Tips to Quickly Recover From Rhinoplasty Surgery

In the United States, rhinoplasty, popularly known as a nose job, is among the top 5 most popular plastic surgery procedures. Rhinoplasty is a procedure to alter your nose’s size and shape so that it looks proportional to the rest of your facial features.

In most cases, people undertake nose surgery for purely cosmetic purposes, although rhinoplasty can also be performed to correct congenital disabilities, fix injuries, nasal deviation, and breathing issues. The biggest concern of people considering rhinoplasty is the outcome and the healing process because it’s difficult to assess what you’re going to look like when your nose has finished healing.

If you’re thinking of getting rhinoplasty, or you have just had one, it’s important to think ahead about your recovery at home. The recovery process of rhinoplasty, like any other surgical procedure, differs from individual to individual. In this post, we will give you some tips on making your recovery as painless as possible.

1. Know the medications that you will need before and after the surgery. You will need to take antibiotics a day before the surgery, while the pain medication and anti-nausea medication would be need on the morning of surgery. You can also find some herbal supplements, such as Arnica tablets and gel for swelling and bruising. Along with the pain medication, some patients are recommended to take Tylenol.

2. For quicker healing, surgeons recommend using a nose spray for about 4-6 weeks after the surgery. The spray may differ from doctor to doctor, but the spray’s purpose is to prevent dryness of the skin and keep your nose tissue moistened. This will also help in relieving congestion to avoid breathing problems. Make sure to follow the prescribed medication routine regarding when you should use the spray and for how long.

3. Post-surgery, patients are advised to sit in a propped up position or lean back against a bunch of pillows. During the recovery process, you can keep around 3 pillows under your head. If you have an adjusting and reclining bed, it will work best; otherwise, use pillows to keep your head propped up. This will help at night keep your head propped up, and few pillows on the sides will help prevent your body from moving into a side sleeping position.

4. You will need gauze and tape to replace the bandages under the nose. It is best to keep extra bandages and gauze at home. You may use Kleenex for cleanup and Q-tips to apply Neosporin to the sutured area around the nose.

5. After rhinoplasty, you will feel moderate pain and swelling during the early days of recovery, which is absolutely normal. For this, a cold compress or ice pack can be used for the first 48 hours or even afterward reduce the swelling. However, it is important to keep your dressings dry.

6. Sometimes, patients complain of hard or stiff nose tips during the healing process. Again, this is also normal as it happens due to the swelling of the nasal tissue. To avoid this, a low-salt diet is recommended to relieve fluid retention.

Rhinoplasty surgery, like any other surgery, needs some time to heal, so have some patience. To make it a pleasurable experience, trust your surgeon’s expertise to ease you through the healing process. An expert rhinoplasty surgeon will clear all your doubts regarding the healing process, how long it will take to recover, and what results should be expected.