Hi I am Dr. Donald Yoo. I am a Facial Plastic Surgeon
here in Beverly Hills. A common question that patients ask me is what can I
expect
after rhinoplasty or nose job surgery.
For many patients rhinoplasty surgery
is a little bit mysterious. First of all, it is an ambulatory surgery
meaning you come in the day of surgery,
and after surgery return home after a brief recovery in the recovery room.
After surgery you will have a
cast on the bridge of your nose, sutures on the bottom of your nose
and potentially sutures other places on your body
if other grafts are needed such as grafts from
the ear cartilage or from the rib
or from your scalp. All sutures stay in place for a week.
I see my patients the day after surgery and one week after surgery.
Some things you can do to reduce bruising and swelling after surgery is
putting ice (such as frozen peas and frozen vegetables)
on the cheeks for the first 48 hours,
20 minutes every hour. This tends to limit the amount of
swelling and also the bruising, although a large part the bruising
depends on the surgical technique and how gentle the surgeon is with the
tissue
during the surgery itself. Another thing patients can do
to speed up recovery and reduce the amount of bruising and swelling after
surgery
is using bromelain, which is a pineapple extract,
and also Arnica, which is in the same family as sunflowers.
These are very effective early on
in terms of reducing swelling, inflammation
and bruising. After surgery patients are also advised during the first
two weeks after surgery to sleep on two pillows -
not straight up but elevating the nose
and the head above the heart level so that blood doesn't
congregate and does not congest the nose.
This will also limit the amount of swelling after surgery. In addition patients
are restricted from doing strenuous activity,
although household chores, going
out, doing light chores and things like that are
permissible, heavy exercise and vigorous exercise
should be avoided during the first two weeks after surgery.
After the cast comes off the first week after surgery the nose
will be swollen and look a little bit like a cherry tomato
along the tip of the nose,
and sometimes the bridge can even look like a sausage
for that first week. Sweling mayl even increase from week 1
to week 2 to because the cast while it is in place
does compress the swelling and limit the amount of swelling during that first
week.
After this initially period of swelling during week 1 and 2,
the swelling will begin to resolve
over time
and the nose will become smaller and more refined.
The majority of the swelling will resolve in the first three to six months,
generally 60-80%.
Most patients will take 10 to 14 days off from work or school
to allow sufficient time for the incisions to heal completely.
At this time when you go out in public, most people will
not know that you've had surgery.
Much of the initial swelling will resolve over the first three
to six months. However the nose will continue to heal
and look even better as full healing takes
a year and sometimes two years in individuals with thick skin,
or in revision surgery cases. So those are some things that you can expect
after rhinoplasty surgery and although it is
a process which isn't overnight, or instantaneous, it
is often a gratifying process for most patients who choose to pursue it.
Learn more at: www.donyoomd.com info@donyoomd.com 310-275-2467