Safety and Comfort with Anesthesia
General anesthesia is the gold standard for this operation. Under this type of anesthesia, you are fully asleep; there is no pain and no awareness. Safety and comfort are paramount. Your anesthesia provider has a wealth of experience in surgical procedures, safety, and care.
Fully Staffed Recovery Room
You will spend one to two hours in a fully-monitored and state-of-the art recovery room at the surgery center. Your registered nurse will be at your side every moment to attend to your safety and comfort.
You have several options: you may choose to have professional care, to stay in a recovery center, or recover at home. If you wish to recover at home, you must have someone stay with you the first night. We will send you home with precise instructions and a “care package” of supplies and medications.
Attention to detail, expertise in surgical technique, and pioneering work in the area of cartilage and natural fat transfer sets Dr. Koplin apart from other surgeons. For nearly 20 years, he has used a combination of these techniques to create custom-fitting grafts for a smoother nasal bridge, softly defined tip and a more natural appearing result.
The First Week:
You will leave our recovery room with a custom-molded plastic splint covering your nose. Dr. Koplin does not pack the inside of the nose (he believes it’s cruel), so you should be able to breathe well as soon as you wake up!
The morning after your nasal surgery, you’ll notice that your nose is more swollen: don’t worry, this is temporary. You’ll also have bruising around your eyes for a full week; sometimes as long as two weeks. Again, this is typical and temporary.
You can return to work and your usual activities the day after your surgery, though you should avoid strenuous exercise.
If you wear eyeglasses, you must not let them rest on the nasal bridge for six weeks after surgery. We’ll show you how to suspend them from the forehead and protect your new nose.
Even though all the inside stitches dissolve on their own, we still want to see you rather often at first. You’ll return approximately three days postop, just for a checkup and general cleanup of your nose –we also want to make sure you can still breathe well. On day seven, the outside and inside splints are all removed, and your nose is revealed to you and the world!
The Second Week and Beyond:
Your nasal airway improves, and residual swelling gradually diminishes (though the swelling may last longer than you would wish). The interior of your nose may feel dry; we’ll give you a saltwater nasal spray to provide comfort and aid healing.
We’ll plan to see you again two weeks after surgery to check healing and answer your questions. Also, you may now gently blow your nose!
After one month, your breathing will be at its optimal state.
You’ll visit us again at six weeks, at which time we’ll check to see if it is now safe for you to wear glasses.
We’ll take postoperative photos of your new nose three months after surgery. We’ll give you copies of your preoperative photos, too, so you can see your own “before and after”!
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