Platelet Gel is used during many facial and rhinoplasty surgeries and is made from your own blood. The gel is used to seal wounds and accelerate soft tissue healing in facial plastic and cosmetic surgeries.
In order to make Platelet Gel, the surgeon draws approximately 50 cc of your blood at the time of surgery. The blood is then placed in a specialized centrifuge. As the blood is spun, it automatically separates the red blood cells from the plasma.
The plasma is then further centrifuged to concentrate the autologous platelets to obtain your natural growth factors. The Platelet Gel is then available for your surgeon to use as needed. The entire process takes less than 15 minutes and adds no extra time to the surgical procedure.
Bruising may occur following a rhinoplasty surgery and there are a number of treatments that can be used to help reduce the bruised areas.
We recommend our patients take Arnica and Bromelain following surgery. Using arnica cream on the bruised area - a few of times a day - can help reduce bruising and swelling.
We also may recommend using intense pulsed light to treat the affected area. Since the intense pulsed light is absorbed by the blood, you can decrease the bruising by 50 percent with treatments.
Anywhere between the first seven and ten days after surgery, patients can use an antibiotic ointment such as Polysporin, Neosporin or Bacitracin on scars.
Following that patients can use any type of scar gel to help with the surgery scars, such as Mederma, vitamin A or vitamin E cream. The creams and gels can help the scars resolve following a rhinoplasty.
On very dark skinned individuals sometimes hyperpigmentation can develop, especially in the facial reduction region. For hyperpigmentation, hydroquinone or bleaching cream is needed. The scar gel is a silicone based gel, which helps fade the scar.
In some situations, a V-Beam Pulse-Dye laser is used, which absorbs redness and scars. The laser treatments can be used on the nasal scars somewhere between four and six weeks after rhinoplasty.
Many patients will come in with excess eyelid skin. This issue usually starts in their 30s, however this can be genetic and begin to happen in the 20s. Often a patient will state that their exterior upper eyelids have gotten heavy.
In this type of situation, one of the first things we have to look at is the eyebrow, as well as the eyelids. Often times, the patients will identify that the eyebrow has dropped and this can be due to gravity, aging, and also to loss of volume.
We recommend a few homeopathic medications to our patients for after surgery. Arnica works to help break up blood clots in the skin following the procedures. I also recommend Bromelain. The bromelain helps in reducing bruising after a procedure and it can also helps with healing. Honey, apple juice, and some other natural fruits all contain Bromelain.
Patients can go to Whole Foods and buy Bromelain and Arnica. We recommend talking to a homopathic medications specialist to tell then which is the best way to take Bromelain and other homopathic medications.
During the first 48 hours post rhinoplasty, the nasal swelling peaks. Swelling combined with a nasal cast makes it very difficult for the patient to know what their new nose really looks like.
Often at the end of a rhinoplasty surgery, when the swelling has been removed by manual pressure, Dr. Nassif will take photos of the nose. This lets him show his patients what their nose looks like in the operating room right after the procedure.
Patients often ask questions about how long they should wait or when it is ok get pregnant following a rhinoplasty surgery.
Usually, a patient can become pregnant a month after rhinoplasty. There is no contraindications in getting pregnant.
However, if there is some reason the patient needs a revision rhinoplasty, then one has to wait for a year following the initial surgery.
It is particularly important to stay out of the sun for approximately three months after rhinoplasty surgery. Both the sun’s rays and heat can increase swelling in the nose. We recommend wearing hats and sunscreen on your nose if you have to be out in the sun or the heat.
Many patients want to know when they can start exercising again. Patients can resume physical activity about four weeks after surgery.
One important note, smoking is not recommended at any time after surgery. Nicotine causes decreased blood circulation to the region, which can decrease healing and cause post operative complications.
In performing an upper eyelid lift, the doctor removes skin from the upper eyelid and then stitches the existing skin back together.
Often times, the sutures placed are Prolene and nylon sutures, which are removed between five and seven days after surgery. Sometimes, we will use extra little sutures called fast gut, which disappear in about a week.
If you keep a suture in any longer than a week you are at risk for getting retractions in the area of the upper eyelid, which can be very visible since the skin is so thin.
If the eyebrow is in a normal height and you do an aggressive upper blepharoplasty alone, then there is a possibility that the eyebrow will droop. This could happen because you are shortening the distance between the eyebrow and eyelid.
In situations where you have borderline eyebrow, we recommend doing a conservative endoscopic brow lift and fixate it so it would not drop and then do an aggressive upper blepharoplasty.
