Swollen Nose
If your tip is wider post op it suggests some things to me: 1] You had perhaps a projected tip with fairly thin skin which may have been “sticking out” more than you liked and the tip projection was probably set back and (similar to lowering a tent pole causing the canvas of the tent to be less taught) you still have the same amount of skin that can appear thicker and less defined. 2] You are in early post op period and can expect more reduction of swelling. The important thing is that if you are not happy with the post-op width of your tip and this is an issue to discuss with your surgeon. If they tell you it is still swollen; that is true, but 90-95% or more of the swelling should be gone by 6 months and there should only be subtle refinement thereafter and, basically, you should be happy with the result with expectation of further improvement. Please be aware that in the best of hands there is about a 15% touch up rate with rhinoplasty. That does not mean that 15% of patients have to undergo an expensive re-operation with long recovery…it means that it’s an artistic procedure and beauty is a matter of millimeters and there are vagaries in the healing process. Despite quality planning and surgical technique, a relatively minor surgical adjustment may be required after six to twelve months in order to experience a lifetime of the best result. Of course, if you and your surgeon don’t see eye to eye you can get a second opinion from a very well researched revision rhinoplasty surgeon board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery or the American Board of Otolaryngology.