While it is important to treat your rhinoplasty with care during your recovery period, it is also possible to clean your nose following your surgery. In fact, maintaining good facial and nasal hygiene is key to a successful and complication-free recovery.
How long after rhinoplasty can I wash my nose? You can start washing the outside of your nose after 7-10 days, once the splint covering the surgery area has been removed. Make sure you do this gently until your nose fully heals in 4-6 weeks. At that point, you may wash your nose as normal.
Apply a moist towel
In order to clean the hardened crust, pat the area gently with a moist napkin to soften it. use warm water instead of cold water as it will provide more comfort. Regularly applying a moist towel can reduce the swelling considerably. After a few days of the surgery, you can wash the face regularly.
After a few weeks, you will notice some crusts, bumps, and ridges or irregularities inside your nostrils. These are completely normal, and will resolve slowly on their own. It may be tempting to try to remedy these yourself, but doing so could very easily disrupt your nasal tip permanently.
You may gently clean dried blood from the inside of the nose with a Q-tip and dilute hydrogen peroxide. Refrain from blowing your nose or sneezing if possible for 2 weeks. Use saline spray or a bulb syringe for comfort and to help clear drainage. Keep head elevated when resting, and sleep with at least 2 pillows.
Tissues have a smoother surface than toilet paper, so they are less abrasive on your nose. This can help you avoid getting a sore nose from too much wiping. The smoother service also makes them feel softer, so they can feel more comfortable against your skin.
After rhinoplasty surgery, your nose will be extra vulnerable as a result of the changes made to this structure. Your bones, cartilage, and surrounding tissues will be more fragile as they heal, sometimes for up to a year after surgery.
Rinse the nostril 3 to 4 times per day. Cleaning: Some bloody crusts can build up around the nasal openings. Gently clean this with a Q-tip soaked in half-strength peroxide (mix equal amounts of peroxide and water) Do not insert the Q-tip into the nostril any deeper than the end of the cotton portion of the Q-tip.
Answer: Picking nose after rhinoplasty
I usually recommend to my patients to use a q-tip gently after coming out of the shower for the first few weeks. Picking is not recommended and certainly blowing the nose is avoided to minimize bleeding.
Park's warning instead: "Extracting or squeezing blackheads around the nose should be avoided for about one-month post-rhinoplasty," she says, noting that this includes getting such done via a facial. "It is critical to avoid placing excess pressure on the nose for the first two weeks after rhinoplasty, too."
As the post-surgical swelling gradually subsides, nasal sensory perception will improve and smells and tastes will become more defined again. In most patients, it takes about 3 to 6 weeks for sense of smell to fully return.
Use lots of Saline Nasal Spray (Ocean/Sea Mist/Ayr) to moisturize the inside of your nose – 5 to 6 times a day is a minimum. Saline nasal spray can be used as much as needed, even every several minutes. Always keep Vaseline on the stitches around your nostrils and inside your nose.
The answer largely depends on what your doctor recommends, but usually patients will be able to wash their face within a few days of the procedure. Unless you have splints that need to stay dry before its removal, you should be able to maintain personal hygiene soon after coming home from the procedure.
If you recently had a rhinoplasty procedure, you also may be experiencing a bit of congestion and runny nose. This is normal. It is the result of some residual swelling of the nasal mucosa. This feeling will gradually disappear as swelling diminishes, however as your tissue heals a scar will form inside your nose.
It is normal to feel congested after rhinoplasty. Nasal passages will be swollen and fragile during recovery; however, patients need to resist the urge to blow or sniff through their nose for the first couple of weeks after surgery. Any force or pressure can cause bleeding and disrupt proper healing.
The tip takes the longest time to heal and mold to the new framework because it's the thickest skin of the nose. If the tip of your nose is still very firm, it may mean that there is still some swelling.
Antibiotic ointment (Bacitracin, Bactroban, Neosporin, etc.) placed just inside the nostrils 3 times a day will help your nose heal faster. This can be gently applied with a Q- tip or a finger tip. Continue this until the crusting stops forming, usually 3-4 weeks.
Clean the dried blood and secretions from the nostrils with hydrogen peroxide 3% and Q-tips dipped in hydrogen peroxide, followed by application of an over-the-counter topical antibiotic (Bacitarin or Neosporin) three times a day.
Nose blowing - You may sniff (even vigorously) if you feel you need to clear your nose. Realize that the interior of the nose will be swollen for four to seven days and may not clear—even with the most forceful attempts. Blowing your nose too early in the healing process can cause bleeding.
After rhinoplasty it takes about six to eight weeks for the nose to regain most of the pre-operative strength. During this period the nose is very susceptible to injury if bumped. If the impact is severe, the nasal bones may actually be displaced and this might result in the need for secondary revisional surgery.
Taping can be effective to subside the swelling and shrink the skin down. It doesn't, however, affect the shape and form of the nose.
Your nose accumulates mucus, dust, bacteria, viruses, and fungi. So your nose is an ideal environment for germs and sickness. It's important to clean your nose daily. The only effective way to clean your nose is nasal irrigation.
The average recovery period is typically 7 to 10 days, but it always depends on the individual. Some rhinoplasties are accompanied by correction of a deviated septum to improve breathing or reduce the turbinates to also improve breathing and improve symptoms of allergy.
Blowing your nose to alleviate stuffiness may be second nature, but some people argue it does no good, reversing the flow of mucus into the sinuses and slowing the drainage. Counterintuitive, perhaps, but research shows it to be true.