23 Year Old, Septoplasty-rhinoplasty Turbinate reduction

Hi everyone! It’s been around two and a half months since my procedure and I am so beyond happy! The first month or so it was really swollen still so I tried to not really pay too much attention to it and get discouraged, but I can genuinely say that having the procedure was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made! I saw my PS the day the comparison photo was taken and he said my nose is still around 40 percent swollen. There are some days I do notice my nose swells, especially when I workout but overall I notice it getting smaller every day. If you’re considering a nose job from Dr. Sand, take the jump and do it! I feel so much more confident, I stare at photos of my side profile and I can’t believe it’s really me. I’ve never felt more like myself than I do now, this procedure has changed my life!! :)

I had my cast, splints and stitches removed exactly a week after my surgery, on Monday 2/26. I was nervous to get everything removed, from reading others reviews that part is really painful. I didn’t take any ibuprofen or Tylenol before hand but I probably should have. The removal of the stitches wasn’t awful, it wasn’t pleasant either, the only times I got teary eyed were when there were areas where the stitches had been sorta glued and stuck to dried up blood and mucus. I couldn’t hold back the waterworks when the splints were removed, it felt like my nose was very fragile and raw so it was a very painful experience for me. The rest of the day I had a pounding headache and I felt exhausted and ready for a nap immediately after my appointment.
As for my nose.. it was very swollen. I was expecting this, I didn’t expect the cast to come off and be surprised with a cute lil nose that I’ve always dreamed of.. as much as we’d all like that lol. But I will say I could immediately tell that my ethnic hump was gone and I am happy with the progress of my side profile this far. I have a slight little ski slope going on which is what I asked for, but my nose is huge. I look like an avatar. The PS reassured me it will take a few weeks for the swelling to go down but that my nose is recovering well so far. I’m trying not to expect a lot, because I know this is a long recovery process.. it just gets tiring of looking in the mirror and not seeing yourself. I still have a black eye, the other eye has a very dark shadow, and face and eyes are still swollen. I will post pics and continue to update on my progress..
As for everything else.. sleeping definitely has improved because OH I forgot to mention that I can BREATH!! Amazing feeling, I hadn’t realized how much my breathing was affected before. No more mouth breathing!! I will admit it’s almost hard for me to get used to, I’ve always been a mouth breather. This is one thing that has made me very happy about the experience so far!!
Another thing I noticed is kind of a lingering headache, tolerable, but just more annoying. I’m sure it will go away soon.
I am still sleeping elevated with an airplane pillow and has really helped with the swelling, one day I took a nap flat on my back and when I woke up I could feel a lot of pressure in my face, kinda like the blood rushing to my head. I got up and looked in the mirror and my nose was crazy swollen, probably the biggest I’ve ever seen it. Since then I’ve stuck to sleeping elevated.

Day 3 was definitely the worst day, the pain was constant and even sounds of doors closing and my own feet touching the ground felt unbearable to my already constant pounding headache. Still all liquid diet of ensures and baby food this day as I could barely open my mouth and any movement in my face was very painful. I pretty much slept all day. The swelling was pretty bad my whole face was swollen, I was unrecognizable, and I had two black eyes, one more than the other. A lot of drainage happening, mostly bloody and it occurs when I stand up mostly.
Day 4 was better, but still painful. I got to moving around some more around my apartment, drinking water like a fish it felt like because my mouth is so incredibly dry from all the mouth breathing. Still sleeping a lot, it helps because I’m not in pain when I’m asleep especially since I stopped taking pain meds besides Tylenol after day 3. Face was still very swollen especially my eyes, the black eyes got a little better only one of them was still purple and yellow the other had pretty much all turned yellow. A lot less draining happening from my nose, no more blood just a lot of mucus at this point, it was always kinda dripping clear so I decided to keep the gauze on.
Day 5!! So I had surgery Monday and it is now Friday, I’ve become quite the sleeper. I slept about ten hours then I woke up, drank an Ensure (high protein strawberry milkshake very yummy) took my antibiotics and FaceTimed my mom for a while. Later I wiped down my face and body with some baby wipes and cleaned my nostrils with some hydrogen peroxide/water and qtips, then made sure to put the Neosporin ointment the PS gave me to ensure proper healing. Today was actually the first day I left my apartment, we went to a sushi spot and I asked for small sliced salmon sashimi in a bowl of rice, poké style and it was great I had no problems eating it. It was actually so satisfying as I’ve only been able to eat liquids the past few days. Then we went to the market and bought some more baby food and noodles so I can begin eating. Once I got home my adventurous 3 hours out of the house felt extremely long, I was so happy to be home and able to take a nap. Swelling is still there as it is expected to be for a couple months but my eyes aren’t as swollen anymore and only one of my eyes has a black eye. The bridge of my nose and surrounding area is the most swollen. No more bloody drainage but I do leak quite a bit of clear stuff, mucus probably so I change the gauze when it gets soggy but for now it’s more comfortable leaving it on as when I don’t I notice the snot in my nose bubbles when I speak (tmi, very gross I know). Another problem I’ve encountered today is constipation, I highly advise taking a stool softener shortly after taking pain meds so you don’t encounter this issue.. not fun. Other than that my butt is pretty sore from laying on my back propped on pillows, hurting from laying down so long.. lol definitely never had this issue before. After being off the pain meds for a couple days I definitely noticed I don’t feel as nauseous or dizzy walking around, I feel like my head is clear which is nice. The pain is still there but not nearly as bad just more annoying. It’s like a head cold headache, a lot of pressure and the obvious clogged nose. Prior to surgery I didn’t have the best breathing ability so I was mostly a mouth breather but this is an entire new level. Definitely buy some cough drops and dry mouth Mouth wash or spray because drinking tons of water helps, but my mouth is still so dry. I wake up several times at night just to drink water then try not to drown because of how fast I’m drinking because of how thirsty I am lol