takes place.

If you have a crooked nasal appearance after trauma, your nasal bones may remain mobile for re-positioning for around ten days. During that period, if your surgeon palpates displaced nasal bones, reduction of your fracture may be considered with local anesthetic and no downtime. If you wait longer than two weeks, you may require open-reduction of your fracture, typically with general anesthetic.Hope this helps. Dr Joseph

Yes, you are correct the nose will heal on its own.  The problem with this is that the broken nasal bones will most likely not heal symmetrically, meaning they can heal in a crooked fashion causing a visible deformity.  Also, you may have injured your septum which could lead to breathing problems if not straightened.  Ideally, nasal fractures are best treated within 10-14 day.  After that time, healing will take place and the nasal bones will need to be broken and re positioned.  I suggest you follow up with a board certified facial plastic surgeon when your family decides, to have you nose accurately examined and satisfactorily corrected.  Disclaimer: This answer is not intended to give a medical opinion and does not substitute for medical advice and in person consultation. The information presented in this posting is for patients’ education only. As always, I encourage you to see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

If the bones of the nose were displaced by trauma they should be reduced the soonest possible. By 10 days they probably will be nearly impossible to move.

The best timing to get your nasal bones "reset" after an injury is 5-14 days after an event. This is a golden window of opportunity in a surgeons mind to try to mobilize bones back to pre-injury state. This can be safely done in the office under local anesthesia with minimal discomfort even in teenagers. Also, manual reset does not usually cause bruising. Once two weeks have passed, the bones are healed and new cuts in the bones will have to be made, usually under anesthesia and this can cause more swelling and bruising and discomfort. 

 Trauma to the nose can cause a displaced nasal fracture, a nondisplaced nasal fracture, dislocation of the upper lateral cartilages off of the nasal bones, and a deviated nasal septum. A thorough internal and  External examination of the nose is required to make a determination about what may or may not be needed. Is always best to try to fix a broken and displaced nasal bones sooner rather than later, since they will heal crookedly which makes the surgery more difficult. For many examples of crooked nose repair in our practice, please see the link and the video below

It is best to get your nose checked out by an ENT, facial plastic surgeon, or plastic surgeon as soon as possible to prevent further difficulties down the road.  As soon as a trauma occurs, the body immediately begins to work to heal and repair the damage.  In your case, if the nose is broken, it may heal crooked or asymmetrical.  The fracture should be set within 10-14 days of the incident (at the most) if you are hoping to fix the issue with a “closed reduction” of the fracture as opposed to a formal rhinoplasty.  Whether or not the nose needs to be completely rebroken depends on the extent of the damage.  I recommend setting up an appointment with an established ENT, facial plastic surgeon, or plastic surgeon so that they can accurately assess the trauma and determine a plan of action.  Good Luck!

If it is displaced, have it moved back as soon as the swelling settles. That requires surgery. Waiting until it is fully healed will make it more difficult to get it straight. Sometimes under 2 weeks it can be pushed back with minimal anesthesia.

If you were hit from the side and it has displaced your nose to the side making it crooked then it should be repaired within 10 to 14 days.  This type of bone heals very rapidly.  A closed rhinoplasty can be done early otherwise a rhinoplasty may need to be done and the bones may need to be refractured and splinted.  

Ideally repair of nasal fractures should be done within the first 2 weeks after the accident. But, patients often need revision of irregularities such as a bump 6 months or so down the road.  Ideally you want to re-align a deviation initially because it is more complex later one when things have healed.