A nose update, 5.5 months in
A reader recently asked how things were going with my nose, and that reminded me that I should do an update.
(I know it's seriously off-topic for my blog, but never fear. I won't be doing nose updates every month!)
For those of you who are new here: I had functional rhinoplasty done in November of 2016 to correct some serious breathing problems I had. A ENT/plastic surgeon did the procedure because my ENT doctor doesn't do surgeries that affect the way the outside of the nose looks.
(Deviated septum? Yup. Breaking nose bones and widening the tip of the nose? Nope.)
For more on the background behind my surgery, read I'm getting a nose job. And it's going to save me money.
During the surgery, my doctor broke my nasal bones, fixed my deviated septum, shaved down my nasal turbinates, and widened the end of my nose so that my nostrils wouldn't be so pinched and would allow more air through.
The first week
The first week post-surgery was pretty rough, and I had a fair amount of swelling, but not much bruising. Sleeping was hard, and my nose was very, very sensitive.
Instead of having my nose and sinuses packed with gauze, I had a cast plus silicone tubes up each nostril for a week. I'm sure these are better than gauze, but they were still pretty uncomfortable, and they felt especially tight as my nose became less swollen over the week.
There are links to photos of me in my nasal cast right here. Skip by if you're super easily grossed out!
Since I didn't feel good and because I looked a little weird with the tubes and cast, I just stayed home until my follow-up appointment.
The second week
Getting the tubes out was pretty unpleasant, but I was super glad to have them out of the way.
After my tubes were removed, my nose was looking fairly good, but definitely swollen.
And my breathing was already better than before surgery, despite the swelling.
But I was sort of unprepared for how jarring it is to change something on your face. Even though I knew the swelling was temporary, I still had a lot of, "ACK! WHAT HAVE I DONE TO MY FACE??" thoughts.
And I felt kind of depressed, which I discovered is rather common after facial surgery.
Oh, and the skin on my nose peeled and peeled and peeled. Normal. But weird to experience!
And the weeks after...
I got used to my nose bit by bit, and the swelling went down consistently, but slowly.
The most lingering effect was been a really stiff nose.
Until you can't move your nose, you don't realize how much you do! It's hard to smile. Or to rub your lips together to distribute lip balm.
And it's just weird to have a nose that feels like it's all made out of bone.
I'd say my nose was pretty consistently stiff until about 4 months post-surgery. Since then, it's gradually gotten softer. I can wrinkle it now, and I can depress the tip a bit.
And my nostrils are 100% normal and soft now.
My nose is supposed to continue to soften up over time, and I'll probably still have a small reduction in swelling up to a year post-surgery.
While my nose doesn't generally cause me any pain, it is still sensitive, and if it gets bumped, it hurts more than my pre-surgery nose did. But I think that'll keep improving over time.
My breathing
You guys, my breathing is fantastic.
So, so, good.
And it's been that way almost since I got my cast off and tubes out. Such a huge improvement from before!
I almost never breathed through my nose before surgery because even if I was lying down, I'd get out of breath due to the low air flow.
But now I always breathe through my nose except when I'm doing intense exercise.
I always sleep with my mouth shut, and I don't have any snoring issues. And my mouth doesn't get all dried out at night like it used to.
I never have to use Breathe Right strips anymore! My doctor gave me what he calls an internal Breathe Right strip, made of cartilage. And it is working fabulously.
Would I do it again?
In a heartbeat, yes. Even if my nose stayed exactly like it is now forever (a bit stiff and sensitive), I'd still do the surgery.
The improvement in breathing is just so dramatic and life-improving that the pain and recovery have been totally worth it.
(I feel the same way about my tonsillectomy. That was a horrible recovery, and I still think it was worth it because of the vast improvement in my throat!)
My nose doesn't look crazy different than it did before, but it's still taking a little bit of adjusting for me. I was so used to my old nose! But the change is subtle, and the different in breathing is phenomenal.
Any other questions?
I hope I covered what you wanted to know. But if you're considering the surgery and have more specific questions, leave a comment or write me an email, and I'll do my best to answer.
P.S. A lot of you have wondered about my nose piercing. It had to come out for surgery because my whole nose got rearranged, and the new insides and outsides don't match up like before. The outside hole closed up in a jiffy, so my nose looks just fine without the hoop. My surgeon says I can get it re-pierced again if I want in November, which will be a year post-op.
I'm glad you had a successful outcome. Surgery of any kind is hard, but after a while one forgets most of the pain and discomfort that follows . Anyway that's been my experience. I think I block it, and just enjoy the results.
I'm glad it turned out great. I honestly can't tell if there's a difference, but it's great you can breathe well now.
I'm glad that your procedure has helped you breathe so much better and its a bonus that you still get to look like yourself!
Yay! I'm so glad to hear everything is healing up and getting a little back to normal. 🙂 Mr. Picky Pincher can only breathe out of one of his nostrils. That might be something we fix once we finish our student loan payments in early 2018.
Great news, I echo everyone else's sentiments when I say that I'm happy that you've added a little more to your quality of life! I have to go see an ENT for constant ringing in my ears, pressure changes, and headaches. I'm a little nervous!
The special vitamin formula LipoFlavinoid helped my husband with this problem tremendously! We are skeptics on most stuff, but decided it would be worth it to try $25 a bottle remedy for a few months and it worked so well! Way cheaper than multiple doctors and surgery!
Yeah, I put off seeing an ENT for quite a while...but I'm glad that I finally went in to get some help.
Your nose is a little different, but it doesn't change your looks at all. I'm sure to you it was much more noticeable. Hurray for breathing easily! My friend went through septum surgery, but got an infection caused by a weird bacteria that they don't know how she picked up, and her nose cartilage collapsed, so she's back to struggling to breathing through her nose. She could get it redone, but after the surgery to get it fixed and the surgery to clean out the infection, she doesn't know if she can do it again. And her nose is noticeably different after the collapse, too. I'm so glad you didn't have that happen to you!
It didn't change your looks and it's great to know that you didn't have any complications after the surgery!
You look great (and very much like you did before!). I need to have this done too. I haven't been able to breathe well through my nose since I was about 9 or 10. Maybe one day I'll get the courage to do it.
I had this done 28 years ago.. It took me a long time to have feeling in my nose. Some say it only last about ten years but so far I am ok..
So glad your surgery went well and your breathing is better now. I had a simple deviated septum correction two years ago and, wow, what a difference it has made in being able to breathe properly through both nostrils. My surgery and recovery went great, and I am so thankful I was able to have this done. My nose looks exactly the same because they only changed the inside structure.
Blowing your nose - does it work? It's allergy season for me (just like your Sonia!), so I'm constantly blowing my nose.
Yup, blowing my nose is just fine!
So glad to hear the recovery is going well!
Very glad for the update. I had been wondering how it was going. I too have a deviated septum to the extent that my nose veers off to one side a little. Sometimes I push the end of my nose up a little just to feel how it is to be able to breathe freely. I must try the nasal strips again...last time I could not get them to stick even after cleaning my skin well. Any hints on how you did will be appreciated.
I'm so glad to hear you had such a positive outcome! Your nose doesn't seem different enough that casual observers would notice (camera angle and focal length have much more of an effect), but then again, your readers ain't the one seeing it in the mirror. 😉
I'm also glad you didn't end up with "empty nose syndrome"* due to excessive turbinate removal, but it sounds as if your doc was top-notch.
*Google it, folks, if you're wondering. I'm not a doc and wouldn't provide the best explanation of the effects.
Wow, this is wierd. I've never had a snoring problem before, but apparently I've developed a powerful snore in the past few years. As I'm reading this and especially Mrs. PP's comment, I have just discovered almost all my breathing is happening through one nostril! I broke my nose years ago and had it surgically corrected. I wonder what has changed? I think I'll pay attention to my breathing a bit more and make a doctor's appointment. So strange that I never noticed it before. Thank you!
I asked about this in the comments a few weeks ago but forgot to look for your response so thanks for this post. I was curious if your breathing has improved and wondered if you were glad you did it. I think you look great and there is no drastic change with your look so that's great, too. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for the update. I am unable to breathe well from my nose​ and being a mouth breather has contributed to dental decay for me. I honestly never thought to have it looked at. I'm nursing a 6 month old so surgery is not in the cards for me right now but I can't tell you how much I appreciate this post! Thank you! Thank you! I am so better prepared to talk with my medical provider in the future.
Yay! I'm glad my post was helpful to you.
I read about your surgery when you originally covered it but it didn't apply to me(other than generating sympathy) so I forgot about it. This was a really timely and useful update because I had almost identical surgery 10 days ago. It is heart warming to see how well you are doing and knowing that it will be much better later. So happy for you! Not being able to breathe stinks. Thank you for sharing.
Yay! I hope you are breathing fabulously soon too.
I had the same surgery twice; the first doctor was so conservative that five years later I went in for more and actually had turbinates removed. Over time your nose will definitely get back to feeling normal!
Dear Frugal Girl,
I have had surgery mid September and my nose feels awkward; stiff, hard, (in) sensitive, like pegs on and up my nose. Can you tell me when your nose felt normal again?
X,
Felicita
That seems very normal to me; I'd say my nose felt oddly hard for a good year after surgery. It's slowly gotten better as time has gone on, and it's been basically back to normal flexibility for several years now.
Mine was sensitive at first too, and that gradually got better over the first year. At first, the inside of my nose felt very sensitive to cold air; like I didn't want to breathe through my nose in the outdoor winter air. That too has improved over time.
Good Lord, a year?! It feels so bad that I cannot put up with the tightness for this long a time
Well, mine did slowly improve over time. So it's not like it was terrible for a year and then suddenly better. It got softer and softer as the months went on.
Hopefully yours will slowly soften as well!
Hi There! I just got rhinoplasty a month ago and I'm freaking out and a bit depressed because my nose feels hard like a bone as you mentioned but mostly because I cant smile like a used to! did this happen to you? did it get better and if so when? Looking for some support.
When I smile my teeth don't show... and i look so unnatural. It makes me feel super insecure but my surgeon says its will come back, however i would rather have this convo with someone that experienced it.
Yep, this sounds very similar to my experience. Once everything softened up, my facial expressions went back to normal. It just takes some time.
Yes! That is exactly how it was for me too. I have a smile that wrinkles my nose up, under normal circumstance, so I could not smile at all like usual after my surgery. But my nose got softer over time, and my smile went back to normal.
Hang in there...it will not be like this forever!
Ahoj Kristen, prosím, zdravím z české republiky, jsem po rhinoplastice 4 měsíce a jsem v úzkosti, nos je stále tvrdý, mám otoky, a nemohu se usmát jako dříve, nos je moc tuhý. Prosím, je možno, že se to lepší? Můj operatér je zkušený ale nedokáže mi odpovědět, moc se trápím. Děkuji ti za odpověď, Ivana Sladeckova
Hi Ivana! I used Google translate to read your comment. 🙂
Yes, for me it took a lot of months before my nose got soft enough for my smile to look normal. My nose was stiff for almost a whole year. It's quite soft now, though!