My nose appears crooked after open rhinoplasty/septoplasty - will this go away? (Photo)

The bumps we see on the 3/4 views, and the width of the upper part of the nose on the frontal view, indicate that the nasal bones probably have not been narrowed, or the attempt wasn't successful. Also the 3/4 views, to my eye, make the nose look long-ish. More swelling will go down in the next 5 months, but at this point you're done with 80-90% of the swelling, so the change won't be dramatic. You might be considering a revision, if the nose is far from your original ideal goal.


How *much* to elevate the tip, or narrow the nasal bones, or make other changes? We figure that out with morphs, well before surgery. I'd love for you to see some excellent professionally-designed morphs of what could possibly be done with your nose. Morphs could also help you identify better just what's bothering you, and help you set a goal for the rhinoplasty that's accurate for your tastes. Profile and three-quarter views would be particularly important in morphing your nose. (Side note: in my opinion, morphs should really be done by the surgeon, or he should direct an assistant as she makes the morphs. Morphs should be made with a constant eye to what actually *can* be done in surgery, for that particular nose, and the surgeon has that information and judgment best.)

Finally, remember that rhinoplasty is an exquisitely difficult operation to get right, and you should only have surgery if you are able to make yourself very confident in your surgeon's skills. The changes that your nose needs require advanced techniques, and skill that most plastic surgeons don't possess with expertise. It's much better to not have surgery than to have inexpertly-performed surgery. Read my essay on how to stay out of trouble while selecting a rhinoplasty surgeon. And it also discusses how to take photos that are best for online evaluations.

And for those who have had previous surgery, it also discusses how to tell whether your first surgeon should be performing your revision.

Hello, hope you are well. Thank you for posting your photos and questions! To assess how crooked your nose was/is, you really would need to provide standard medical photos taken without your head rotated to the side (A-P view). Nevertheless, the oblique views are what accentuate the appearance of the bumps that I believe you are referring to. Those will probably not go away because they appear to be projections of the nasal bones. At 5 months we can assume there is still some swelling, but that only effects the soft parts of the nose (skin-soft tissue envelope--not the bone). In any case, you should wait until about a year after surgery before an honest assessment of your results. If you are dissatisfied because of ongoing issues like this, you could seek revision rhinoplasty to correct them.
Best,Dr. Tower