Q. Why is cotton placed in the nose after nose surgery?

Hello~

This is AB Plastic Surgery!!

Today, I’d like to talk about the question, “Why is cotton placed in the nose after nose surgery?”

There is a common question that most people who are planning to have nose surgery ask.

Does nose surgery hurt a lot??

But most people who have had nose surgery say they feel almost no pain.

Even people who had osteotomy, where the bone is broken, say so~

However, there is one symptom that makes many people struggle.

That is nasal congestion.

This is because cotton is placed inside the nostrils to apply pressure to the nose.

Most patients hardly complain of pain after nose surgery, but this cotton is what makes things the hardest.

Then how long does this cotton need to stay in?

Depending on the hospital, it may be kept in place for as little as 1 day or up to 1 week.

At our AB Plastic Surgery, it is removed after as little as 2 days.

Then why do we need to place this cotton?

During nose surgery, part of the septum inside the nose is removed.

Once the septum is removed, the mucous membranes inside the nose become loose because the firm cartilage is gone.

That means there is no solid support to help stop bleeding even if bleeding occurs.

The nasal mucosa naturally has many blood vessels, so it is a place where bleeding happens easily.

So something is needed to stop the bleeding!! That is this cotton!!

If bleeding occurs in the septum after surgery, blood can collect not only inside the nose but also up toward the bridge of the nose.

In that case, it may be necessary to rinse the nose again and remove the blood.

Sometimes the cotton inside the nose is so uncomfortable that people remove it themselves at home.

In such cases, blood often collects inside the nose, and nasal irrigation is often needed.

So this difficult process is a necessary step after surgery.

Even if it is a little uncomfortable, for the stability of the nose after surgery and for your own comfort, please be sure to bear with it.

Thank you.