My journey with Rhinoplasty and Genioplasty

Ever since I was little I was always self conscious of my overbite and wanted to fit it. I tried everything; 'blocks', braces and retainers but nothing truly helped it. In this week's post I wanted to share with you my experience and the journey I went through over the month of recovery.

At age 16, I decided to go to a specialist to see about getting a surgery to fix my overbite. After many x-rays and consultations it was decided that it would be a bad idea to get the surgery as my jaw was too weak to keep the reconstruction, however, I was given another choice- an implant that would make me look like I had a more forward jaw without the breaking and moving forward. This sounded better than the original idea as it had less of a recovery period while still fixing my insecurity. Unfortunately due to COVID these appointments were further cancelled until the foreseeable future so I waited until my year off to resurface the idea. 

At 19 years old I booked myself back into a couple more appointments to discuss what I would have changed and then finally I booked a date for the surgery- 16th of April 2023! This was the perfect time as I would be back from Australia, I had time to recover and it was before starting university. However, nothing is ever that simple and unfortunately there was a complication and my surgery was propounded until the 16 August 2023. I was also going to get my nose done was because I had broken it several years ago and it was recommended to get it reconstructed. Then a month before my surgery my doctor could no longer go through with my rhinoplasty so I had to find a new doctor to operate on my nose. Luckily we found a doctor in time and I had a few meetings with them to discuss how the surgery would go.  

Time went quickly and it was surgery day. I arrived at the hospital at 7am and my surgery was at 9am and lasted 4 hours. When I woke up after going under anaesthesia I was kept in recovery for an hour and then taken into my room. I was only suppose to be in the hospital until the afternoon but unfortunately my mouth was still bleeding more than usual so I was recommended to stay in overnight for supervision. That afternoon I tried to drink some water but my jaw/ mouth was in so much pain that they had to put me on an IV drip to keep me hydrated. Later I had to eat some soft food but could only stomach some ice cream and even that wasn't easy. Because I was in so much pain the nurses would come in to top up my medication and check my heart rate throughout the night which meant that I didn't get much sleep. 

Day 1- The next day I was still in a lot of pain, my face was still swollen however, I was no longer bleeding which meant my mother could come and collect me and take me home. I was able to take the bandage of my jaw, but had to keep the nose plaster on for another week so I could only see half of the results. I couldn't feel any pain from my nose, however, my jaw felt super tight and bruised, making hard to move my mouth. Eating and drinking was still difficult so I was having baby food and soup as it was easier to swallow. I was also taking the medication given by the hospital and painkillers to stop the swelling which made me very drowsy. 

Day 2- On the second day of being back home I was still very swollen, however, I tried to eat a bit more solid food, such as mash potato and fish which would help bring my strength back. Half of the day I was on the sofa watching tv and the other half I was sleeping, I didn't have the strength to do anything else. 

Day 3- When I woke up that morning I noticed that bruising had begun to show around my eyes and either side of my jaw. Swelling was slowly going down but my face was still very puffy. I was no longer taking the painkillers so the pain was improving but this also meant that I could feel the rest of the pain.  

Day 4- The bruises were very purple so I definitely didn't want anyone seeing me. Although pain was slightly less I still couldn't eat much because my jaw was still very tight and numb from the stitches. I was slowly building up strength and was now able to do things myself without getting too tired. 

Day 5- Sleeping was a little bit harder since I was no longer on painkillers so I was waking up during the night due to the uncomfortable. I could eat more solid food and swelling had reduced so I felt it was going in the right direction! 

Day 6- Bruising had gone down dramatically, I think thanks to the turmeric shots I was taking each morning and I was now eating solid food, only uncomfortable due to the stitches. 

Day 7- Today my nose cast comes off so I was able to go out for the first time in a week. My nose was slightly swollen but the rest of my face looked much better other than some yellow bruising around my neck. My jaw is still tight which means my words are slightly slurred but when the stitches dissolve I should be back to normal! 

Since getting my nose cast off I have made a steady process and I feel almost back to normal other than the tightness around my stitches in my mouth. Although I was in a lot of pain at the time the procedure was worth it since the recovery came so quickly and the results were exactly as I hoped.  

Love, Aria 

XO