As part of my normal preoperative consultation for planned rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty I will to to emphasize the importance of taking care of the incision line following surgery. I thought I would post a quick blog entry regarding this since, as they say, pictures are worth a thousand words. Here is a link to my post rhinoplasty instruction guidelines to familiarize yourself with my recommended routine. It is a three step process that includes (1) cleaning the incision/sutures with a q-tip and hydrogen peroxide first, (2) then dry the incision/sutures with a dry q-tip, (3) followed by application of topical bacitracin ointment to the incision/sutures using a new q-tip. Patients are instructed to do this 2-3 times throughout the day, starting on the evening of surgery. If done properly, the incision/sutures should not develop any scabbing or crusting – both of which can impede proper wound healing. Scabbing and crusting of the incision can also make for more discomfort when I go to take the sutures out. In the attached photo example you can see one of my own male rhinoplasty patients from San Diego at 5 days out from surgery. I provide this photo as a great example of what all of my patients should be doing when it comes to cleaning their rhinoplasty incision. You can see his skin and the blue sutures and that is it. No scabbing and no crusting is noted. Use this as a visualize guide and goal when it comes to caring for your rhinoplasty incision.
