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.