What To Expect In First Few Weeks Of Recovery After Rhinoplasty

Recovering from rhinoplasty takes time and patience

, as well as a little bit of help from friends or relatives. Initial recovery takes two weeks, but swelling lasts for up to a year afterwards, and in rare cases even longer. Immediately following rhinoplasty, you'll need a friend or family member to drive you home and help you get set up for the next few days.

The effects of the anesthetic could take an entire day to wear off, so you will not even be allowed to travel without an aid back to your home. Be sure that you have everything set up before undergoing surgery, such as filling necessary post-care prescriptions and having a good supply of tissues, gauze, ice packs or frozen vegetable bags to help ease the swelling, and some entertainment to keep you occupied.

During the first two to three days you will feel the most discomfort, so rest is necessary to help you heal as quickly and effectively as possible. Your nose, which will be protected by a cast and dressings, will feel very sore and swollen. You may develop bruises, including black eyes, which will fade over the first week or so. There may be some stitches and dried blood around your nostrils.

Be careful when cleaning this area not to disturb the cast or stitches. You may have some additional dried blood and mucous inside of your nasal passageway that makes breathing through your nose difficult, this is normal and it's best not to disturb this area too much as it needs to heal.

By the fourth or fifth day of rhinoplasty recovery, you should begin to regain some energy and the discomfort will begin to ease. It is still wise to gently apply icepacks to the face in order to further reduce swelling and tenderness. Most people still prefer to stay indoors at this point until the cast is removed and any residual bruising can be covered with makeup, but it is usually safe to make short trips around town.

At the end of the first week of your rhinoplasty recovery, you'll probably be ready for your follow-up appointment and stitch removal (unless your surgeon used dissolvable stitches). Removing the cast won't be painful, but may feel uncomfortable.

Some surgeon choose to pack the nose following surgery, which means they insert absorbent materials into the nasal cavity which they will then remove at this point. Others may insert tubing. This part tends to create the most discomfort, but usually only takes a few minutes.

It takes up to a full year for completely recovery from rhinoplasty. Within the first three months most of the visible swelling and bruising will disappear, but expect to see continual improvement throughout the year.

Many people are initially frightened or depressed by their appearance following surgery. This is a normal reaction to your new appearance. Give yourself time to adjust and remember that the healing process takes a long time.

Remember to follow your plastic surgeon's instructions as each as their own preferences and recommendations. Some will tell you to use icepacks while others may recommend a different method. If you're unsure, call the office and ask.

by: Abigail Aaronson

POST COMMENT

Outlook Data File Not Closed Properly Error After Syncing With Itunes How To Solve Dbx Import Issues? Resolving the Disk ram Could Not Be Modified Error In Mac Os X Use Inbox Repair Tool To Fix Pst Not Found Error Tips To Solve 'scanpst.exe Fails With Fatal Error: 80040818' Outlook Error How To Repair Corrupted Microsoft Word Files Survival Guide For Hard Drive Data Recovery Invalid Data Stream Causing Bkf Corruption Restore Compact Flash Card Tips To Solve 'drive Is Not Accessible. Access Is Denied' Error Resolving stop: 0x00000101 In A Windows Server 2008-based System When You Should Not Try Data Recovery On Your Own Resolving Error Message Post Ms Sql Database Suspect