Rhinoplasty: Experiences and recovery tips?

Fine. Whatever you say.

Oh yeah, because I clearly have nothing better to do than make up lies on a health forum. 🤦

Look, people get cosmetic work done at public hospitals all the time. Sure, it doesn't happen every single day, but folks actually walk in there and ask, "Hey, can you touch up my nose?" It’s not like anyone is bribing doctors or getting surgeries through some shady back-channel connections.
I'd have to be absolutely delusional to invent a conspiracy like that. Get real.

Amanda Lewis66 said:Fine. Have it your way.

Yeah, because I clearly have nothing better to do than make up lies on a health forum... 🤦

Cosmetic stuff can be done for free at the hospital too. I mean, obviously not every single time, but look—these people actually asked if they could get their noses "touched up" a bit. Nobody was bribed, and nobody got surgery just because they knew someone.
I wouldn't even dream of making that up. Get real.

A cosmetic touch-up is something that can happen "on the side" at a hospital when they’re already fixing a primary issue—usually a deviated septum. It really just comes down to whether the doctor decides to offer the aesthetic part, but they definitely aren't obligated to... Also, just to address the point about residents doing the surgeries... that isn't quite right. At the end of the day, the surgeon's actual name is the one on the chart, and I don't think many would ever take that kind of risk. We all know how much training those surgical residents actually go through... And I totally agree with Sam Kim12 on everything she said, especially regarding bruising. That's purely down to the individual, and honestly, it doesn't matter what kind of surgery you had. Bruising depends on the trauma to the area, but even with the exact same trauma, every patient reacts in their own unique way.

Amanda Lewis66 said:Aesthetic work can be done for free at the hospital too. Sure, it doesn't happen every single time, but honestly, those patients were the ones asking if they could get a little "touch-up" on their noses. Nobody was bribing anyone, and nobody received surgery through some shady connection.
That is a complete fabrication. Get a grip.

Sure, it happens, but let’s be real—it’s incredibly rare. It is much more the exception than the rule, yet by posting this, you are essentially leading people down a dangerous path, implying that if they just have some tiny functional issue, the hospital will suddenly decide to fix their entire aesthetic look for nothing. We are talking about procedures that cost $10,000$0.00 or even more.

You can think what you want, but they aren't going to operate on every single functional glitch, let alone provide free cosmetic enhancements.

Hey everyone, what’s the deal with smokers? 😁
I heard it’s actually pretty tough to smoke when your nose is all stuffed up. Personally, I don't think I could go a single day without a cigarette, so I wonder if I'll even be able to handle it. Hehe 🙂

Just wanted to share some good news!
I finally met with Prof Bedeković, and my surgery is officially on the calendar for September 5th. I've got a whole checklist of tests to run first, then I’ll head over to the Mayo Clinic with all my paperwork in hand. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly! I can't wait 🙂

Rachel Fisher97 said:Hey everyone—what’s the deal with smokers? 😁
I’ve heard it’s incredibly tough to smoke when you can’t breathe through your nose, and honestly, thank God I can't go a single day without a cigarette—do you think I'll actually survive this? hehe 🙂

Personally, I don't think you'll have any trouble smoking—both of my roommates were smoking on the very same day 🤣 and even though they kept complaining about how weird it felt since they couldn't really taste anything, it didn't stop them one bit.😁

Amy Richardson86 said:HI EVERYONE,
I HAVE A QUESTION. I'M WONDERING IF THERE'S ANY CHANCE MY NOSE WILL DROP A BIT MORE WITHIN A YEAR OF THE SURGERY. IT'S BEEN 5.5 MONTHS SINCE MY PRIMARY RHINOPLASTY AND, HONESTLY, MY NOSE LOOKS TOO SHORT. I'M PRAYING FOR A MIRACLE—THAT IT MIGHT LENGTHEN JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE.
Hope is all I have...
I DON'T WANT TO END UP WITH A BUTTON NOSE😢

Yes, the nose continues to settle for up to a full year after surgery.
I noticed a fairly significant shift in how much my nose dropped around the 6 to 8-month mark. Regardless, I wouldn't say I'm completely thrilled with my result, but there was still a noticeable downward movement.
Be patient and wait until the one-year mark before you try to judge the final outcome.😉

steelangler88 said:Dammit. I’m only about a month out from surgery now, and this damn lump just showed up maybe five or six days ago. That’s what feels off to me—I can't help but wonder if cartilage issues wouldn't have made themselves known right away after the procedure?
I went in for my follow-up yesterday, and the doctor is insisting it's just some swelling. Honestly, if that's what he wants to call it, fine by me. We'll just have to wait and see how things play out.🤷

They’re lying to you. I had my surgery back in November, and I have a lump—not just a little bump, but a legitimate lump in the left corner of my nose near my eye. You can't see it easily, but I can feel it every single time I touch it. When I asked a doctor about it—not the one who actually performed the surgery, mind you—he told me straight up that it was just how the tissue healed. Basically, he said the job was a bit sloppy and that it’s never going to go away on its own. I know plenty of people who have similar lumps running along the sides of their noses, one, two, sometimes even more, and they haven't budged since their procedures two or four years ago. So, if you're looking for the truth, just know that they aren't being entirely honest with us. While my nose was still swollen from the surgery, you could sort of feel where it was, but now that things have settled, there's no denying it's still there. 🙂

Rachel Barnes5 said:Yeah, it takes about a full year after surgery for the nose to actually settle into its final shape.
I noticed a pretty major change in how much my nose dropped around the 6 to 8-month mark. I wouldn't say I'm thrilled with the result, but it was still a noticeable improvement upward.
Just be patient. Wait out the full year before you try to judge the final outcome.😉

Man, thanks so much. I really needed to hear that.😍

I've got this lump—not just a little bump, but a real lump—on the left side of my nose, stretching up toward my eye. You can't really see it like this, but I can definitely feel it when I touch it.

Mine ended up clearing up after a few months, I guess.

Sam Kim12 said:I don't think you'll have much trouble smoking; both of my roommates started on the same day.🤣 No matter how much they complained about how weird it was to smoke just because they missed the taste, I guess it didn't really stop them.😁

Well, that's just it. 🙂 Thanks, you actually made me feel better. I was worried that on top of the swelling, I’d just end up gaining weight once I quit smoking, haha. I'm sticking to my guns, though. 😁😁

Hey everyone, what are you all using to rinse your sinuses to make blowing your nose easier? I’m sure there’s already a massive thread about this on the forum, but I don't have the bandwidth to dig through everything right now. If someone could be a lifesaver and just give me some quick suggestions... thanks!

Ashley Wells16 said:What are you guys using to rinse your noses to make blowing them easier? p.s. I'm sure this has been asked on the forum already, but I don't really have time to dig through old threads right now... if someone could be kind enough to let me know, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

I've heard saline is the way to go. 🙂

Wow, you guys really dug up some fossils here.☕

It’s been over a year now, and I’m still sitting here waiting for things to shrink and clear up.😁

Hey Ethan James47
This is my very first post on here—but honestly, the question was so specific that I felt it would be downright unmanly not to take a minute to register and give you an answer, especially since I’ve been soaking up info from this source for about six months now...
I had always intended to sign up eventually, mostly because I figured I might help someone else out down the road, but here you go, you actually managed to drag me into this sooner than planned... Prof Lajtman is absolutely TOP-TIER
The short version is this
I don't want to ramble too much right now, it's just way too hot outside, and besides, I'm planning to sit down later and write a much more detailed, substantial post for all the future carriers who have a million questions, just like I did, and since I'm not really a big forum person, I unfortunately didn't realize until the very end how much smarter I could have played this whole thing...🙂
Basically—just be completely upfront with the guy about what you want and what you expect, and I think you'll
( just like I was ) find yourself pretty satisfied...

Has anyone here actually had surgery with Dr. Šoša at the Indianapolis Clinic? If their work is solid, I’m leaning toward booking with them—it just makes way more sense since I live right here. Honestly, I don't know what your experiences have been, but the thought of traveling long distances after surgery sounds like a total nightmare.

Amy Cox82 said:Has anyone here actually had surgery at the Indianapolis Clinic with Dr. Šoša? If they do good work there, I’d much rather just go with them. It would be a lot easier since I live nearby. I’m not sure what your experiences have been, but the idea of traveling long distances right after surgery sounds exhausting.

I'm in the same boat. I actually posted a similar question a while back, but clearly, nobody here has used him, or maybe we just don't have any patients on this forum. From what I gather, the clinic is relatively new—maybe two years old. I know the doctor used to work as an ENT over at the Mayo Clinic, but I have no clue how much experience he actually has specifically with rhinoplasty. He doesn't seem to have any before-and-after photos posted online either, though maybe he shows them during consultations. Anyway, if you find out anything, Amy Cox82, please let me know. 🙂

Hey there,

Got a quick question about this whole nose situation I've got going on.

I've been "battling" my own sinuses for years now—basically, I'll spend a few hours breathing through one nostril while the other is completely slammed shut, and then it just flips. Totally ridiculous.

So, back about two months ago, I went to see my doctor, and he told me it’s actually not even a deviated septum... instead, he said something is seriously messed up with my mucous membrane and suggested some kind of cauterization? 😕 Like, what am I supposed to burn? My nasal lining?

He put me on a month-long treatment plan—Nasonex spray and some saline rinse (I used Ocean spray)—but honestly, it did absolutely nothing. So now he's extended the prescription for another two months. One month into the extension already, and yeah... zero progress to report.

The doc mentioned that whatever needs burning might come back, too, so it's basically a "maybe it works, maybe it doesn't" kind of deal.

Just wondering if anyone here has dealt with something similar or if you guys know anything more about how this works.

Thanks! 😁

Well, looking at the comments here, it seems like most of you had more or less positive experiences, but my situation has been an absolute disaster...

I was dealing with a massive septal deviation and a significant hump. My surgeon at the Mayo Clinic told me he’d fix the hump at the same time, and I thought, "Great, let's do this." He went in and basically restructured the entire nasal pyramid...
But the second they took the splints off, things went south. I ended up with a huge saddle nose deformity, and the deviation is still there—I still can't breathe properly through my right nostril or even anywhere else...
I’m actually terrified of being caught in a photo straight-on because it looks like someone took a scraper to the middle of my face...

Now I'm stuck trying to scrape together $2,000 for a corrective procedure with a real professional. I already have a recommendation lined up and everything; I just need the cash... :-)

redcrane59 said:Look, I see everyone else having mostly okay experiences, but mine was a total disaster...

I had this massive deviation and a hump. The surgeon at the Mayo Clinic told me he’d fix both at once, so I was like, "Sweet, let's do it." He went in there and basically demolished my entire nasal structure...
But man, as soon as they took the splints off? Total mess. My nose looks like a saddle, the deviation is still right there, and I still can't breathe out of my right nostril or anything...
I don't even want to think about being caught in a straight-on photo because it looks like someone took a scraper to the middle of my face...

Now I've gotta scrape together another $2k for a surgery with an actual decent doctor. I've got a recommendation and everything, just need the cash :-)

Go check out Dr. Munitić over at Mercury. I saw him four years ago for a deviation based on a referral, and honestly, it's true you can work out a deal where part is covered by insurance and part is out of pocket. It doesn't cost nearly as much, and I've been breathing perfectly for four years now—plus, I can take photos from any angle without worrying...