Recovery after rhinoplasty or a nose job typically takes 7-10 days. However, there are certain things that can help expedite your recovery after rhinoplasty. Every patient is different and depending on your age, skin thickness, medical issues, and degree of work needed on the nose, recovery can be different.

That being said, here are a few recommendations I make to my patients.

1) Keep cold compresses over your eyes with swiss therapy gel mask every 1-2 hours for the first 2-3 days. This will help decrease the amount of swelling and bruising around the eyes.

2) I place my patients on Arnica Montana starting one day prior to surgery and four days after. Studies have not proven this expedites recovery, however, I have noticed decreased bruising and swelling in some of my patients with this herbal medication.

3) Prevention - this should be obvious, but avoid aspirin, ibuprofen, alcohol, and other vitamins and herbal remedies that can thin the blood and cause more bruising 2 weeks prior to surgery.

4) Keep your head of bed elevated the first 2 days after surgery. This decreases swelling and bruising.

5) Rest and relax! The more you increase your heart rate and blood pressure, the more likely you will have bleeding which may lead to more bruising and swelling.

Dr. Funk is a rhinoplasty or