morgan

yeah don't worry ur nose is gonna feel super swollen the first few months. like 5 or 6 months is when it starts feeling normal again

versace

Yes Johanna the nose usually feels hard as long as the swelling is present. In males however with stronger cartilage to begin with, it is not uncommon for the tip of the nose to remain harder after surgery once the nose is completely healed. I most often only saw this occur in males and it isn't anything to worry about, it's just how the scar tissue forms.

Yes most plastic surgeons tend to downplay the healing process, even the best ones. I really wish the medical community would be more clear about how long of a process it is as rhinoplasty is a very complex procedure. I know top plastic surgeons back in Beverly Hills that would even tell their patients, and perhaps believe themselves, that with a closed rhinoplasty 90% of the swelling would be gone within 6 week. Or they would say 95% of the swelling would be gone 2 to 3 weeks after cheek implants which is just absurd. On a positive note every day that goes, by your nose will improve more and more. Your nose will look and feel completely different at 6 months post-op than it will at 2 months. I would estimate around June/July you'll really see what I mean about this. So just remember, it will only keep getting better and better both functionally and aesthetically.

__________________
“One popular new plastic surgery technique is called lip grafting, or "fat recycling" wherein fat cells are removed from one part of your body that is too large, such as your buttocks, and injected into your lips; people will then be literally kissing ass.”

chattycathy

yeah your nose is cute. but hope your surgery helps your breathing!! that can also make allergies really bad too and create sinus infections.

chattycathy

oh ok i see it.... on page 2. looks like it should be good. obviously very swollen so dumb to praise it too much. i had my nose done and even at 6 months it is very different than now (4 years). yeah it is weird how they all lie about the time it takes to truly show itself.

la_angel

seriously you make me want to get a nose job and chin implant bec ur doctor did such a bomb ass job!

wonderwoman68

Hey joanna. I am 40 and never haven't gotten rhinoplasty yet but think I need surgery for functionality as well but don't want them really to change the look other than maybe undo what gravity has done to the tip.

main thing is this- I have had breathing problems too all my life, not nearly as severe as what you described. Mostly I keep getting reoccuring sinus infections and bad allergy attacks. Did you have nasal drip or sinus infections pre surgery? did the surgery make it better if so? I think i heard somewhere that with a nose that works properly, you will get less infections. Thanks.

also, your nose looks like it will heal wonderfully.

desperatehousewife

This normally isn't 'my' board but I found it fascinating reading your story Johanna. Super to know that after all those years you finally got it back to normal! I can't even imagine not being able to breathe to the extent you described growing up and just thinking it was normal because you didn't know the normal way a nose should function would feel like. Now just make sure you stay away from softballs so you don't ruin your pretty nose!

Johanna

Yes I did have nasal drip before the surgery, which for some reason had been getting progressively worse over the last 5 or so years. At this point, I would say my nasal drip has been reduced to 70 % of frequency and sheer annoyance it was. It's great - and supposedly it keep getting better. As for sinus infections, no I never really had them before the surgery, however got a doozy after! I smoked a few cigarettes about a week after my surgery ( I know. stupid shut up.) and that did me in pretty bad. I had to go on another whole round of antibiotics and steroids. So if any of you smoke out there - seriously - do not do it. Everyone says they won't, but they do, and it really impedes the healing process and can do irreparable damage. What I did have a lot of were migraines. So after my surgery, my migraines were actually worse for the first 2 weeks or so. There were 3 straight days, starting a couple of days after my surgery, that I started getting such severe migraines I was completely out of commission. I used to get migraines from by birth control medication, but maybe not. We'll see. Now I haven't had a true migraine in about 2 weeks, however do still have pains - very rarely though.

Johanna

I finally got my operation report... can anyone help translating? I got the gist of it but would like to know what some of you "in the know" have to say about it. Thanks!

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versace

In a nutshell:

NOSE:

For simplicity I can sum up the problem in one sentence - Your septum was deviated to the right, blocking your left airway. Now the extent of this is where it gets interesting. He doesn't mention a 50% blockage, a 80% blockage, but he states it "completely sealed off the entire left airway." Now that is something else, you never see airways 100% except in some severe trauma accidents. Often it is 50 to 70% blocked at max, not 100%. This explains everything and it is a miracle you were even able to go as long as you did like this. In order to correct this he had to do a number of elaborate grafting techniques. Many of them mentioned in the report, some plastic surgeons don't perform because they are too difficult. Rest assured your surgeon didn't cut corners. From what I read he did it the proper way instead of the easy way. A fair amount of crushed cartilage was used, keep in mind this stays swollen longer than non-crushed cartilage since it is porous while it is healing.

Optionally he performed turbinoplasty. In each nasal passage there are three turbinates. The inferior turbinate (the lowest) is by far the largest. Turbinates have the shape of a scroll and help to warm and humidify air before it reaches your throat. Turbinates fluctuate in size depending on the environment. However allergies and irritants can cause the turbinates to enlarge too much, to the point where the inhibit airflow. This is when turbinoplasty is beneficial - removed 1 of the 3 turbinates on each side. I have asthma and severe allergies and also had this done. In your case I think it was the smart thing to do also.

CHIN:

The incision and insertion method is typical. However the part I'm a bit foggy about is the material used. He just described it as "humanized collagen matrix" in a cigarette shape. This basically just means it uses a component of human collagen and _______? The "matrix" description keeps it pretty broad as to what else it contained other than collagen. I could hypothesis on what the other substance is if you could explain how it feels. Is the implant hard like bone? Soft like fat? Or something in between?

Something to point out: If you are experiencing numbness in the chin area, specifically around and below the lower lip - this can be expected and usually returns back to normal within 6 to 12 months.

__________________
“One popular new plastic surgery technique is called lip grafting, or "fat recycling" wherein fat cells are removed from one part of your body that is too large, such as your buttocks, and injected into your lips; people will then be literally kissing ass.”