How To Minimize The Risks Involved In Rhinoplasty Surgery

Rhinoplasty is a pretty common cosmetic surgery procedure. As long as you have the procedure performed by an experienced, licensed plastic surgeon, the risks are rather low. However, risks do exist. Some patients do develop infections, experience slow healing, or have more scarring than they want after their nose job. However, the good news is that even as low as the risk of these side effects are, there are steps you can take to lower the risk even further.

Stop smoking as long as possible before surgery.

Your plastic surgeon will almost certainly tell you to stop smoking before surgery. But how long before? A day? A week? The truth is, the sooner you stop, the better. Chew nicotine gum or use nicotine patches if you have to, but avoid smoking any tobacco. There are many compounds in tobacco that slow down the healing process, which could result in more pain and more scarring after your nose job. This is a bigger deal with nose jobs than with other surgeries since your nose is so close to your mouth—where the toxins may concentrate as you smoke. Stop smoking a few weeks before surgery, and you'll reduce your risk of complications.

Don't touch your nose.

During the first week or so after surgery, you will wear a bandage to protect your nose. But even with this bandage in place, you do not want to touch it. Doing so could dislodge some of the tissue or put pressure on the incisions, slowing the healing process. After your bandage is removed, you need to be even more careful not to touch your nose. You do not want to introduce bacteria that could infect the incisions. If you're having trouble not touching your still-healing nose, try squeezing a stress ball whenever the urge to itch creeps up.

Take your pain relievers.

Many patients figure that they don't need to take their pain relievers post-surgery unless the pain is unbearable. However, those pain relievers ease inflammation, too. By bringing inflammation down, pain relievers help increase circulation to your nose, which then helps speed up healing and reduce scarring. This is really important for your nose since it contains a lot of cartilage that gets limited circulation even under normal circumstances. Take your medications on the schedule your doctor recommends. Usually, you will just be prescribed an NSAID, so you do not need to worry about addiction. 

If you follow the tips above, you should have better luck healing from your nose job and avoiding side effects. You'll be looking like your best self in no time. Contact a nose job surgery clinic for more information.

Share