A friend of mine has pain following rhinoplasty. How likely is that?
A painful nose is not usual after rhinoplasty but it can happen. The nose receives nerves from different directions, some coming down from the top of the nose, some from the cheeks and some from inside along the septum. Nerves do not like to be squeezed by scar tissue so that could be a cause for pain in the nose following rhinoplasty. The nerves coming down the nose from the top run under the nasal bones and over the upper cartilages where they may be damaged or cut. You would expect to see more pain and discomfort on the sides of the nose than we do see. To answer the question, perhaps 10% of patients complain of some pain in the nose but it is usually not a problem. Only a very small minority would rather they had not had the surgery.
