All plastic, cosmetic and reconstructive surgical procedures come with risks and potential complications. To ensure successful surgery, it is crucial to understand and minimise these risks. Whilst all measures are taken to mitigate risks, some risks are unavoidable.
All information on this page is general in nature – your Specialist Plastic Surgeon will discuss the specific risks and complications pertinent to your individual surgical procedure during your consultation. General risks for surgery are listed here.
Specific risks related to rhinoplasty surgery include, but are not limited to:
- Pain: Pain may be severe and ongoing.
- Numbness: The nose may feel numb or have altered sensation after the bruising and swelling subside.
- Numbness in upper front teeth: The upper front teeth may feel numb temporarily.
- Unsatisfactory results: The nose’s appearance may be unsatisfactory and require revisional surgery however, the final appearance may take three to four months to be evident.
- Impairment of sense of smell: Sense of smell may be impaired, and in rare cases lost or distorted.
- Swelling: The nose may be slightly swollen for months.
- Darkening of skin under the eyes: Skin under the eyes may be darkened for a period of over six months.
- Weakening of underlying support structure: The underlying support structure of the nose may become weak and cause the nose to flatten.
- Extrusion of implant: An implant (if one was inserted) may extrude into the nose or through the skin.
- Narrowing of major airways: Major airways may become narrowed, causing difficulty in breathing through the nose.