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“It will take up to 12 months for your nose to fully heal, so you won’t see your final outcome until about a year. By this time, the skin will have adjusted to the new nose shape or structure and all your swelling should be gone. Suppose your surgeon did a closed rhinoplasty, which means all the incisions are inside of your nose. In this case, you generally will have swelling for a little less time and no visible scarring. Any external incisions will be minor and usually not that major in between your nostrils. Should be unnoticeable and will fade over time with proper care. Around the end of your first week, your surgeon will remove your cast. This is the first time you’ll see your nose, and it is crucial to manage your expectations. Every day, you will see an improvement in the swelling, and this will continue to go down over the course of that year.
After a week or two, patients typically return to regular activity. And it’s perhaps best to wait a few weeks before resuming activities like swimming or a heavy workout. You will still have a bit of swelling and other signs of surgery, but the majority of it should be gone after a month. There may be some small, minor bruising, but that can easily be covered with makeup. For the first three months after surgery it is advised to be extra protective of the nose, specifically if it was broken. The nose bones do not heal and set for six weeks, so take extra care during that six week period.”
