One of the biggest issues for patients undergoing cosmetic surgery is the time needed for recovery. Whether it is 3 days or 3 weeks, our time is precious and we want to attain the best results possible while having the least amount of recovery time. Dr. Etai Funk, a board certified facial plastic surgeon in Houston, TX, is a rhinoplasty or nose surgery expert. He performs, on average, 100 rhinoplasties per year. Dr. Funk has found a formula that minimizes downtime after cosmetic nose surgery.

Dr. Funk has all his rhinoplasty patients start Arnica Montana prior to their surgery and continue taking this after their surgery is complete. This herbal remedy reduces the amount of swelling and bruising patients may have. In addition, patients receive Swiss Therapy Chilled Gel Masks which they place over their eyes for the first 2 days after surgery to prevent discomfort and decrease eyelid swelling and discoloration.

However, Dr. Funk states, “The most important factor to prevent swelling and bruising and decrease downtime is to treat the nose gently when operating. Avoiding tissue trauma and respecting proper tissue planes is essential.” Younger patients typically have less bruising as their blood vessels are less fragile. Dr. Funk also performs the bony portion of the surgery, which causes the most bruising, at the end of the procedure so that cold Swiss therapy gel masks can be placed immediately.

Utilizing these techniques, most of Dr. Funk’s patients have a recovery time of one week after cosmetic nose surgery. “Patients can return to work and normal social activities at one week after surgery and their normal workout routine at 2 weeks”, explains Dr. Funk. Contact sports, where the nose may be injured, can be resumed at 6 weeks after surgery.

Dr. Funk is a board certified facial plastic surgeon in Houston, TX who specializes in nose surgery and rhinoplasty