Revision Rhinoplasty Recovery – Common Post-Operative Instructions

If you’re preparing for a revision rhinoplasty surgery, you already know a lot about what it’s like during a rhinoplasty recovery period and most of these instructions will likely look familiar to you. However, you may be wondering what may be different about your secondary rhinoplasty experience during post-op. This article seeks to provide you with guidance, but should not replace a discussion with Dr. Hecht and our staff prior to your revision surgery.

While requiring a secondary surgery isn’t ideal, our goal is to make this surgery your final rhinoplasty surgery. Part of ensuring the success of your revision rhinoplasty procedure is to follow our post-operative instructions provided to you before your procedure. Postoperative instructions can vary from patient to patient due to specific needs, but there are few things that most patients can expect from the revision rhinoplasty recovery process.

Common Post-Operative Revision Rhinoplasty Recovery Instructions

Medication

If you undergo revision rhinoplasty, you can expect to receive prescriptions and guidance on over the counter medications as part of your post-operative instructions. These medications are different depending on the patient. Pay close attention to the instructions and take them on schedule, whether you are in pain or not.

Avoid Certain Over the Counter Items

After the surgery, you will want to avoid aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDS) as these are blood thinners that will increase your bleeding after surgery. There are other blood thinners to avoid which include anything containing alcohol and also some supplements and herbal remedies.  Do not take anything without first discussing it with Dr. Hecht.

Limit Activity

You will need to limit yourself to light to moderate activity and avoid doing anything strenuous.  Be sure to have a friend or family member around to do the heavy lifting while you rest. Rest is an important part of the healing process; trying to do too much too soon could delay recovery, leaving you more vulnerable to infection and other complications.

Change Pads

Your nose will drip for a few days after surgery.  You may feel like you want to blow your nose, but you should resist that urge.  Just allow your nose to drain onto your nasal drip pads and change them frequently. Do not remove any nasal packing at home; this should only be done by Dr. Hecht.

Dry Cast

You will have to keep your cast dry until it is ready to come off, so be careful during showers.  We recommend only sponging yourself clean until the cast is removed by Dr. Hecht.  To keep your hair clean during this time, you may want to invest in a good dry shampoo.  After we remove the cast and packing, you will then use nasal sprays and ointments until you complete recovery.

Tips to Reduce Swelling During Revision Rhinoplasty Recovery

You can expect to have a lot of swelling after your revision rhinoplasty surgery, so anything to help alleviate the swelling is welcomed news to all patients, and something Dr. Hecht recommends doing for several days after surgery.  Tips for reducing swelling include keeping your head elevated as much as possible and using ice packs around your eyes.  Do not apply pressure to the nose with the ice packs, however. Just gently lay the ice over the area with your head elevated.

Follow-up

You’ll need to schedule a follow up appointment for 5-7 days after your surgery to check on everything.  However, if you’re having pain that isn’t managed by pain medication, develop a fever, or have any signs of an infection (including skin that is unusually warm to the touch), you should contact Dr. Hecht’s office right away or seek emergency assistance.

Learn More About Revision Rhinoplasty Recovery

For more information about your revision rhinoplasty recovery instructions, talk with Dr. Hecht and our staff.  We will speak with you and your caretakers about what you need to do to ensure the possible possible outcome in the days following your revision rhinoplasty surgery.