Rhinoplasty - What To Expect

Anyone who is a fan of Cyrano de Bergerac probably remembers that the love of a good woman isn’t hard to find, but when it comes to love at first glance- you shouldn’t lead with your nose. At least that’s what Cyrano probably took away from the story. If you have a nose that is distracting away from your face and your personality it may be time to consider doing what Cyrano couldn’t do- rhinoplasty.

Rhinoplasty is the technical term for the cosmetic procedure to surgically change the shape of your nose. With nose surgery you can make your nose bigger, smaller or change the shape of it all together. The changes you opt for may be slight or significant but one thing will be obvious at the end- you will finally have the nose you should have been born with.

If you decide to investigate rhinoplasty as a viable option for your nose there are a few risk associated with this procedure including reoccurring nose bleeds, difficulty breathing through your nose, pain or swelling that doesn’t go away with time, numbness around your nose or unsatisfactory results from your surgery.

To avoid these risk factors as much as possible you need to do as much research as you can on your own to make yourself an informed consumer. You should also talk to your doctor about what risks factors you may have by going over your medical history and talking about your expectations.

The rhinoplasty procedure itself is done inside your nose where your surgeon readjusts your nasal bones and cartilage to improve the shape of your nose. If you are attempting to make your nose bigger your surgeon will use either bone grafted from a donor or from another area of your body such as your ear or deep inside your nose. This bone graft will adhere and grow into the bone until it is a solid bone mass eventually.

The entire procedure will be done under either general anesthesia in which your whole body is asleep and you likely won’t remember anything about the event or it can be done under local anesthesia which is limited to the area of your body being worked on. With local anesthesia you will remain awake but groggy but won’t feel the affects of surgery.

Your initial recovery time isn’t lengthy, you can generally resume most of your activities in short order but you may not see the actual results of your rhinoplasty for up to a year as your nose actually heals from the procedure.

The initial recovery phase last about a week as your nose is splinted and packed with gauze to heal properly. You will probably feel congested from the blood inside your nose but your doctor will advise you against blowing your nose since this activity will interfere with your nose as it heals.

Once you recover from your surgery though you will probably be glad you had it done so can lead with your face and your personality and not your nose.