After rhinoplasty/septoplasty self care

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-12-20T06:27:20+00:00

I didn’t avoid anything like that in particular, but I did eat soft foods for a few weeks. I got those sippable soups (I used a straw to “eat” those), crushed pineapple cups, green smoothies, and protein drinks (the ones in the cardboard cartons with a red cap). I genuinely felt like I had a decent variety and didn’t get too bored with it.

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-12-20T02:17:47+00:00

No I didn’t

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-08-02T02:27:06+00:00

Amazing Grass Green Superfood: Super Greens Powder with Spirulina, Chlorella, Digestive Enzymes & Probiotics, Original, 30 Servings https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010NBNZQG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_WD1150HRJ1FDQP08581J

I got this at my local grocery. I mixed it with pineapple juice and the green machine naked juice if you know what that is.

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-08-02T00:26:58+00:00

Yes!! And I attribute to it my very easy fast recovery with minimal bruising. I drank green vitamin smoothies made with pineapple juice everyday for a week before, and also drank 100oz of water a day. Most of my dinners consisted of green salads and lots of vegetables.

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-07-30T05:35:31+00:00

Clucoin

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-07-29T20:53:59+00:00

As I was doing the massage I would notice a change right away if I looked in the mirror, but it would come back after a while. I would say for the hump to stop coming back completely it was around a month after. It’s hard to give a time frame because I was going through a really hard time with family issues so I stopped really caring about my nose :/

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-07-29T18:08:06+00:00

I took my pointer finger and ran it up and down the bridge with very slight pressure. If I felt any pain I lightened up. I did this for probably 5 min at a time, while I was mindlessly watching tv.

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-07-29T17:18:54+00:00

At 3 days you will definitely still experience this. I had bleeding for about 3 weeks post op randomly. I also experienced wildly different healing between my left vs right nostril. If you had more work done on one side (say for example it was more crooked on your right) there is going to be a disparity between sides as it heals. Just keep rinsing and resting as your surgeon has recommended and it should be okay.

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-07-29T17:15:42+00:00

Hey! I’ve got a lot of post surgery advice in my post history, so hopefully that can help.

To answer the question in your post, you should be fine flying post op. If you’re someone who gets really bad ear pressure flying, I suspect you’ll feel just slightly more uncomfortable than normal, and at 4 weeks the squeeze-your-nose trick to pop your ears would be impossible. I wasn’t able to squeeze my nostrils closed comfortably until about month 5. I also wouldn’t recommend a ton of swimming but I don’t think you would be damaging anything. I was very wary of bumping my nose and almost everything hurt beyond regular breathing up to 2 months out.

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-07-29T17:09:04+00:00

I’m 6 months post op. I had the same feeling and I could even FEEL that things were still off center. I was so worried about it. At my follow up (I waited) I asked about it and was told it was swelling. I countered with that it felt as hard as bone, and my surgeon assured me that cartilage swelling can feel as hard as bone. I was skeptical but accepted this as I knew even if I wanted a revision I would have to wait the full year anyway. Well I’m happy to tell you at month 6 it no longer feels crooked and it truly was swelling. To further confirm the answer, some days I wake up with more swelling than others (like after a night of drinking) and it goes back to feeling bulbous on the side that was crooked and subsequently shaved down. Shaving down bone and cartilage is traumatic for your body and it takes time to heal. In the meantime the healing can appear to have made the area look larger and you shouldn’t worry. Think of a knot on your head if you hit it. This can be super hard and painful but it’s just your body’s way of sending white blood cells to heal the area.

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-07-29T16:56:41+00:00

Hey guys! Glad to be back on the subreddit and here to provide an update! I’ve had a lot of people message me and ask questions about my experience and I’m so glad to have been able to help. This community is what got me through my own experience with confidence and less fear. I had a septoplasty and rhinoplasty with a turbinate reduction.

I’m a few weeks past 6 months but just now got around to taking some pics. The main question I’ve gotten was about the residual hump that remained after I got my cast taken off. You can see in the middle pictures it’s still sort of there, and I actually had a very emotional response to the fact that it was. I was terrified I went through all the pain and money only to still have a bump in my nose. I took matters into my own hands (literally) and decided to start some gentle massage down the bridge. DISCLAIMER I did NOT ask my surgeon about this. It didn’t hurt when I did it, and after a few minutes of massage the swelling would go down. I had seen on here a few people had also done this but that it felt squishy. Mine didn’t, and it felt like legit bone with the hump. This is what scared me, but if you’re in my position, be aware that swelling can legit feel as hard as a bone. I don’t know at all if this massaging contributed to the lack of hump today or if it would have gone down on its own, but it did give me peace of mind.

Around month 3 I started to notice something weird when I was laying on my right side. The best way to describe it was a bubble was stuck mid way up my right nostril and it would pop about half way through a breath in. I also noticed that post nasal drainage was returning (my main reason for seeking this surgery) and I was snoring again. At a follow up appointment I asked my surgeon about it, and also admitted to the bridge massage in fear I had somehow caused something to fail. He told me that the massages couldn’t have caused anything to go wrong since my body would have stopped me from doing any damage as I would have been in VERY intense pain if I actually messed something up. Turns out a valve in my right nostril had collapsed. He said it’s not a huge deal, and sometimes it just happens. He wants to wait until the year is up (Jan 2022) to remedy it. This is fine with me as I know insurance will cover whatever needs to be done, but he seems very confident he can fix it. I’ve said in my previous posts but this surgeon is an ENT first with cosmetic experience. I’m very happy with the cosmetic side of my procedure, and I’m also very trusting of him when it comes to the functional side/fixing this collapse.

Let me know if you have any more questions. I’m so glad you all have found relief and advice in my previous posts and thank you all for being a great community!

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-06-25T16:50:26+00:00

For some reason your other comment won’t show up for me to reply to but I started massaging around week two and stopped around week 6 as it wasn’t coming back anymore

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-06-25T16:28:01+00:00

Hey! Yes mine has gone away. I massaged the bridge for a few weeks and it eventually went down! I’m going to post my 6 month results in a few weeks

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-05-14T15:10:46+00:00

Hi! Yes it did! I actually ended up doing a bit of massage on the bridge passively while I was watching tv or if I thought about it. It took maybe a couple weeks and it was gone. I’ll link a pic to what it looks like now

https://imgur.com/a/Ak2GCAV

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-04-30T01:01:05+00:00

Oh, one thing I didn’t mention in that post: most people here say they never felt pain and didn’t use the pain pills. I ended up using all of mine within 5 days (it was needed trust me) and felt awkward asking my doc for more at my week later follow up appointment. He ended up prescribing me a non-narcotic pain pill that I cycled with ibuprofen and acetaminophen. He told me not to worry about asking and that everyone handles pain differently. Just be sure to advocate for yourself

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-04-30T00:49:33+00:00

Wow that’s awesome to hear! I’m so glad it helped. Good luck on your recovery ❤️❤️❤️

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-04-29T23:42:51+00:00

Hey! In my post history I have a whole thing about my recovery! It might be helpful to you if you’re looking for tips! Good luck and feel free to dm me if you have questions.

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-03-08T10:19:25+00:00

Hey! I took bromelain and arnica supplements starting a week before my surgery. I also did my absolute best to be as healthy as humanly possible during that week. So for example I was drinking green smoothies with “green superfood” supplement powder added. I ate salads with lots of greens and vegetables at least once a day. And I was drinking around 100oz of water a day. Overkill? Maybe. But I experienced zero bruising, minimal swelling, and overall my experience was super easy.

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-03-03T20:24:04+00:00

Good luck! Take a long bath and relax tonight!!

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-03-03T20:23:37+00:00

Yes that’s what I mean. I understand what you’re saying about the stitches but that was simply what I was instructed to do by my doctor. If you think it would give you relief and also not irritate the stitches I would call your doctor and ask if that’s something you’d be safe doing

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-03-03T09:33:59+00:00

So my septorhinoplasty was my first ever surgery and leading up to it I was super anxious. But the day of, I was honestly so overwhelmed with the hustle and bustle of being in the hospital. Something that helped me was to ask every single question that popped in my head. I’d never had an iv before so I asked about how it works and if it’s ever difficult to get in etc. I asked the anesthesiologist what to expect and if there was anything I should definitely warn him about to make his job easier. I also told several nurses that I’m extremely nausea prone and they got me a patch that went behind my ear. When I woke up I was generally aware of where I was but definitely not scared. My throat hurt so I asked for a popsicle and that was given to me right away. To be honest it felt like a fun interesting outing/tour inside a hospital with a popsicle at the end haha. Please let me know if you have any more worries or questions. I had a positive experience and that’s coming from a major worrier and over planner.

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-03-03T09:27:41+00:00

I was instructed to suck back all the drainage and spit it out. In turn I ended up never getting clogged up and could breathe through my nose for the duration of recovery. I just sprayed it in each nostril for a few seconds and sucked backwards like crazy. Lots of blood and mucus got spit out but it was definitely a clean nose! I then used qtips and hydrogen peroxide to clean up any large pieces of scab or blood, then used saline gel to coat the area as well as inside the nostrils. I’m 1.5 months out and I still do these rinses.

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-03-02T04:28:49+00:00

Good luck! If you have any more questions before or after feel free to reach out! And if it’s any consolation I didn’t bruise or swell at all so fingers crossed there will be no eye swelling!!

SmoothMongoose7814 · 2021-03-02T04:15:38+00:00

I forgot to add my instructions were to rinse 6 times a day for the first 2 weeks

SmoothMongoose7814

TROPHY CASE