Rhinoplasty is a surgical procedure which is usually performed in order to improve the function or the appearance of a human nose. Widely known as “nose reshaping” or “nose job”, Rhinoplasty can be performed to achieve aesthetic purposes or for reconstructive reasons. It is used to remedy a patient’s trauma, birth defects or problems in breathing.
Rhinoplasty recovery requires a lot of patience in order to fully recover from the operation. After the nose job procedure, a series of rhinoplasty post operation instructions is given. As the patient returns home after the operation, as part of the rhinoplasty recovery, surgeons recommend antibiotics, pain and steroid medications. It is also advisable to remain home for a week, although it is safe to be outdoors.
Patients are advised to stay in bed with the head elevated for the first 24 hours. A feeling of puffiness of the face, aching in the nose area and dull headache is expected but the patient will be able to manage the pain by taking medications prescribed by the surgeon.
Another effect after the rhinoplasty surgery is swelling with some bruises, becoming very visible after two to three days but administering cold compresses will help lessens these effects. It may be alarming to find a few amount of blood for the first few days after the surgery, but bleeding is just normal occurrences. Part of the rhinoplasty recovery is that surgeons advised their patients not to blow the nose for about one week. Other post operation instructions of surgeons includes those advises requiring the patients not to bend over with the head below the heart which might lead to intense swelling and bleeding. Patients should not worry for the swelling and bruising will disappear after two to three weeks. Residual swelling might continue for a couple of months to one year after a nose job.
The protective material in the nose will be taken away after a few days, and the splint as well as stitches will be removed one to two weeks after the operation. In case of external sutures, these are usually taken away four to five days after surgery. If there are internal stents, these are commonly taken away four days to two weeks after the operation. The periorbital bruising usually lasts two weeks. Slight changing, settling and other irregularities of the nose over the first year may be noticed due to wound healing.
Patients can return to their respective work roughly one week after surgery, but if post operation instructions are not strictly followed, rhinoplasty recovery for the patient may take longer time. Participation in sports or returning to other activities like weight lifting is advisable two weeks after the surgery. The patient should not join in any activity that might cause the patient to blow his or her nose for about eight weeks. Airline travel is not recommended in the first few weeks following surgery.
Contact lenses are not prohibited to patients, so they can wear it anytime they wanted to. However, those patients who wear eyeglasses need to taped them in their forehead or propped them up on their cheeks for about six to seven weeks to avoid them from getting to the operated nose. Rhinoplasty is one of the most complicated forms of facial plastic surgery, and to achieve the best rhinoplasty result, the patient should be diligent and patient enough to perform all the instructions given. This is necessary to ensure a good and healthy rhinoplasty recovery for results are dependent on post operation instructions being carefully followed.