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Top 7 Valuable Facts You Need To Know About What Rhinoplasty Is Really Like

In this era of increasingly common cosmetic procedures, there’s more awareness than ever about procedures like rhinoplasty, often referred to in more common parlance as a nose job.

Top 7 Valuable Facts You Need To Know About What Rhinoplasty Is Really Like

Just because the procedure is perhaps becoming more visible due to its presence on social media and other outlets, however, does not necessarily mean that it’s advisable to book your own procedure without doing a little further research.

Plastic surgery of any kind is always deeply thought over and a personal decision for the patient, but extra information can help you evaluate the pros and cons of the decision, understand the ins and outs of the procedure and come to terms with what you can expect in terms of both results and then recovery.

1. You’ll Have To Determine Whether You Require Closed or Open Surgery With Your Doctor

This might come as a surprise given that the term itself sounds so straightforward, but not all rhinoplasty is the same.

In fact, there are generally two types of surgery to choose from, and which one you go with is usually based on the specifics of your situation, your needs, and your doctor’s recommendation.

The first type is what’s known as closed rhinoplasty, and it essentially stays away from external incisions.

The second type, open rhinoplasty, involves exposing the bone and cartilage via external incisions. Each type has its pros and cons. For example, closed procedures usually allow you to return to work much faster than open ones, and have a quicker healing time.

Open rhinoplasty can allow for some specific changes to be made that might be difficult in closed rhinoplasty, but it can sometimes also increase the risk of swelling and, in extreme cases, even necrosis.

2. The Recovery Might Not Be as Painful as You Imagine

While you may have no fears about undergoing surgery, you might be nervous about the healing time afterward.

If this is a concern for you, you might like to know that recovery after rhinoplasty is generally not very painful; in fact, many patients feel very little, if any, pain.

In some situations, your doctor may prescribe you pain medications to help you through this period, which usually lasts at least a week and a half.

3. It Generally Involves Significant Bandaging Afterwards

While the recovery period after a rhinoplasty does have an end date, be prepared to be rocking some bandages for a while afterward.

How much bandaging you need depends on the depth of the operation and the type of rhinoplasty you got, but while it might seem annoying, it’s truly a necessity for proper healing.

The bandages actually help to keep swelling at bay, reduce drainage and keep bones in place.

4. There’s a Small Chance Your Voice Might Temporarily Be a Little Different

Those who suffer from a very nasally voice will be glad to hear that there’s a small chance a rhinoplasty can change the way your voice sounds.

The change is not usually permanent, but if the procedure fixes breathing issues, prepare to potentially sound like a new you!

5. You’ll Have To Avoid Any Fashion That Touches Your Nose for a While

If you’re used to popping on your sunglasses or your reading glasses every morning, you might have to put that habit aside during your post-rhinoplasty healing time.

Any item that puts pressure on the nose too soon, which can include, unfortunately, your glasses, could actually hurt the shape in the end result.

You can easily avoid this problem, thankfully, by just shying away from glasses for about six weeks after the surgery.

6. You Need To Discuss What You Anticipate From the Procedure Before the Day Of

An important part of the rhinoplasty preparation process is having detailed conversations with the surgeon who will be operating on you as to what you anticipate from the procedure.

If you simply give a few vague guidelines and leave the rest up to the doctor, you might not like the final end results.

For this reason, it’s imperative to give as much detail as you can when you’re still in the consultation phase.

Feel free to bring along some photos or sketches of what you have in mind to help make your point.

7. It’s Essential To Review Your Own Expectations and Understand the Reality of Rhinoplasty

Besides simply discussing expectations with the doctor, a final and essential component of getting rhinoplasty is to take a deep dive into what your own expectations are, why you think you have those expectations and how you think you will feel post-procedure.

Some patients, for instance, sign up for the procedure thinking it will be an easy fix to get them a perfect nose, and end up disappointed afterward because their vision of perfection was unclear, or, on the other hand, was too specific and the results let them down.

Talking with your doctor can certainly help to mitigate this risk, but it may also be emotionally helpful to understand that nobody has a totally perfect nose, and that’s ok.

What matters is having the one that you like and that makes you most content.

As you step into the doctor’s office for your first rhinoplasty consultation, you may have a million different thoughts swirling through your mind, from questions about recovery time and the amount of downtime the procedure will require to how exactly the surgery works to what kind of results you can realistically expect.

Rather than walk into that office unprepared and in for a surprise, you can prep and inform yourself by getting armed with these valuable facts.

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