After Your Rhinoplasty Procedure

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Recovery at Home

Once you leave the surgical facility, you’ll begin your recovery at home or at an aftercare facility. If you’ve prepared well, your recovery can be relatively stress-free and comfortable. Recovery time is highly individualized, but most rhinoplasty patients feel well enough to resume many normal activities and return to work or school in one to two weeks.

Postoperative Instructions

To ensure proper healing, your surgeon will provide you with detailed postoperative instructions, which you’re expected to follow closely. The instructions are designed to help minimize pain, swelling, and discomfort during the recovery phase. Make sure your caregiver has a copy of the instructions.

Caring for Your Nose

The gist of postoperative instructions is to protect your nose while it heals. Avoid touching, bumping, or rubbing it, and minimize smiling because it causes movement in your nose. In addition, you need to avoid sniffing and blowing your nose for at least ten days. What if you have to sneeze after surgery? It’s difficult to stifle a sneeze, so to protect your
nose, express the sneeze through your mouth, and don’t try to muffle it.

What about cleaning your nose? You’ll be instructed on how to gently clean the exterior of your nose as well as the interior, just inside the nostrils where the incision are. You may also be advised to use a saline spray to help keep the inside of your nose clean.

Sleeping on Your Back

It’s important to sleep on your back for a few weeks following surgery to prevent pressure on your healing nose. Sleeping on your side with your nose pressed against a pillow could push the healing structures out of shape. You may want to sleep in a recliner to ensure that you stay on your back.

Minimizing Swelling and Bruising

To minimize swelling, you will likely be instructed to keep your head elevated while you sleep. Most surgeons will also advise you to avoid bending over or lifting anything heavy for at least two weeks following surgery because these activities can aggravate swelling and can also raise your blood pressure and cause bleeding. Your surgeon may
also prescribe steroids to help reduce swelling. Your surgeon may suggest using ice, frozen peas, or cold compresses to help reduce bruising around the eyes.

Resuming Activities

Your surgeon will give you a timetable for resuming rigorous activities. No doubt, this list will include instructions to avoid all contact sports and strenuous exercises for four to six weeks. Don’t lift any objects that weigh a few pounds. Be cautious with small children and pets that may bump your nose. If you participate in any activities that don’t appear on your surgeon’s timetable, be sure to ask when it’s okay to resume them.

Food, and Drink

Following rhinoplasty, a soft diet is recommended. It’s best to avoid chewing gum as well as foods that are hard to chew because they cause too much facial movement. As for beverages, it’s important to avoid alcohol because it thins the blood and can lead to bleeding. Avoid drinking any beverages that contain caffeine.

AvoidWearing Glasses

To help your healing nose maintain its shape, you won’t be able to wear eyeglasses or sunglasses on the bridge of your nose for approximately four weeks. Your surgeon will provide you with alternative ways to wear glasses, such as taping them to your forehead or having them refitted so they rest more on your ears rather than on your nose.

Pain Management

The level of pain patients experience after rhinoplasty varies; however, most patients experience only mild discomfort. Many rhinoplasty patients do not need any postsurgical pain relief, but those who do often find over-the-counter pain relievers to be adequate. In some cases, prescription pain medication may be necessary. The pain relievers your doctor recommends may include opioid and non-opioid medications.

Opioid Medications

You must have a prescription from your surgeon to acquire opioid pain relievers, which are also called narcotics or opiates. Opioids are effective in controlling moderate to severe pain and are usually prescribed to help you remain pain-free during the first few days following rhinoplasty. Commonly prescribed opioids include Tylenol with codeine, Darvocet, and Vicodin. These drugs are safe when taken as directed so it’s important to follow your doctor’s instructions. Because opioids can cause constipation, your surgeon may also recommend an over-the-counter stool softener.

Non-Opioid Medications

Some non-opioid medications require a prescription from your surgeon, but many don’t. These drugs are non-narcotic and are intended to control mild to moderate pain. Non-opioids include acetaminophen, which is found in Tylenol and Extra-Strength Tylenol, and are often recommended for pain relief following surgery. Remember that many over-the-counter pain relievers contain aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen sodium, all of which are discouraged following surgery because they can thin the blood and increase bleeding. Be sure to take only the pain relievers your surgeon has recommended. It’s important to take these medications as recommended because exceeding recommended dosages may harm the liver and/or kidneys.

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