What to Expect From Rhinoplasty Recovery

In this video, we provide insights into the recovery journey following rhinoplasty surgery, covering the period from the immediate post-operation in the recovery room to the twelve-month mark post-op. Understanding the nuances of each stage is crucial for anyone considering or undergoing rhinoplasty.

Hi, my name is Dr. Eric Joseph, and I'm a rhinoplasty specialist in Livingston, New Jersey. We've been in practice for 25 years. With this experience, I wanted to share some knowledge about what it's like to recover after rhinoplasty surgery. Since we get asked this question all the time, I'm going to start with what it's like in the recovery room and take you all the way through one year postoperative.

Recovery Room

Our beautiful patient below is in the recovery room. She has a dressing on her nose and gauze on her upper lip, but she feels good. There's no pain, and she has a sense of well-being. There's no packing in her nose, and she's able to breathe through her nose. She can eat whatever she wants. For the first 48 hours after surgery, we recommend using frozen peas in a Ziploc bag to ice her forehead. The dressing gets removed in a week, and it has to stay dry during that period. The next slide may be a little shocking because the day after surgery is when bruising can set in.

Days 1 - 3

The patient below has very purple upper and lower eyelids, and they're swollen shut as though she's had major facial trauma. Even though it appears that way, it really doesn't hurt. There's nasal bleeding for the first 24 hours, and then it stops. Using frozen peas in a Ziploc bag to ice the eyes and forehead for the first 48 hours is important, and that's when nasal congestion will soon kick in. We allow you to start cleaning your nostrils with peroxide and a Q-tip. Most of our patients start breathing again three to four days after surgery. We advise our patients to sleep or lie down propped up with their head elevated above the level of the chest. A recliner or wedge tends to be very helpful for that. Since you won't be able to shower, we recommend using an astringent or toner to keep your face clean. Everyone needs to stay on house rest for the first week and avoid external stress.

Days 4 - 7

The photo below is one week after surgery when her dressing was removed. You can see that the severe puffiness, purple, and swelling have resolved. With some artful concealer, normal social activity can be resumed. Believe it or not, family and friends will not have an idea unless they knew in advance. Most people are able to breathe fairly well a week after surgery, but this is not the best breathing. The best breathing comes three months postoperative.

Days 8 - 30

By one month postoperative, things are looking really good. Seventy percent of swelling is completely resolved by one month after surgery, and that 30% of swelling tends to stick around the lower one-third of the nose and the side walls of the nose. That leads to a slightly widened nasal appearance, which you can see on our handsome gentleman below. However, the nasal profile looks terrific. Every time we see our patients in the office for a follow-up visit, we always take a full catalog of eight photographs. We look at before and after photos together, and we address everybody's concerns if they come up. Everyone's feeling good by a month after surgery. If patients had an issue with self-confidence because of a distracting large nasal appearance, they're feeling much better by one month after surgery, when all the bruising is gone.

Months 1 - 3

By three months after surgery, patients are looking amazing. I would say 90% of swelling is gone by three months, and that remaining 10% again, it hangs around in the lower third of the nose for a complete year. We advise our patients for the first 21 days not to do any strenuous activity, since there's a risk of nosebleeding that's less than 1%. Whenever nosebleeding occurs, it always occurs within the first 21 days, but not after that.

Months 3 - 6

By six months after surgery, 95% of swelling is resolved. Our lovely patient below is seen six months postoperative, and you can see that there's a straighter nasal appearance. Her tip doesn't droop anymore, and our patients are just really feeling terrific, and breathing is almost as good as it's going to get by three months after surgery. We specialize in both functional and cosmetic nasal surgery. Many of our patients have a deviated nasal septum or enlarged turbinates, or sometimes there's a problem with the internal and external nasal valves that require cartilage grafting and repair. We do this routinely on anybody who needs to have it done. It's the end of the adjustment period. Some people, not all, but some people, take a full six months to get used to their new nose. Patients will experience a fluctuation in their nose from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Your nose will feel swollen and puffy in the morning and by night, all the swelling, or most of the swelling, is gone, and it tends to look better.

Months 7 - 12

Our beautiful patient below is actually eleven years after surgery. The photographs are eleven years postoperative, where our patient is 30 years old. She was a teenager when I operated on her, and it's just such a treat to be able to see somebody that far after surgery. You can see her nasal tip hasn't drooped, and bumps don't grow back.

We specialize not only in rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty, utilizing tissue from the musculoskeletal tissue foundation when necessary, as opposed to ear cartilage or rib cartilage. We also specialize in permanent, nonsurgical nose job treatments, chin implant surgery, neck liposuction surgery, upper and lower eyelid surgery, pinning back outstanding ears, which is called otoplasty, earlobe repair, micro droplet silikon-1000 injections, a permanent soft tissue filler.