Congratulations on the fact that you are considering rhinoplasty. There are many people with a specific problem that can be addressed through surgery and yet they procrastinate and as a result prolong their suffering for longer than necessary. If you have determined that rhinoplasty is for you, then have the procedure as soon as you are comfortable moving forward. Do not delay forever, the procedure is a very involved surgery, but it is also very safe and recovery is not too severe. In fact, rhinoplasty recovery is the best part because you are moving forward to your new life with old problems behind you.
Understanding Rhinoplasty Recovery
The key to rhinoplasty recovery is that you need to be prepared, informed, and ready for the process. Once you understand the process, then your expectations will meet your reality as you proceed thorough the recovery process. The first thing you need to know about rhinoplasty recovery is that once the procedure is complete, you will still have tubes, packing, splints, and other post operative materials in and around your nose to maintain the desired post surgery structure.
This is expected. In about 7-10 days after the typical rhinoplasty you will be able to have your bandages removed. The length of time can some times be faster and oftentimes longer, it all depends on the type of surgery you underwent. You should also know that swelling is very common. Some patients swell more than others and that is a result of each patients specific genetics in conjunction with the type of surgery they had. Swelling is common and it should not surprise or startle you to find that you even have more swelling than you originally imagined possible. This is expected and in fact, if you have changed your nose shape during surgery you will find that your nose will not completely take its new shape for as long as several months. The swelling will have gone down, but the settling of the nose can take quite some time before it finally takes its new permanent shape.
Rhinoplasty Recovery Pains
Many people want to know about post operative pain. Pain is a reality of rhinoplasty recovery, but it can easily be managed through proper dosages of pain killers. This is not something to be worried about because rhinoplasty surgery is so common that doctors are very adept at making proper pain medication prescriptions. You job is simply to follow the directions and make certain you take your prescription as directed, do this and your pain should be minimal to non existent. If you do not take the prescription and you miss a dose, that is when you will feel the pain. The one thing that is common with rhinoplasty recovery patients that forget to take their pain medications for the first time, they quickly learn and there never is a second time. Take you pain pills as directed and you will not have a problem.
One last thing to note is that you will want to avoid anything more than minimal physical activity during your recovery period. This could be for as long as six months so if you are one that loves to exercise, get ready to take time off because exercising during rhinoplasty recovery is a prescription for problems. Even walking long distances or so that your heart rate is substantially increased, is not recommended. This is the one time of your life when you will be able to be lazy and your laziness will in fact be better for your health than exercise. That does not happen often in life so enjoy the excuse of not exercising during your rhinoplasty recovery, you will be back on your regular routine soon enough.