Dr. Barrera has extensive experience providing the highest levels of surgical expertise for his patients for over 35 years. He is a double board-certified plastic surgeon, both by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Otolaryngology (head and neck surgery).

With that level of knowledge and experience, Dr. Barrera is called on to perform many rhinoplasty procedures. These nose surgeries may be original, or they may be a revision surgery to modify or correct a patient’s previous nose surgery performed elsewhere.

Rhinoplasty creates an involved recovery due to the tissue trauma that is inherent in these delicate surgeries. In this springy post-Easter blog, let’s get into a few tips for making your recovery from nose surgery a little easier.

• Keep Your Head Up — This is good information literally and figuratively in the early part of your recovery. You’ll need to keep your head elevated at all times for up to 6 weeks. That means sleeping with your head above the level of the rest of your body. You can do this with two or three pillows or a foam wedge. You can sleep in a recliner. Whatever you do, don’t sleep where you can roll onto your side or face. It’s possible to dislodge your newly repaired nose.

• Don’t Laugh — It’s a good idea to only have your more boring friends come to visit, as you don’t want to engage all the muscles around your nose, mouth, and eyes by laughing. Try and keep your facial muscles and other tissues as relaxed as possible.

• Don’t Blow Your Nose — This can be one of the more difficult aspects of your recovery. You will have some congestion after surgery, and this will come and go for a few weeks. But you can’t blow your nose for obvious reasons. Dr. Barrera can explain how to delicately use a saline nasal spray to help keep your nasal passages from drying out.

• No Bending Over — You need to avoid raising blood pressure to your face, as this can create problems with your healing. When you bend over at the waist, this instantly raises your blood pressure to the face.

• Don’t Push Things — You may feel the need to exercise as a way to break out of your recovery malaise, but you can’t. It takes about 6 weeks for the bones in your nose to heal, and most forms of strenuous exercise will create swelling and possibly even more problems with your nose.

Are you interested in rhinoplasty? There’s no better surgeon in the Houston area to perform this surgery than Dr. Barrera. Call him at (713) 468-5200 to schedule a consultation.