Rhinoplasty: Cost, Pics, Reviews, Q&A

Rhinoplasty Recovery Time

For most patients, it is around 7 to 8 days before they are presentable without any obvious signs of having had open rhinoplasty surgery.

I rarely use nasal packing, so for the first 2 days the patient is usually able to breathe pretty well through the nose, and there will be some swelling around the eyes along with bruising.

This swelling typically resolves at 2 to 3 days, then the nasal splint is typically removed on the 5th or 6th day, after which for 2 more days brown color matched tape is applied to the nose.

Once this tape is removed on the 7th or 8th day, there may be some residual bruising primarily around the eyes (which can be concealed with make up) but for the most part the patient is fully presentable. (Jeffrey Epstein, MD, FACS, Miami Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Most patients have a nasal spline and/or sutures that are removed at 1 week. I would say most bruising will go away within 7-10 days maybe up to 2 weeks for most people. I usually tell patients to give themselves 2 weeks to return to work and 3-6 weeks to return to general exercise activities. (Steven Wallach, MD, Manhattan Plastic Surgeon)

Open Rhinoplasty Recovery

Despite looking somewhat bruised and swollen and wearing a splint for 1 week, the recovery is relatively easy. Pain is usually only mild at 48 hours but nasal congestion continues for 1-2 weeks. I don’t use packing gauze so the problems associated with packing and removal are absent. When the splint is removed at 1 week, 75%-80% of the result is present.

Open rhinoplasty operation recovery time

The rest of the result can take 6 -12 months once low grade swelling subsides. (Harold J. Kaplan, MD, Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Recovery time after open rhinoplasty

Nasal splint removal after a open rhinoplasty is 6-8 days after surgery. Most rhinoplasty patients can go into public 8-10 days after surgery without fear of strangers staring at them. There may be lingering bruising around the eyes which become yellow and disappear usually at day 10 and which usually responds to makeup very nicely. Going back to work 10-12 days after a surgery, most coworkers cannot tell that anything has been done to your nose (depending on what you had done), despite the fact that you should be able to see generally the overall shape of the new nose upon removal of the splint.

Open rhinoplasty recovery time photo

The swelling decrease after a rhinoplasty is variable and depends on the extent of the rhinoplasty. Much of the swelling subsides in the first 3-4 weeks after surgery, and the remaining swelling will decrease in a logarithmic fashion over 10-18 months or longer after surgery, depending on the extent of the surgery, the thickness of the skin, and other variables.

Open rhinoplasty is a complex surgery with many variables, and it is best that you thoroughly investigate the rhinoplasty experience of your surgeon and view before and after photos to give yourself the best chance for a nice outcome. (Thomas T. Le, MD, Baltimore Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Open rhinoplasty recovery time and downtime

Open rhinoplasty surgery recovery time

Most of the downtime is due to having a splint on the nose. I like to leave the splint on for 5 days. There may be some bruising of the eyelids if there is bony work done. The discomfort is mainly over the first 3-5 days. You will want to keep your head above your heart for the first month. (Kenneth L. Stein, MD, Chicago Plastic Surgeon)

Recovery time is not the same for everyone!

The first question I ask patients is.”Define recovery time.” This is because every patient has different expectations. Patients will have a splint on for 5-6 days. However, almost all my patients are off pain pills and back to work within 2-3 days.

If they are concerned about what they look like, the majority of bruising and swelling will be down by day 8-9 so that they can go to work and the public will not know that they have had nasal surgery.

Open rhinoplasty recovery time picture

However, when patients look in the mirror and analyze details, they will not see that fine definition in their nose with respect to tip definition, etc for 6-7 months after surgery. (Raghu Athre, MD, Houston Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Rhinoplasty Open Recovery Period

Most people take one week off work but understand that they may still have signs of bruising and swelling at that time. Although they will be feeling good at that point and capable of doing all normal activities, they need to refrain from vigorous activities for two to three weeks and avoid trauma to the nose for a year following surgery.

You can find out more about the typical recovery period from open rhinoplasty including what activities you can do, by following the link below. (Thomas Buonassisi, MD, Vancouver Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Normally, the splint following a rhinoplasty will be removed after 10 days. You can also expect that any stitches which need to be removed can come out at that same time, as well.

Patients may have a little bruising around the lower lids. I do believe two to three weeks after surgery would be fine to go out should you want to make certain that majority of the bruising will have gone away.

Swelling comes down over a period of time.However, majority of it will occur after three weeks. Most of the swelling is resolved at that time, but we always say swelling within the nasal area may take a year to completely resolve. (Glynn Bolitho, PhD, MD, FACS, San Diego Plastic Surgeon)

Largely depends on what you are having done. If there is harvesting of cartilage and or bone from elsewhere you should include also the time for healing of that seoarate area.

Otherwise you will have a cast (and sometimes nasal packing) for 7 days, swelling for 2 weeks which will improve with nasal massages. It can take up to 6 months to have the sweling completely subside but it is very subjective. (Vartan Mardirossian, MD, Jupiter Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Generally your external cast will be removed between 5 to 7 days after surgery. Swelling and bruising can be noticeable for around two weeks after surgery.

Swelling tends to improve significantly by about the six week mark and will slowly continue to improve out to 12 months. Most patients feel comfortable going out in public one week after surgery, but it is important to understand that recovery time, swelling, and bruising are very specific to each individual patient.

You should always ask your surgeon about expected postoperative recovery time and activity limitations. (Josh Surowitz, MD, Raleigh-Durham Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Rhinoplasty Recovery Time and Downtime?

The surgery is done as an outpatient procedure under general anesthesia in about 2 hours. The patients go home soon after recovering in the facility. The cast and internal stents are removed in 8 days at which time majority of the patients look very much presentable.

Heavy exercises are avoided for 3 weeks and wearing glasses without nose protection for 5 weeks. Most bruising and swelling will subside in 8-10 days. There will be minor swelling up to a year. (Bahman Guyuron, MD, Cleveland Plastic Surgeon)

Generally the cast is removed at 1 week. Most of the bruising is gone by 2 weeks but this can vary from person to person. The average person is socially presentable at 2 weeks sometimes with the help of make up. (Richard Rival, MD, FRCSC, Toronto Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Rhinoplasty down time

post-operative down time depends on the amount of the work done on the nose specially osteotomy, if osteotomy or repositioning of the bone is done during the surgery, patients usually will need nose splint for 2 weeks, by that time swelling and bruising has decreased and after this point patient will have mild swelling which decreases within additional few weeks. (Ali Totonchi, MD, Cleveland Plastic Surgeon)

Recovery time after Rhinoplasty

I would recommend taking a week off of work or school. At 5-7 days, the bandage and dressing will come off, as well as any sutures that might need to be removed. Bruising will last about 10 days on average, and will be a dark purple, and then turn to green, then yellow, then fade away.

While your face might be swollen, you can go out into public within the first week. You won’t feel completely healed for a few weeks though. However, you can resume most of your normal activities by 1 week. Strenuous exercise and contact sports will be push back at least several weeks to allow your nose to heal without changing shape or bleeding. (Samir Undavia, MD, Princeton Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Recovery Post Rhinoplasty

Patients can expect to go out in public after one week which is when the cast is removed. Most patients return to work after one week, however it will take a year to achieve the final results. For ethnic patients and patients with thick skin recovery time for revision rhinoplasty and rhinoplasty will be longer than a year. (Sam Rizk, MD, New York Facial Plastic Surgeon)

I think of recovery as being able to go out in public. That should be about 2 to 3 days when the splint comes off. You may still have a little swelling and some bruising but with a little makeup, you should reason able and be recovered.

While many surgeons would say that this period is more like a week to 10 days, a rapid recovery program and operative techniques designed to minimize swelling and bruising should minimize these concerns and as soon as the splint is removed your should be able to go out into public.

There is no need to keep the splint on any longer than about 2 to 3 days. While there are exceptions to this, about 90% of my patients look very good as soon as the splint is removed. (Brian Windle, MD, Kirkland Plastic Surgeon)

In my practice, packing inside the nose is taken out the day after surgery. Sutures are removed and the splint is taken off at one week. This is the usual time back to socialization.

If there is still bruising at this time, cover make up is OK to wear. If you have an event coming up like a family wedding, a class reunion, or a big vacation (an event where you will likely get your picture taken,) give yourself a month for the swelling to settle before attending such an event. There are subtle changes for an entire year, so I follow patients at least a year after their procedure. (Stephan Finical, MD, Charlotte Plastic Surgeon)

Rhinoplasty Recovery Time and Downtime

I recommend my patients at least 1 week but if you can take 2 that would great also, the more time you have to recover and rest the better.

After being discharged you leave with a cast on the nose which you have one for 1 week also you would be rather swollen in the face there would be bruising and puffiness in the eye area, I ask my patients to come back in 1 week for your follow-up where we would remove your cast and I put a tape which you wear fro 2 weeks and afterwards you would come back for another follow-up i remove the tape and you do not have to wear anything.

It is important that throughout this whole recovery time you limit yourself to a lot of activities to avoid any harm to your nose. During the followups is where depending on how you are recovering you would be permitted to return to some of your regular activites but all in all you need 1 week and just to be very careful with any sudden movements of just anything that could ruin your surgery. (Luis Suarez, MD, Mexico Plastic Surgeon)

Back to Real Life After Rhinoplasty

This is one of the most common questions I hear from my rhinoplasty patients.

Although bruising and swelling are normal, rhinoplasty is associated with a fairly comfortable recovery time.

Most patients feel confident enough return to their normal activities after about a week, which is around the same time that most dressings are removed.

Of course, the actual timeline can vary from patient to patient, and your surgeon should be able to give you a more personalized answer. (Richard Chaffoo, MD, FACS, San Diego Plastic Surgeon)

Recovery time rhinoplasty varies depending on the patient and what techniques are utilized. Some general guidelines:

• Tape and splint as well as any external sutures are typically removed by day 7 if not before. Even with this, however, one should expect significant swelling at the one week point.
• Make-up can usually be applied shortly after this- post surgery day 8-10.-With make up, almost all patients will be comfortable getting back to social activities and work by two weeks.
• Although some patients have little to no bruising (especially if their procedure did not require osteotomies/ bone work) most will see some and occasionally this can lasts more than a week. Again, with make-up these patients should be able to cover this by two weeks.
• Patients should plan on no strenuous activities for two weeks, no heavy lifting for three weeks, and no contact sports or activities where they may hit their nose for 6 weeks. In addition, patients should be cautious with putting anything on their nose including glasses for the first 6 weeks.Finally, the nose will continue to remodel itself for the first 12 months and beyond. While the nose will achieve most of its final look in the first couple of weeks to months, patients should not consider things “healed and finished” until the one year point. (Mark Hamilton, MD, Indianapolis Facial Plastic Surgeon)