Rhinoplasty Before or After a Big Event?

A common question and topic is, should I do a rhinoplasty close to an event like a wedding? I'm getting married. When should I do it? Well, I did my own wife's rhinoplasty about two to three months before our wedding because we had a discussion when they were engaged and we didn't want her nose to look different after wedding pictures. So 20 years later didn't want to have wedding pictures that looked different. If we could change it, obviously, I get plenty of patients that have been married long ago, come in later in life, and they want a rhinoplasty. It is what it is. It's fine, perfect. But if you can actually work on the timing of it, why not now? I always say give me at least three months. Why? Because you never know. Surgery sometimes is a very smooth process from A to B. Smooth road, you get there quickly, heal beautifully. Sometimes it's a bumpy road, it could have more swelling, you could have even infection. You may have a little detour on that road. It may not be as smooth as the healing process. And you don't want to all of a sudden be stressed out that you have big day is up, your big event is coming up, and you're not perfectly ready for it. It also depends on amount of change. I mean, if you have a really big nose, a really droopy nose, a really big hump, well, even with swelling, you're still going to look better, right? But if it's a subtle type of surgery, you may not look as good. So if it's a subtle removal of a bump or a subtle reshaping of the tip, then the swelling makes a bigger difference in the final outcome. So you want to give yourself more time. So that's the answer. You got to look at it. It also depends on skin thickness. Th skin tends to swell up more versus thin skin. Thin skin is going to heal faster. But if you give me at least three months, most likely you're going to be happy. If you can give me four months, five months, six months, even better. But don't do it too soon.