Coping with Nasal Surgery: What to Expect and How to Support Yourself

Feeling more worried before surgery is normal, especially about timing, preparation, or how things will go. 

It can be helpful to ask questions of your surgical team, but when worry is high, the same questions can come up again and again without feeling settled. 

Try noticing: 

• “Am I looking for facts, guarantees, or reassurance?” 
• “Is this something I (or my medical team) can know now, or only with time?” 

If you’re finding that the answers to these questions are more about reassurance and easing of anxiety, you might find the below reminders helpful: 

• Some uncertainty is part of any medical procedure, but you can increase your tolerance of uncertainty by directing your attention toward how you intend to face uncertainty: with courage, steadiness, and self-kindness. 
• Focus on what the surgery will help you achieve, such as breathing easier, not just how it will look or be done. 
• Set short times to plan, rather than thinking about it constantly. 

These tips won’t remove all worry but can help reduce its impact.

In the first few days after surgery, it’s common to become more focused on how you look and how your body part feels (e.g. nose). 

• You might check the mirror more often.
• Focus on certain parts of your appearance.
• Or wonder if things seem right.

This is common and it is how our brain works – it pays more attention than usual because it wants to make sense of what is different after surgery.

• The brain takes time to come to terms with changes in our appearance.
• In this period of adjustment we can be more prone to judging the changed appearance in a negative way.
• If we do not balance our negative thoughts and managing excessive checking, we may get stuck in a cycle of appearance anxiety with negative thinking.
• For example, you might start to check your appearance and notice differences in appearance or sensation. Noticing difference may lead you to think that ‘this is wrong’ and you may start to put negative judgment on your features, such as ‘ugly’.
• In turn, this can increase feelings of sadness and worry, leading to reassurance seeking by checking appearance again at different angles or with other people, adding more uncertainty. This cycle is demonstrated in the graph below.

What can help: 

• Ask yourself: “Am I checking my appearance for health reasons, or to check that my negative thoughts are correct?”
• If your answer is to check that your negative thoughts are correct, it can make it more difficult for your brain to be more neutral or accepting of the changes to your appearance.
• More checking will increase your worry. Because the more you look, the more likely you are to spot things that look different than you have been used to in your life so far, or that look different to what our had envisioned for yourself.
• Remind yourself that first impressions often change as swelling goes down and your mind gets used to the change.
• Refocus your attention to other things, even small ones like routines, conversations, or familiar tasks. 

To balance physical healing and mental wellbeing, keep your checking more focused on health reasons as it gives your mind time to adjust and helps ease difficult thoughts.

There’s no set timeline for how you’ll feel after surgery. Feelings like relief, worry, or low mood may come and go, this is your mind working through a big change.

What can help: 

• Gently shift your focus to other activities if you get stuck on one thought or part of your appearance.
• Keep up with everyday routines if you can, they bring structure and a sense of normal. 
• Think about what matters to you beyond your changed sensations and/or appearance: 
  • “I don’t know what’s coming, but I’ll face it with courage, stay steady, and treat myself kindly.”
  • “Just because it looks different, does not make it bad, or medically dangerous”
  • “What else can help me feel like myself?”
• Simple things like rest, reading, movement, talking to someone can help you feel steady.

For many people, getting used to the change happens slowly and without major problems. But if your thoughts feel stuck, emotions feel too strong, or daily life starts to feel harder, extra support might help. You can speak to your clinical team about a referral to the psychology service, support is available for the emotional side of surgical recovery. 

Additional Resources:

If you'd like to explore further, here are some suggestions: 

• Changing Faces: Emotional and practical support for people affected by visible difference 
• Mind: Guidance on managing mental health and life changes