25 Year Old Primary Open Rhinoplasty - St. Louis, MO

From the first appointment at the office Dr Ridenour & his staff made me feel very comfortable. The office is a gorgeous facility which enables privacy due to it's lack of waiting room; it feels very airy & open. The tall glass walls & tasteful decor brought a sense of serenity despite my nervousness. The girls (of course all looked like they came straight out of a vogue magazine) were exceptionally nice & hospitable. Not once did I feel a sense of inferiority here.

At my consultation appt Dr Ridenour spend an ample amount of time with me & answered all my questions & then some. One of the important things to me was his policy on revisions & his personal history of revision %.

Surgery went very smoothly! One thing that made my less nervous (other than the nurse telling me about a delicious chocolate peanut butter granola bar recipe as I was getting my IV put in) was the fact that Dr. Ridenour uses conscious sedation. Which means no tube down the throat, less recovery time from anesthesia & you can walk out of the door a little loopy, instead of a full on zombie.

Of course I was sore for the first few days, but nothing that a little pain medication couldn't take care of. Honestly, my biggest complain was my dry mouth bc I was forced to breath through my mouth lol. He broke one side of my nasal bone so I had some bruising, but it was minimal. I went in for my 2 day follow up appt, where the nurse took the nasal packing out & OMG! I COULD BREATH! Like i've never breathed before in my life. It felt amazing! & I could already see my nose taking shape... a shape which is was so very happy with despite the swelling.

Yesterday I went in for my 1 week f/u where they removed my splint. I was cautious & had prepared myself not to judge my nose to harshly yet because as you know, it can take months for all the swelling to reduce & the nose to take its true shape. I looked at this appt as more of a progress report than a big final report card reveal day, as I suggest everyone does. I've heard so many people are let down & go through a serious state of depression after they first see their nose. But realize that you need to give it time... patience is hard, but is key. That being said, I loved the "progress" I saw! Of course it was still a little puffy & the skin over the tip hadn't fully contoured to the underlying new cartilage shape. To help the skin conform, he gave me a little steroid injection (which I didn't feel because my nose is still lacking some sensation ... which is normal) & re-taped the tip. I'm to leave the tape on for a few days (Its flesh colored & subtle so I'm still running errands & getting out of the house which feels good after being cooped up for a week!)

Today I simply have a yellow hue under my eyes which a little concealer covers perfectly. I can breath freely through my nose (no more dry mouth) & I'm no longer taking any pain medications. I'm VERY HAPPY with my journey so far with Dr. Ridenour & pleased with the results I'm seeing. I will re-post after I remove the tape from my tip, but I have posted pics WITH tape because I think you can still see the general shape.

At my pre-op appointment I was given a list of supplies to get before surgery for my post-op care. I was given some instructions at this time (i.e. Use saline nasal spray every few hours, Afrin for emergency bleeds, polysporin for the suture line & nostrils). I'm obviously no expert but I feel like I could have had more instructions on ways to reduce swelling like icing, taping (which I've heard other docs instruct if needed) & proper ways to clean the inside of my nose to avoid crusty build up inside. I was instructed not to pick or put anything up my nose which I've followed, but Im getting uncomfortable now with all the dried scabs/ boogers up there which are making it hard to breath. The stiff, crusty feeling is annoying & isn't improving despite using the saline nasal spray regularly. Maybe a humidifier would help...? I have history of dry eyes & dry mouth so I also wonder if this is exaggerated due to my "dryness". Did other have this problem? & how did you handle it?