The Procedure and Surgical Techniques

The techniques used for your rhinoplasty procedure will depend on your surgeon’s preferences and recommendations. There are two main methods used when performing rhinoplasty surgery, and these will depend on your surgical needs. Your surgeon may perform a closed rhinoplasty procedure, where all incisions made can be hidden inside the nose. Sometimes your surgery will require a small incision to be made across the columella, the small strip of tissue that separates the nostrils. This is known as an open rhinoplasty procedure.

Once the incisions are made, your surgeon will gently raise the skin that covers your nasal bones and cartilage. Your surgeon will then reshape the structure of your nose by removing, repositioning or adding nasal cartilage and or bone to specific areas. Details of this will differ depending on your surgical needs and will have been discussed with you during your initial consultation.

For further information on the procedure, we highly recommend you watch the animated video on our website, which outlines rhinoplasty surgery in more detail.

Hospital Stay and Anaesthesia

Typically, a rhinoplasty procedure does not require an overnight stay and can be performed as a day surgery unless combined with another procedure. Depending on individual circumstances, this procedure can be safely performed either under a general anaesthetic with an anaesthetist present, or, in our rooms in our accredited theatre with local anaesthetic. Your plastic surgeon will discuss your choices in your initial consultation and determine which option is best for you.

Your Consultation

In order to keep your consultation as smooth and efficient as possible, we ask that you please bring all relevant documentation with you on the day. This includes your referral letter, Medicare card, private health insurance details, any third party or return to work insurance information, and any relevant scans i.e. x-ray or ultrasounds.   

During your initial consultation your Specialist Plastic Surgeon, you will have an extended opportunity to discuss expectations and desired outcomes, along with any questions you may have about the procedure.

You will then meet with one of our experienced nurses, where you will have clinical images taken in our blue room as a before and after reference for both yourself and your surgeon. There is also the option of utilising our 3D Vectra Imaging System. This advanced technology allows your surgeon to manipulate a 3D image of your own face, and visually demonstrate potential surgical outcomes. Read more about this service here. (Please note that all our images are confidential and are stored securely consistent with the privacy act).

The final stage involves meeting with your surgeon’s personal assistant. You will be given an in-depth quote, outlining the surgeon, hospital and anaesthetist fees, along with some take home information about your procedure.

There is a lot of information to take in after your first consultation. We encourage patients to go home and discuss their procedure with loved ones and come back for a subsequent visit. We find patients almost always come back with additional questions they hadn’t previously thought of, and this second visit allows you to go into your surgery feeling confident and fully informed. We recommend that you allow an hour for this consultation. Please keep this in mind when organising parking so that you don’t feel the need to rush.

Before Your Procedure

There are a number of things you can start to implement before your procedure, to encourage a smooth recovery and ensure you are as comfortable as possible post-surgery.

It is important that you:

• Exercise, having good physical health will significantly help your recovery process
• Provide a complete medical history for your specialist plastic surgeon; this should include all current medications, as some may need to be stopped prior to surgery.
• Quit smoking
• If going under general anaesthesia, pre-arrange someone to transport you too and from your surgery, as well as stay with you 48 hours after returning home.
• Ensure you follow pre-operative instructions from your surgeon, such as fasting times, or your procedure may have to be cancelled.
• You may wish to pre purchase medical grade camouflage makeup, to help cover any residual redness or bruising post surgery. Many of our facial procedure patients find this helpful when getting back to day-to-day activities. As a practice we stock the complete Jane Iredale collection for patients to purchase, a medical grade mineral makeup range that is safe to use post operatively.
• Prepare your recovery area! You’ll want to have everything you need to recover easily accessible and within arms reach. We suggest comfortable pillows, icepacks, prescribed medications, emergency contact details, a phone, as well as things to keep you entertained. Previous blepharoplasty patients also recommend having more than one cooling gel eye mask, so you always have one in the fridge/freezer ready to go.

Recovery

Recovery time is highly individual, and your time frame will vary depending on your individual surgery details, the nature of your employment and your overall level of health. Your surgeon will discuss this with you prior to surgery, and it is important to allow yourself the recommended recovery time.

On discharge, you will be given specific postoperative instructions to facilitate recovery, and a follow-up appointment will be made with your plastic surgeon. These instructions will cover everything you will need to know in order to make your recovery as smooth and comfortable as possible.

Your face may feel swollen and the area around your eyes swollen and bruised. The amount of swelling will increase in the first 2–3 days and then begin to subside. Usually by day 10 the bruising and swelling are greatly reduced, however some subtle swelling may remain for several months. Initially you may find it difficult to breathe, this will improve as the swelling and bruising go down. We recommend sleeping upright initially to help reduce swelling. It is important not to clean inside your nose until your surgeon has indicated it is safe to do so.

If packing has been placed inside your nose, it is usually removed in recovery prior to discharge. Sutures inside your nose are usually dissolvable and do not require removal, and external sutures are removed around seven days after surgery. All dressings and splints are usually removed at this time also. After the splint is removed, glasses can be worn, but they must not exert weight on the healing nose.

After approximately ten days it is safe to use mineral makeup to help cover any residual redness or bruising if you wish. At this stage, we offer a complimentary ‘cover up’ lesson using Jane Iredale cosmetics, a medical grade mineral makeup range. As a practice our philosophy is built around holistic treatment. For this reason, during your makeup consultation you will also be given the opportunity to discuss ways you can care for and protect your skin, post-surgery and in the future. This includes skincare, make up, non-surgical treatment options and most importantly – sun protection!

We are dedicated to supporting you to make a swift, uncomplicated recovery. A 24/7 on-call medical assistance service is available for all post-operative patients. It’s your journey, but we’ll be with you every step of the way!

View our post-operation information here

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