By Nancy Weinberg Simon

Some of the primary reasons for undergoing a rhinoplasty procedure are to improve your breathing, change the shape of your nose, or a combination of the two. This surgical procedure not only serves to changes your appearance for medical reasons, but it can also boost your confidence level. Regardless of the motives for your nose job, post-surgery recovery is something that will need to be dealt with. After your nose job, you can expect more discomfort than pain, a large amount of swelling, especially during the first week after surgery and some bruising around the eyes. Depending upon the procedure there might also be a splint or some nasal packing inside your nose for a couple of days or a splint or cast on top of your nose as extra protection the first week post-procedure. Some doctors will prescribe you an antihistamine for a few days to help ease some discomfort. Usually, after one week, all packing and splints are able to be removed as well as any non-absorbable sutures. As swelling and bruising decreases, nasal breathing with start to normalize. Approximately 80% of the facial swelling is gone after 6 weeks, but it might take as long as 12 months for all the nasal swelling to subside.

I turned to New York City-based board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Robert Tornambe, to find out about possible complications and how to avoid them as well as the dos and don’ts to help in your recovery.

Read the full article HERE or learn more about Rhinoplasty surgery, performed by Dr. Usha Rajagopal at the San Francisco Plastic Surgery and Laser Center.