Is it possible to break your nose after a nose job?

It sure is. Look at this picture of my patient 2.5 years after her nose job. She had been kayaking and was struck by a wayward paddle. Judging from the injury, it must have been quite a blow: the nose fractured and the nasal bone moved to her left while the tip stayed in the middle.

If I had been present when this happened, I would have simply reduced the fractured bone back towards the midline. Since I wasn’t there, she is scheduled for a reduction as soon as she gets back into town. I am prepared to do this with little to no anesthesia if the bones are soft, but also have my full time board certified anesthesiologist around, just in case we need his services.

In many rhinoplasty cases, the nasal bones are broken as a part of the general improvement sequence, for example, to narrow a wide nose or to remove a hump from a high bridge. The nasal splint is typically used for just the first 5-7 days after surgery. Several weeks after surgery, the bones stabilize and are unlikely to move under normal circumstances.

The Rhinoplasty Experience | Before and After

However, the body and its component parts never heal as well as when they are not injured. With a significant enough impact, nasal bones can and will break. The strength of the bones will be reduced to about 70% of the original non-broken nose strength after several months. With that said, your nose is most susceptible to fracture early after a nose job, so it’s best to avoid boxing and other contact sports for some time.

Rhinoplasty continues to be one of the most popular procedure requests at Westlake Plastic Surgery. It’s almost always about making a bigger nose smaller and refining any exaggerated features with a goal of creating a nose that looks and fits the patient’s facial features. Experience dictates that a conservative approach works the best, long term. Overdoing things can and often do result in “botched” nose jobs. No one wants that.

Go Into The Operating Room For A Nose Job Procedure

— Robert Caridi, MD
Diplomate of the American Board of Plastic Surgery
Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS)
Member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS)
Member of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
Founder of the Austin Gynecomastia Center