Rhinoplasty Care: Your Guide to Healing
Undergoing rhinoplasty is a significant step toward achieving your aesthetic and functional goals. However, the surgery is only the first phase; your commitment to post-operative care, the “second surgery”, is vital to ensuring an optimal result.
Immediate Post-Operative Period
Following surgery, you will be monitored in the recovery room until you are fully awake and meet all discharge criteria. Your first follow-up appointment will be scheduled within one week.
Supervision: You must have a responsible adult accompany you home and, ideally, stay with you overnight.
Private Nursing: If you do not have a companion for the first evening, we can arrange a private nurse for approximately $200–$300. Please notify us in advance.
Diet: Begin with bland foods (e.g., crackers, toast) and gradually return to your normal diet as tolerated.
Nausea and Wellness
Nausea is common due to anaesthesia and small amounts of swallowed blood. If you experience nausea in the facility, nurses will provide intravenous medication. If you vomit at home, it usually occurs only once and is followed by significant relief. Less than one in ten people vomit after surgery.
Pain Management
Rhinoplasty is generally less painful than other procedures because local nerve endings are temporarily disrupted. Most discomfort is due to pressure and inflammation.
Tylenol (Acetaminophen): 1–2 tablets (325 mg) every 4–6 hours. Do not exceed 12 tablets in 24 hours.
Celebrex: Take as prescribed until the course is finished to manage inflammation.
Dilaudid (Narcotic): Provided for breakthrough pain, typically only needed for the first 48 hours. Warning: Never mix Dilaudid with alcohol or benzodiazepines.
Advil (Ibuprofen): Once Celebrex is finished; take 400 mg (Extra Strength) three times daily for three weeks to minimize long-term swelling.
Activity and Lifestyle Restrictions
For the first 30 days, your nasal structure is in a fragile remodelling phase.
The “No-Wiggle” Rule: While you can touch your nose and you should clean your nose, avoid any side-to-side movement of the nasal tip.
The 100 BPM Rule: Keep your heart rate below 100 beats per minute for the first month. If when you then resume exercise and notice increased swelling (“rebound”), stop for an additional two weeks.
Elevation: Keep your head above your heart at all times for the first month. Sleep propped up on several firm pillows or in a recliner for the first week.
Glasses: You may resume wearing glasses. Temporary impressions on the bridge are normal fluid displacement and not permanent and will not impact your result.
Wound Care and Hygiene
Bleeding: Oozing is normal for the first few days. Change the “drip pad” or “moustache dressing” (gauze taped under the nose) as needed. The bleeding has in most cases stopped by day three. There is no need for a dressing after that.
Cleaning: Use Q-tips soaked in hydrogen peroxide to gently clean the nostrils and the three sutures between the nostrils. Keeping the area free of dried blood promotes faster healing.
For post-operative nose cleaning video, click here.
Healing is a marathon, not a sprint. Swelling resolves gradually: 33% at two weeks, 50% at one month, and near-complete resolution by 6–7 months.
Steroid Injections: If persistent swelling occurs (common in thicker skin), we may administer steroid injections starting 3–4 months post-op. These are complimentary.
Tissue Fillers: For subtle asymmetries, we may use fillers to achieve the final 1–2% of refinement. These are complimentary for the first year.
Travel and Employment
Work: Plan for 14 days away from work. If your job involves physical labour, the “no-lifting” rule is absolute during this time.
Travel: Out-of-province patients are usually cleared to fly after their first post-operative visit.
With modern techniques and advances in surgery and healing, the post-operative healing journey is easier than most people expect.