Smiling After Rhinoplasty/Nose Reshaping

We at the Hilinski Clinic of Facial Plastic Surgery are quite proud of the fact that our San Diego nosejob patients love their rhinoplasty results. However, there is always the issue of whether or not patients should be smiling after a rhinoplasty procedure. I like to tell my rhinoplasty patients that they should refrain from smiling after their nosejob for at least 6-8 weeks. Instead, I suggest they try what I like to call a ‘Mona Lisa’ smile. When patients animate excessively after rhinoplasty surgery and have a wide grinned smile, they are putting unwanted tension on the bottom portion of their nose. If there was reshaping of the nasal tip and/or base, which is common in my San Diego rhinoplasty practice, this type of unwanted tension can detract from the final surgical outcome. This tension pulls on the nose and can disrupt the normal healing around sutures or grafts that were placed to reshape the nose. Therefore, rhinoplasty patients are recommended to minimize this type of facial movement until the nose can heal adequately. At 6-8 weeks out from a nosejob procedure, there is obviously still a good amount of healing that needs to take place. However, sufficient healing has taken place by this point in time such that you can begin smiling a little wider and showing just how much you love your rhinoplasty results! Happy healing. Dr. Hilinski