It’s not unusual for patients to have nasal congestion following rhinoplasty. This is often secondary to swelling with crusting and scabbing within the nasal passage. When this occurs, patients have an irresistible urge to blow their nose.
We generally, recommend that patients avoid blowing their nose for at least two weeks following routine rhinoplasty and four to six weeks following septoplasty.
When patients blow their noses in the early post-operative period, they can potentially damage the nasal mucous and cause bleeding. For this reason, we generally recommend nasal saline irrigations in the immediate post-operative period.