2 Years of Swelling After Revision Rhinoplasty?

Question

Hi. I had a open revision with a Beverly Hills surgeon who spent 6 hours working on me. My first surgery only lasted 2 hours and was closed and I saw my final result at 7 months. Now I have no idea. I had my surgeon tell me it will take up to 2 years to see a final result, and another revision surgeon tell me 2.5 years. I am now at 1 year and 3 months and it is still very boulbous looking. The lower half of the nose especially looks swollen. Can it change much from here?

Babak Azizzadeh, MD · Answer

Yes, it can definitely change. Revision rhinoplasty has a completely different healing process than primary surgery. Revisional surgery, due to its nature, requires more time. I agree that many patients need up to two years.

Sam Naficy, MD, FACS · Answer

It sounds like you probably had a fair amount of grafting performed through an open approach. If you have thick skin there can certainly be persistent swelling for over 2 years. Consider steroid injections.

Thomas A. Lamperti, MD · Answer

It may be hard to believe, but it certainly can take a few years for your rhinoplasty result to become evident. This is especially the case after a long, presumably complicated revision procedure like you had. 

	I would trust your surgeon's opinion. Your first surgery may have been faster and had a quicker healing time, but you ended up needing a revision which is a much more complicated procedure. Also, after revision surgery it takes longer for the tissue swelling to resolve.

Richard W. Fleming, MD (retired) · Answer

In general, we say that it takes about one year for the swelling to resolve. However after a 6 hour revision procedure it may take a liitle longer. The improvement during the coming year will be subtle. I always advise a patient to listen to their surgeon. It would be easier to answer your inquiry if you submitted a picture. I do suggest that a patient get a second opinion, but it sounds like you've already done that.

Oleh Slupchynskyj, MD, FACS (retired) · Answer

Hi,

I would say that after a year's time the results of a revision rhinoplasty are definitely evident. So what you see now is what you're going to be left with. Bulbous tips are very difficult to deal with and require special techniques to reduce the bulbosity. I perform many rhinoplasties with the bulbous tip issue. You can check out my website that explains my technique with reducing the bulbous tip.

Best,

Dr.S.

2 Years of Swelling After Revision Rhinoplasty?

Answers (6)