Rhinoplasty Aftercare

In this blog, you will learn every important step of Rhinoplasty aftercare to ensure proper healing and the best possible results.

Rhinoplasty In Dubai

Rhinoplasty in Dubai is a widely chosen cosmetic procedure for people who want to improve the shape, size, or structure of their nose while maintaining facial balance. The success of the surgery does not only depend on the procedure itself but also on proper rhinoplasty aftercare. After surgery, patients are usually advised to follow specific care instructions that support healing and protect the newly shaped nose. Rhinoplasty aftercare often includes keeping the head elevated while resting, avoiding pressure on the nose, and limiting strenuous activities during the early recovery period. Proper care also helps reduce swelling, discomfort, and the risk of complications. By carefully following the recommended aftercare guidelines, patients can support a smoother recovery process and allow the nose to heal gradually for natural and long lasting results.

Your Guide To Your Rhinoplasty Aftercare

This guide tells you all you need to know about your recovery from Rhinoplasty surgery in the first seven plus days. It will help you recover as securely as possible and make sure you know how to do your normal everyday activities.

The most important thing to remember following rhinoplasty surgery is to never judge your outcomes in the first 1 to 2 weeks. You could notice that your profile looks different and that your nose is smaller right away, but there will always be bruising and swelling inside your nose that needs to go down in the first few weeks. You might feel better in 1 to 2 days after resting, but your nose will start to swell less after the nasal splint is taken off.

What To Expect In The First 7-Days After Surgery

This part is only a guide of what to expect. 

Date of Surgery

• You can feel fatigued or sick in the first day after surgery. This is very normal and could make you throw up. This is often because of all the drugs and fluids that were given to you that your body wants to get rid of. Five percent of those who have had rhinoplasty say this happens. 
• You will be able to see the bruises around your eyes.
• Your nose may look like it’s tilted up or over-rotated. After surgery, the swelling may cause your nose to tilt up and show more of your nostrils. You don’t need to worry about this because it won’t last. The tip of your nose will go back to its normal position as the swelling goes down over the next few weeks. 

Day 1

• Your bruises will have gotten worse since yesterday, and the swelling around your upper eyelids will probably have gotten worse as well. This is typical, and we expect it to happen in all patients. It is also typical for the cheekbones and jawline to enlarge.
• You might still be bleeding from your nose. You should keep using the disposable drip pads and tape we gave you to catch any discharge. Use this until you see that the bleeding has stopped.
• You can start using any herbal products you bought, like Arnica, again today. 
• Your nose will be almost entirely blocked, and you may have to breathe through your mouth from time to time, especially at night. You can use any of the decongestant nasal sprays or saltwater sprays we told you about the day following your procedure.

Day: 2

• Your bruises will get worse and be easier to see around your eyes and cheeks. This is normal, and we expect it to look worse than it did the day before.
• You might still be bleeding, but it’s happening extremely slowly. On day two, 42% of patients will still have discharge or bleeding to deal with. 
• This is normal: your breathing will still be limited.

Day: 3

• Your bruises and swelling will now be at their worst, and they will look a little worse than they did on day two. Your eyes may be puffy, which makes it hard to fully open them. This is typical, and you probably have the most swelling right now. Some people may have somewhat swollen cheeks and pain lower down, closer to the jawline. This happens a lot and isn’t something to worry about.
• For 96% of patients, any bleeding should have ceased completely. 6% of people may still have a small amount of discharge. If this is the case, lie back in a straight line and put an ice pack on your forehead (not your nose) for 12 minutes. Take off the ice pack after 12 minutes and rest for 12 minutes. Then put the ice pack back on for another 12 minutes. Please keep doing this for 1 hour and let the rest of the discharge cease on its own. 
• If you look inside your nose, you should see edema, blood clots, and tissue that is red and swollen. Don’t worry about this; it’s only temporary and shouldn’t be touched. This will be for all Rhinoplasty patients. 

Day: 4

• By this day, your bleeding should have stopped. If it hasn’t, please get in touch with us, and we will watch and advise, but again, there is nothing to worry about.
• Lastly, your bruises, purple skin patches, and swelling will start to go down on this day. You can notice yellow skin around the edges of your bruises. This means that you are getting better.
• Please know that your nostrils will probably not be perfectly symmetrical. About 75% of patients will notice that their noses are not perfectly symmetrical. This is not a cause for concern. You should remember that thinking this will happen all the time will only cause you more worry. It’s not a good idea to make observations at this point because you are on day 5 of a 13-month recovery. 

Day: 5

• Compared to Day three, you will see a big difference in how much the swelling and bruises go down. As the swelling goes down faster, you can notice more yellow spots on your skin. 
• Because of the swelling, your nasal splint may look a little off-center, and in 20% of patients, it may have fallen loose. This is normal. It has done its job if your splint is no longer tight. You don’t need to put the splint back on; it will fall off on its own. The splint will stay on securely for most individuals. 
• If you still have trouble breathing, that’s normal. You can stop taking the Paracetamol if you’re not in pain, though.

Day: 6

• A further reduction in bruising and discoloration may make your facial movements seem more flexible. 
• Please make sure you follow the advice given, since you may have been told to soak the splint the day before your next consultation with our clinical team. 
• If our team made arrangements for it, your post-operative appointment might be on this day. 

Day 7

• This is usually the date of your surgery when you come back to see us to have your stitches and splint (if you have one) taken off. 
• Again, there will be more reduction, and almost all of the bruising will have gone away, with only a few small spots left. 

General Anaesthesia

You were given General Anaesthesia as part of your procedure. While in the hospital, anesthesia might make you feel sick or nauseous. To help with this, we will give you anti-sickness medication while you are here. You may still feel sick after you leave our hospital. It’s common to get ill when you get home, and it might make your nose bleed, but there’s no need to worry. If you are unwell, you need to drink fluids and replace any lost bodily salts. 

Movements & Activity

You can move around and conduct your daily duties without any problems, but try not to bow your head down for too long or lift heavy things like suitcases or grocery bags. This is to keep blood from rushing to the head and causing a nosebleed.

Eating & Drinking Requirements

What To Drink And Eat

You can eat and drink whatever you want. For the first few days after surgery, stay away from spicy foods and drinks that are too hot. In other words, let coffee, tea, etc. cool down a bit before drinking.

Your Medications / Items You May Have Purchased

You must take all of the medicines we gave you. You would have gotten the following in most cases:

• Ibuprofen

Take 405mg with food every six hours. This is to aid with any swelling and redness.

• Paracetamol

Every four hours, take two pills. This is to help with any little pain or discomfort.

• Please Do Not Take More Than 9 Tablets In One Day.

Most patients don’t experience any discomfort, but if you do, don’t worry. If you keep taking both of the above medicines on time after you leave the hospital, you won’t have any pain.

If you are taking any other prescription drugs, keep taking them as usual after surgery until your doctor tells you to stop.

You can start taking all of your herbal supplements, vitamins, nutritional items, and so on again one day following your surgery.

• Arnica

You may have been told to buy arnica before because it is a holistic product. You can start taking them again the first night after you get home from surgery. 

• Decongestant Sprays / Salt Sprays

You can use these sprays a day after your procedure. 

Sleeping At Night

Some people may have trouble sleeping during the first few nights.

For the first seven nights, you can sleep on your back or side (shoulder), but your head must always be higher than your body. This is to make sure that your blood flows well, which speeds up your healing. It is best to have at least one or two cushions beneath your head. 

Advice About Bleeding

Bleeding is the most common side effect of a rhinoplasty, and most of the bleeding will happen in the first one to two days following the surgery.

People often get small nosebleeds for up to a week after surgery. This is normal and nothing to worry about.

Advice About Bruising/Swelling

Bleeding and bruising are also common, and a rhinoplasty is done in a location where there is fragile skin tissue between your eyes and cheekbones that can swell and bruise easily.

The places where bruises happen are always different. You can have bruises on your lower eye bag area or, in certain situations, on your upper eyelid. When things are normal, your cheeks may be a little puffy all the way down to your jawline. As was said before, this is the softest tissue around the nose that reacts to injury. For up to 3 days following your surgery, the bruising surrounding these locations will get worse. Then, over the next 8 to 12 days, it will start to go away.

You can’t always tell when bruises and swelling will happen. Every person’s body reacts to trauma in a different way, so you might heal faster or slower than someone you know who has had this operation previously.

It’s important to know that swelling and bruising won’t last forever. Your skin will mend rapidly, and bruising and discolouration will go away completely after you recuperate. 

Recovery Tips

Tips And Tricks For Bruising And Swelling

• We may have told you that Arnica tablets are a different kind of supplement that can aid with bruises. You take this medicine in pill form before and after the surgery.
• Ice packs, whether homemade or store-bought, are fantastic to use when you get home from surgery. They will help “freeze” the extra edema in the area around the nose and eyes. Never put ice packs directly on the nose (the nasal bridge). Always put cold packs on your forehead or around your eyes.
• You need to keep taking Ibuprofen after surgery to keep the swelling down as much as you can. 

How To Change/Remove Your Dressings

Nasal Packing

The hospital probably took out the nasal packing.

Nasal Padding

The nasal cushion that covers your nostrils is there to catch any blood that is still coming out. You can usually take these off after one to two days, when the bleeding has stopped. Patients often have to wait a few days for the bleeding to stop entirely before they can stop using the padding.

Nasal Splint

You must not take off your splint. Our nursing team will take this off at your one week post-operative evaluation.

The only reason you have a nasal splint is to keep your nose safe from injury. It’s okay if your nasal splint is a little curved and not sitting perfectly straight on your nose. It won’t bend or slant your nose as you heal. As the swelling on one side pulls the nasal splint away, it will commonly shift to the other side.

One out of every five patients may find that their nasal splint is getting loose. This can happen if the swelling in the nose pulls away from the splint or if oily skin moves the splint. After 4 to 7 days, the splint may fall off on its own. This is fine again, but try not to look at your nose because it will look broader and more swollen.

It is very important that your nasal splint stays dry for the first seven days after recovery. Do not let water get under or around the splint. If you think the splint may have gotten wet, please call the clinic.

Showering & Hygiene

Bathing/Showering

Here are some recommendations to help you shower after your rhinoplasty:

• Don’t get your splint wet until the night before your appointment to have it taken off.
• Try to wash your complete body with a hand shower like you normally would, but be cautious not to lean your head down.
• Make sure the water is neither too hot or too cold.

How To Clean Your Nose

Key Facts:

• You should only start the cleaning technique below when your bleeding has totally stopped and you have taken off the nasal cushioning (drip pad).
• You shouldn’t clean the inside of your nose more than three times in the first week. To get rid of any dried blood or mucus, please simply clean the inside of the nostrils.
• After rhinoplasty surgery, be patient while you clean your nose.

Step 1:

Soak a cotton swab in hot water and gently rub it around the inside of your nostril. This will progressively break down and remove the crusty discharge. It could take up to five cotton buds to clean each nostril entirely. Cleaning can take as long as half an hour. 

Step 2:

Put some Vaseline on a new cotton bud and softly coat the inside of your nostrils.

This usually only needs to be done once to get rid of all the crusted stuff in the nose.

Blowing Your Nose

Don’t blow your nose, but if you have a lot of loose mucus, do it very slowly and gently. If you blow your nose a lot or hard, it will probably make you bleed.

You might try using a saltwater spray to clear the inside of your nose. 

Checking For Infection

It is very uncommon to get a bacterial infection following rhinoplasty. When looking for infection, you should look for two things:

• Your bleeding has stopped completely, but after a few days or weeks, you suddenly start bleeding a lot again. This could be because the wound is breaking down, and antibiotics may be given. In very rare circumstances (less than 1%), you may need to have the nasal packing put back in to soak up the blood and halt the flow.
• Your nose may enlarge so much that it is wider than your eyes, and the corners of your eyes may also swell and turn red. Most likely, this is an illness that needs antibiotics to get better.

What Is Not An Infection

A week or so after surgery, patients often notice an unpleasant smell in their nostrils or a bitter taste in their mouths. This is because following nose surgery, your sense of taste and smell gets better, but also because your sinus ducts are probably inflamed, which makes the mucus smell bad and taste bitter. In this situation, you should try to use a saltwater spray to clean up your nasal passages up to five times a day. At night, you should also use a decongestant spray for three to four nights. 

As long as you get treatment for a bacterial illness in a fair amount of time, you don’t have to worry about it.

Returning To Your Routine

• For the first seven days after surgery, stay at home and recover. Don’t start doing hard exercises.
• You can go back to work one to two weeks after your rhinoplasty.
• After the procedure, you can go back to the gym for light aerobic exercises like running and biking after seven days.
• You can only start lifting heavy weights again six weeks after surgery. Lifting anything prior could make your nose bleed.
• You can’t go back to the pool, sauna, or spa for six weeks. This makes sure that all of the cuts are completely healed and can’t get infected.
• You should wait 2 to 3 months after your surgery before getting facials, facial peels, or any other cosmetic procedures on your face.
• After seven days, you can use all of your daily skin care products again. 

Flying After Rhinoplasty

After seven days of your rhinoplasty surgery, you can board long-haul flights that last between four and twelve hours.

You can take short flights of two hours or less one day following your procedure. You will get extra help with this.

You can take flights that last 3 to 5 hours after 6 days.

BOOK AN APPOINTMENT TODAY

Most Frequently Asked Questions By Patients During Recovery

I’m Finding It Impossible To Breathe Through My Nose. Can Anything Be Done?

You might have trouble breathing through your nose for the first 29 days and have to breathe through your mouth instead. Sadly, this is thought to be the most painful part of the first recuperation. Some people feel better after using a nasal decongestant spray. Menthol crystals can also assist at first.

My Nose Splint Appears Crooked. Is This Fine?

Your splint is there to keep your nose from getting hit by mistake. Swelling may force your splint to one side, making it look crooked. This doesn’t mean that the nose is healing to one side. Make sure your splint doesn’t touch water until the night before your appointment to have it taken off.

I’ve Looked Up My Nose, And It Looks Infected. Do I Need Antibiotics?

Your nose has the following:

• The walls of the nose are swollen.
• Tissue balls that are inflamed
• Blood and mucus that have dried.
• Dissolvable internal sutures that look like white thread.

When you put them all together, your nose inside may look like it needs help. But all of the above are parts of the healing process and should be let to heal, dry, and fall off on their own. This could take a few weeks.

My Nasal Splint Is Peeling Off. Is This Ok?

The splint may come off because of swelling and greasy skin. If this happens, don’t try to take off the splint. Just let it peel off on its own if it gets too loose.

My Nostrils Look Asymmetrical; Is This A Final Result?

Not at all. You shouldn’t be looking at your nose right now. Swelling will always cause some or all of the following signs, and none of these should worry you:

• It’s fairly typical for your nostrils to be varied shapes and sizes. When your nose swells, it may pull, stretch, or weigh down on one or both nostrils. This is only temporary while the swelling is putting weight on the tip.
• Your nose tip looks excessively high because the swelling is pushing it up. It will go back to normal when the swelling goes down.
• Your nasal tip looks bulbous, and in certain cases, it may become even more bulbous after surgery. Once more, the tip of the nose has swollen and needs time to go down and get smaller.

MEET THE EXPERT DOCTOR

Best Plastic Surgeon In Dubai For Rhinoplasty

Best Plastic Surgeon in Dubai for Rhinoplasty focuses not only on achieving refined cosmetic results but also on guiding patients through effective recovery and aftercare. Dr. Perfect Celebrity is known for performing rhinoplasty with precision while providing detailed aftercare instructions that help patients heal safely and comfortably. Rhinoplasty aftercare plays a crucial role in protecting surgical results and ensuring the nose heals properly. Patients are typically advised to avoid heavy exercise, protect the nose from accidental pressure, and attend follow up appointments to monitor healing progress. Experienced surgeons also provide personalized guidance based on the patient’s surgical procedure and recovery needs. With expert care and proper rhinoplasty aftercare, patients can experience a smoother healing journey and achieve the desired outcome from their surgery.