Rhinoplasty: Experiences and recovery tips?

Angela Morales69 said:Thanks so much!
Seriously, your nose is adorable. If I hadn't seen your older photos, I would have sworn it was totally natural. You're a total knockout, honestly! Seeing this just gives me even more motivation to finally get my own procedure done as soon as I can.

Thanks. Honestly, I actually love my nose too 😍 😍 😍 😍

Hey, can I get a pic of the carrier too?🙂 😍

rustygardener172 said:Thanks. Honestly, I feel the same about my nose—😍 😍 😍 😍

Well, for me, absolutely nooooooooonneeeeee 😢
I actually preferred my old one—and honestly, I could breathe better before than I can now. But hey, it’s not over yet, right? They told me recovery can take up to two years and the shape can still shift during that time.

@rustygardener172/">@@rustygardener172, regarding your question—it was the septum and the pyramid. Apparently, they needed to address the alae because they were super concave and collapsing just from normal breathing. But looking at my discharge papers now, it only lists operatio septi nasi functionalis and correctio pyramidis nasi. My surgeon mentioned something about flipping the cartilage under the wings to keep the nostrils open, since I couldn't even get a decent breath before—my nostrils were basically flattened and my nose was practically shut. After the surgery, while everything was still swollen, the nostrils didn't look sunken, but now that the swelling has gone down, they've returned to that original concavity and slight collapse. 🤷
And don't even get me started on the constant congestion—plus, I have this weird little lump inside my left nasal passage. If I touch it, it feels like something is wedged diagonally between the septum and the nostril. And the doctor's response? He said it's totally fine and normal?! Like, "Oh, we broke your nose, blah blah blah, give it time, blah blah blah," but the thing isn't moving at all. It feels like a tiny piece of cartilage detached and is just stuck there at an angle.

Someone asked if I'd do it again, and my answer is a hard NO! The absolute worst part was those few days with the packing in my nose—you can't drink, you can't swallow, you can't talk, you can't breathe... nothing!
Though, from what I've heard, it’s not exactly rare to go back for a second or even a third revision before you finally get a result you're happy with.
Btw, has anyone else dealt with something like this?

silverharbor18 said:Someone actually asked if I’d do it all over again. My answer? A hard, resounding NO. Honestly, the absolute worst part—the absolute pits—was those few days stuck with nasal packing. You can't eat, you can't talk, you can barely even breathe. It was miserable.
That said, from what I've gathered, it's actually pretty common to go back under the knife once or even three times before you finally get the results you were actually looking for.
Anyway, has anyone else dealt with that?

But from what I gather... you were at a public hospital, and things work a bit differently when you use a private clinic...

Kate Taylor59 said:but from what I can gather... you were at a public hospital, and things work way differently when you go through a private clinic...

So, my surgery went down in the evening. I just kept the tampons in overnight and pulled them out the next morning. Honestly, I didn't even feel them because I was out cold 😁 ...though you should definitely expect your nose to be totally stuffed up for at least five days...
Back when I had my first surgery at the county hospital, they made me keep them in for five whole days... absolute nightmare.

rustygardener172 said:My surgery was in the evening. I kept the tampons in overnight and just pulled them out in the morning. Honestly, I didn't even notice them because I was fast asleep 😁 ...but your nose stays stuffed up for at least five days...
Back when I had my first surgery at the hospital, I had to deal with them for five whole days... absolute nightmare.

So, can you actually breathe at all, or are you stuck breathing through your mouth for those five days? :P

Kate Taylor59 said:I mean, can you even breathe normally, or are you stuck mouth-breathing for those five whole days? :P

Look, I had to get my sinuses cleared out after surgery once... and honestly, it was a total cycle where you’d finally catch a breath for a few hours only to have everything clog right back up again.
But seriously, I don't see why everyone is freaking out about this... it's basically no different than having a nasty head cold... you just instinctively switch over to mouth-breathing. Especially for people getting surgery specifically because they have breathing issues to begin with... if you've been struggling to breathe your entire life, I'm sure you can manage to limp through another five days of it, right?!

Kate Taylor59 said:but from what I can tell... you were at a public hospital, and things work differently at private clinics...

What would actually be different? Whether you go to a private specialist or a public hospital, the anatomy of the nose stays exactly the same, right? Same goes for its ability to heal... the ONLY variable is the surgeon—that's just how it is. 🙄
If rustygardener172 went to a private clinic and had the packing removed in less than 24 hours, then that's clearly just the private clinic's protocol—my aunt went to a private facility too and had her packing in for seven days!
As for why my nose didn't quite pull through (on the first try)... well, damn, future private doctors need something to practice on, I guess. 🤣 Maybe I was just destined to see that specific doctor (who, coincidentally, is supposedly excellent), but who knows what they're actually doing in these hospitals while you're knocked out under anesthesia 🙂

rustygardener172 said:I went in for nasal irrigation after my surgery... I'd finally be able to breathe for a few hours, and then everything would just clog right back up again.
But honestly, I don't see anyone freaking out about it... it’s basically the same sensation as having a common cold... you just automatically switch to mouth breathing. Especially for people undergoing surgery specifically because of respiratory issues... if you've been struggling to breathe your whole life, I guess you can manage to survive five more days without being able to breathe properly, right?!

Did your nasal passages feel irritated during the "cleansing" process, whether you were using saline rinses or those medicated drops?

Kate Taylor59 said:Did the saline solution sting at all when you were rinsing out your nose, or was it just the eye drops?

What kind of drops? Honestly, since my surgery, I haven't touched any nasal sprays or drops at all. And the saline? Never burned me once.

rustygardener172 said:What kind of drops? Personally, I haven't touched any eye drops since my surgery. And honestly, I never had issues with dryness before either.

I'm not entirely sure, I just heard people mentioning some sort of drops to use after the procedure...

Kate Taylor59 said:I'm not entirely sure, I think I heard something about some kind of drops you use after surgery...

Oh yeah, right. I used those paraffin-based drops once, and some others too—honestly, I can't even remember which ones. But let me tell you, they didn't do squat to clear my nose. To this day, I still haven't figured out what the point of them even was. 😂

rustygardener172 said:Yeah, true. I used some paraffin drops and some other kind, can't quite remember which ones. But they didn't exactly clear my nose out. Honestly, I still haven't figured out what the point of them even was. 😂

Probably just for mucosal care :P As long as it didn't sting too much... personally, mine always stings whenever I try rinsing my sinuses with sea salt solution... though I haven't actually had any surgery yet...

rustygardener172 said:I'm fully recovered. 😁

I know, dear—you even used to send me those photos. I was just thinking that I’d really like to see this wrapped up for me as soon as possible.🙂

Is it actually possible for the tip of my nose to lift up after a hit, even if I haven't had surgery, and then have the swelling take months to finally go down? Has anyone else gone through something similar? 🙄😢🤷👎

urbancrane3 said:Is it actually possible for the tip of a nose to lift up after an impact if there wasn't surgery involved, and then have the swelling slowly subside months later? Has anyone else dealt with something similar? 🙄😢🤷👎

What do you mean by "subside"? Are you suggesting the swelling just vanishes after months?
Well, why wouldn't it be possible?

I’ve spent months scrolling through every single page here and scouring the web, and I finally tracked down some of Dr. Glusac's papers. For everyone asking—I still haven't decided which surgeon I'm going to trust with my nose, but here we go! 😉 http://www.estetska-kirurgija.info/f...=glusac-branko

Kate Taylor59 said:What do you mean by "dropping"? You think it just disappears over several months?
Why wouldn't that be possible?

I actually heard that’s pretty common for people to deal with after surgery. I haven't had any surgery myself, though. Since my nose is totally normal and I can breathe perfectly fine, I don't even think about it—until I accidentally bumped my face about two months ago. There wasn't even any bleeding, but the tip of my nose lifted up and it just won't settle back down. My ENT told me I should probably wait a few more months to see what happens, but honestly, I have no idea if it'll ever drop back to how it used to look unless I do something about it. It feels really weird.

brightcanyon45 said:After scrolling through every single page here—which has honestly been going on for months now—and scouring the entire internet, I finally tracked down some of Dr. Glusac's published work. So, for everyone who was asking, here it is, though I still haven't actually decided which surgeon I'm going to go with 😉 http://www.estetska-kirurgija.info/f...=glusac-branko

That’s just what it says on his website... and his profile looks fine, sure... but I need to see the actual results, the real faces!

urbancrane3 said:So, I’ve heard this usually happens to people after surgery. Personally, I haven't had any work done, and since my nose functions perfectly fine and I can breathe without an issue, I didn't think much of it—until I accidentally bumped myself about two months ago. There wasn't even any bleeding, but now the tip is stuck up and won't budge back down. My ENT told me I just need to wait a few more months, but honestly, I have no idea if it'll ever settle back to how it used to be if I don't do something about it. It feels incredibly strange.

Good God, everything happens at once... life is unpredictable, isn't it? Though, strictly speaking, I've always been partial to a lifted nose profile... though I suppose I don't actually know what that looks like in practice... 🙄