Brown123 asks:
“I’m from Alabama. I got rhinoplasty performed in Flordia 2 & half months ago. My nose is still very swollen. My doc told me I can come back to Flordia & get steroid injections or I can go to a local doc. He advise me that he feels that he’s a better doc than my local doc. But Florida is 14 hours away & I really don’t want to travel that far for shots. But this is my face & money isn’t an option. But I was thinking how hard could it be to perform shots. do u think the local doc could do the job?”
After many facial type procedures, particularly facelift surgery, lumps and bumps and areas of bruising can be somewhat aesthetically unacceptable, particularly in the early postoperative period. This also occurs in the nasal region as well. Steroid injections are quite beneficial when utilized in a judicious and expert manner. Many plastic surgeons will utilize steroids in small doses, utilizing a small 30-gauge needle to improve the contour of areas that are still healing. There is a small risk with this endeavor, but generally speaking it is quite safe in expert hands. I personally perform thousands of injections with essentially no untoward effects. But nonetheless there is more to assessment of the areas that comes with a doctor visit, so traveling is worth it in regards to assessment of the areas of healing, as well as the need for injections. So often I will strongly urge my patients to follow-up even if it does mean a several hour journey. Essentially it is not just for an injection, it is also for assessment and for understanding of where we stand on the healing process and the need for revision which occurs on an infrequent basis.
Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon
