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Rhinoplasty Before & After Photos
Results by Dr. Vito Quatela
Q: What activity restrictions are there after
rhinoplasty surgery? A: One of the most
important restrictions after rhinoplasty is that once
your cast comes off, which is after a week, you
need to be very careful about the sun. Sunburn
would traumatize the skin and cause significant
swelling. It is important for patients to wear
sunscreen. We restrict aerobic activity for three
weeks after surgery because elevating your blood
pressure and heart rate is going to cause more
nasal swelling.
Q: What can I expect after rhinoplasty surgery?
When can I go back to work?
A: With a rhinoplasty you expect some bruising,
surprisingly it’s not with the nose, it’s about the
eyes, and there’s a cast on your nose. For the first
week, most people don't go in public because of
the cast and bruising. After a week, the cast comes
off, the bruising is diminished by at least 50-75%
and it’s more easily covered with makeup. Some
people will go back to work when the cast is
removed and just use camouflage makeup. I
recommend that people take two weeks off
because nasal swelling is down, you're breathing
better and the bruising is almost gone.
I believe that primary rhinoplasty takes a year for
full settling to occur. There are little changes along
the way that result as the skin shrink-wraps to the
framework.
The key is to get the skin envelope to cooperate with
what you’ve done to the structure of the nose so it
translates through the skin, and that’s what happens
during that first year.
The nose looks quite good prior to a year because
most of the result is front-ended so that a month
afterwards you’re looking at 75-80% of the result.
The last 10-15% of the result occurs over the course
of the year.
Q: How do I know if I’m emotionally ready for
nose surgery? A: The most significant change,
structurally, that I can make in someone’s appearance
is a rhinoplasty. It really is an important decision in
someone’s life, and you have to be certain that you
are prepared for this change. To see yourself in
different views is so important. Computer imaging
has enabled us to eliminate some patients for whom
the change could be too drastic or inappropriate. The
other thing that computer imaging does is it prepares
you for the change. You’ve already seen what you
may look like and provided that your end point is the
same result that you derived on the computer image,
you’re more mentally prepared for that. Anybody who
is truly motivated is ultimately happy and gets through
that period after surgery very nicely.
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