Do you know the feeling when something has bothered you for years and you can finally get the issue fixed? My nose has given me hard time for years and it’s such a relieve that it will finally be fixed soon.

In this post I’ll first tell you about rhinoplasties in general level and then I’ll share why I’m getting my surgery. I hope you’ll learn something new about rhinoplasties in this post. Also, feel free to wish me luck to my operation in the comment section. ❤

Also, I would like to remind you that even though I have some knowledge in this area always listen to the surgeons if you’re having any operation. Every patient is different and they have the best knowledge about your situation, techniques, etc. Anyhow, if you notice something that you think is incorrect in this article, please let me know.

What is a Nosejob / Rhinoplasty?

Indications

A rhinoplasty (official name) or nose job as most younger people call it, means nasal surgery. It can be done for different reasons, it might be done because a person’s nose has been an accident and is broken. Another reason is a deformation of the septum or the nose in general, these might affect on breathing and look of the nose. And finally, some of rhinoplasties are done for cosmetic reasons only.

Techniques

Open technique rhinoplasty

A nose job can be done using either open or closed technique. Most of the bigger operations are done with open technique since  this gives the surgeon a better view to the bones, cartilages and other tissues. Open rhinoplasty is mostly done under general anesthesia. Open technique nose job will leave the patient a small scar in between the nostrils.

Closed technique rhinoplasty

A smaller nose job is usually possible with closed technique. In this one the surgeon will cut small incisions inside the nostrils and do the operation through those. The scars are obviously smaller or even invisible this way. However, if there is major changes coming this might not always be possible for all the patients.

Other Notes

Sometimes the surgeon might need to take cartilage from somewhere which may add a patient another scar to for example behind the ear or to rib area. You should always discuss with your surgeon about the technique suitable for you if you’re planning an operation.

Additionally, if you want to add let’s say some height to your nose it’s also possible to do “non-surgical nose job” which is done with fillers. These results won’t last forever but they don’t on the other hand require incisions or sick leave.

Healing

Healing from a nose job usually takes 1-3 weeks depending on how big your operation was, what technique was used and of course things like how you take care the wounds and yourself affect. During the first week most people have some bruising around nose and eyes.

If you have a cast, bandaids and/or sutures those are usually removed after 5-8 days. Discuss with your surgeon for more details.

The amount of bruises and pain seems to be varying a lot between people. If you’re interested in personal stories about healing you can find plenty from YouTube and blogs. I’ll write my own after the surgery is done and I know how it and healing went.

To make the healing more optimal take good care of yourself. Don’t smoke or drink alcohol during last 1-2 months before surgery, try to eat enough healthy food and rest. Also, be prepared not only physically but also mentally. Be positive and try not to stress. After the surgery follow instructions of your surgeon gives.

Who Does Those / Where Nosejobs are Done?

Most plastic surgery procedures are done by plastic surgeons. However, some otorhinolaryngologists might do rhinoplasties or help with those. Always make sure that the person doing any kind of surgeries has appropriate training and licenses and insurance in the country in which he operates.

The best case scenario would be that you could read reviews and see photos by previous patients. However, because plastic surgery is kind of tabu in some countries this isn’t always possible. When you go see the clinic or surgeon you can ask to see before and after photos, ask about the surgeons training and how long he has done facial surgery.

Rhinoplasties are done in many different countries with varying prices and ways. If you’re planning to abroad, be extremely well prepared. Remember that laws and insurances policies might be very different abroad, in bad and good ways.

Why I’ll Have the Rhinoplasty?

Like I mentioned at the beginning my nose has given a lot of hard time through the years. The biggest issue is that it’s basically not breathing at all during allergy season, outside that one side of it lets some air through but not as much as a normal nose.

In practice this means that if doing sports even with quite low intensity I cannot get enough air through my nose which forces me to breath a bit through my mouth as well. Even bigger issue is that allergy season while this is the case 24/7. Imagine being in meeting or sleeping without being able to breath via your nose. That’s really annoying!

The cause of this is that the septum of my nose is like a letter S, and curved more to the another nostril. The surgeon told that it blocks the another side and makes the airflow abnormal on the another. And the fact that I’m having really bad pollution allergies doesn’t make things any easier.

So the main issue why I’m getting the surgery is the fact that my nose doesn’t breath. This will (hopefully) be fixed by straightening the septum and making my nose a bit taller to give some additional space to the air.

Another thing that bothers me is how my nose looks. It’s very wide and big and has weird bony bumps at both sides between my eyes. These will also be fixed with the same surgery.

There is a lot of things to be done to my nose and because of that we have decided to go with the open technique in my case. There might also be some cartilage taken from behind either of my ears but this will be finally decided by the surgeon during the procedure.

My time in the hospital will be around 10-12 hours total if everything goes as planned. I’ll go there at the morning, they’ll do the preparations and anesthesia, then they’ll operate my nose, wait until I’m fully awake and good and then they let me go back home. I’m not going alone though, my fiancée will be all the time with me for the first 24 hours at home.

My operation is done here in Finland because I was really suspicious about all those insurance and law issues that going abroad would have included. I was at first planning to go to the US but when I found a good surgeon here in Finland I decided to stay here.

After a week from the surgery I’ll have the first check with the surgeon, then one, six and twelve months after operation. In those we’ll make sure everything is good and healing as supposed. Being in the same country helps with these checks too!

I’m super excited that I should be able to breath like normal person for the first time soon. Additionally, I cannot wait to see how my new nose will look like. I’ll share some photos and videos with you guys later this year. To be fully healed it will take 6-12 months so please try to be patient! 🙂

Photos of this post are either mine (the ones with © Nora Tarvus 2018) or stock photos from Pixabay

Have you ever thought of having some plastic surgery procedure or have you already had? What do you think about plastic surgery in general?