What are the Psychological Effects of Rhinoplasty?


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The effects of Rhinoplasty on a person can be quite profound; the main reason people go into a Rhinoplasty operation is to gain some self-confidence. Most patients when questioned (rather than psychologically evaluated) stated that they were happy with the effects of the procedure on their lives and were happy with the outcome of the Rhinoplasty. However, a number of psychological studies that have been done on post-op patients have shown that the majority of them experienced either negative effects or no effects at all. In May 1980 Shulman called for psychiatric testing of those who wished to have Rhinoplasty to make sure they are suitable for the procedure. However, before taking this as negative you should remember that psychological studies are purely subjective, the results being very dependent upon the researcher and their own preconceptions.

When you are thinking of having a Rhinoplasty operation you need to be aware that, though the majority of patients experience only positive effects, there is the possibility you will experience negative emotions. This is not because the surgery has had a negative effect, but because of the stress of undergoing surgery. The most common negative effect of Rhinoplasty is that you will feel down for a bit. It is thought that the most common reason for this is that while Rhinoplasty is not an overtly painful procedure it can cause you some discomfort; this is because often it can feel like you have a cold for a while, and there is the possibility of constipation which can make you feel worse.

The second reason you might feel down is that many people have a Rhinoplasty for the wrong reason of looking for the perfect nose, and when they discover that they have not (nor will ever) achieve that, it can make them despair and feel down or even wonder why they had a nose job in the first place. It is for this reason that surgeon's stress that you know and understand the limits of Rhinoplasty before you undertake the operation. Others may also feel down because the effects of the surgery are not immediate and may take some time to show as there will be a lot of swelling and bruising of the nose soon after the surgery. If this happens you need to remember that in time as the healing process gets further in you will find more and more change in your nose and you must not let the first few weeks or months discourage you and make you feel negative about your nose.

You may also feel down for the first few weeks if you are a naturally active person. This is because of the healing process you are required to stay away from strenuous exercise and if you normally partake in a lot of exercise the forced convalescence can be distressing and make you feel down. This can be further compounded by the sleeping position of head up and slightly tilted which can be uncomfortable for some people and therefore lead to a bad night sleep and from then onto irritability. You need to remember, though, that these are only temporary measures for a few weeks while your nose is in a delicate stage of healing.

Despite these negative effects, however, the majority of patients do not feel negative at all and even if you do feel negative for a while you need to remember that as the healing process continues and you can exercise once more (and the visual changes of the nose job begin to show themselves) the feelings of depression will go.

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