Beverly Hills Rhinoplasty Surgery Blog

We are often asked how long it takes to heal after a nose job. Patients are suitably concerned about when they can show up back to work, go on a date, see friends, or worse, go to a family wedding or reunion, without looking alien.

We often tell people that within two to three weeks after surgery, no one but themselves and any one else in on the truth should know that anything happened at all. Most patients are comfortable returning to work even after one week. Bruising and swelling should be minimal if present at all.

But, there is still some healing to go after the first few weeks. If you read about healing after rhinoplasty, you will see the phrase 1 year often thrown around like some magic number. It’s not that you wake up on your 365th day after surgery and your nose miraculously appears different.

But, it really does take time for the skin to shrink down and wrap around the new structure underneath. For those with thin skin, this may largely happen within a couple of months. For some with very thick skin, revision patients, or if your nose was reduced significantly in size, it can sometimes take even more than a year. So, there is some individual variation in healing based on your skin type, healing characteristics, degree of previous nasal injury, and the type and amount of work done during your procedure.

If you don’t believe us , check out the photos below to see the progress of our recovery nurse after her revision rhinoplasty.

Our recovery room nurse is shown before (left), 10 days (middle), and 4 months (right) after revision rhinoplasty to treat a scooped out, overprojected nose. Notice how even at 10 days, she can return to activities without worry. But, you can see the reduction in swelling above and below the tip that continues to happen over several months after the procedure.

There was an interesting article in The Wall Street Journal this month listing 10 things Plastic Surgeons won’t tell you. Among the list of zingers you’d never hear from your plastic surgeon are such statements as “I trained a whole weekend to learn this procedure”, and “Long-term effects? Beats me.” It was written, of course, with the author’s tongue firmly in planted in his cheek but the message was quite serious.

A lot of poorly regulated and even unregulated business is going on in this area of medicine and the bottom line is that you need to do your homework and make sure you know just exactly who is doing what to you. We, at Profiles, are big proponents of taking it slow when it comes to new therapies and technologies because today’s fad may be tomorrow’s problem. But that’s just us. We encourage you to research, ask questions, and treat cosmetic procedures with the respect and seriousness they should merit. If you see a truly qualified practitioner, the chances for a satisfying outcome are extremely high.

We are happy to announce that we were recently named as one of the Top 50 Surgeon Bloggers by iScrub. iScrub is an informative blog dedicated to educating health professionals and consumers about information related to the health community. They have a number of good resources and links. Check them out.

Everyone who has suffered a poor Rhinoplasty result experiences a range of negative emotions. All are understandably unhappy about their noses and fearful of misplacing their trust once more. Yet, there are some who experience a more extreme reaction, a few of whom we’ve seen recently.

These are patients who have what is termed ‘loss of identity’ syndrome, a feeling of dissociation from themselves because they cannot relate to the change in the way they look. Patients with loss of identity tell us they just don’t feel like themselves anymore. They just can’t reconcile their new appearance. We were reminded of this by a recent patient who, by all accounts, is a beautiful woman, but who was truly devastated by her previous Rhinoplasty.

This kind of thing happens more frequently after Rhinoplasty than other facial plastic procedures. There are many Rhinoplasty deformities that can lead to this feeling, but the most common by far occurs when the nasal bridge is taken down too much, especially in men. Removing a person’s sense of having a strong nose can be as simple as shaving a few too many millimeters of bone, but those few millimeters can make a huge difference.

That’s why it’s so important to see a Rhinoplasty specialist for your primary or revision nose job. In the hands of a highly experienced Rhinoplasty surgeon, there is no reason for anxiety. A surgeon who understands your aesthetic goals and who has the technical ability to achieve them can help you to transform your self-identity and recapture the confidence you deserve. That is why we find revision Rhinoplasty so rewarding. If you are experiencing some of these emotions, maybe it’s time to take another chance on a better outcome. Feel free to contact us so we can discuss your case in more detail and take the next step to finding happiness with your nose.