Beverley Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Deepak Dugar is renowned for his non-surgical approach to the face and body, specifically the nose. Haute Beauty caught up with the esteemed surgeon who answers all the frequently asked questions pertaining to sports injuries and rhinoplasty.

What type of sport do you see more nose injuries from the most? 

We see injuries from NFL, NHL, UFC, NBA and boxers all the time in my practice. Sometimes I get emergency calls from athletes or their managers directly right after they get hit asking for “what do we do?!”.  

So let’s break it down.  After a major injury, we always counsel being seen immediately to check the nasal septum to assure there is no “septal hematoma” which is a collection of blood that can rarely develop from the trauma.  Most emergency room or urgent care centers can evaluate this if it’s after hours emergency and you can’t get into a Plastic Surgeon’s office urgently.   This is an emergency situation where the septum should be checked for any blood clot which would need to drain immediately to prevent further damage to the septum and nose. This is rare but because of its significant damage possible, must be checked urgently.  Once it is ruled out that there is no septal hematoma, then the next concerns are any changes in breathing and the cosmetics of the nose.  If the patient has trouble breathing or has an altered shape to the nose we recommend urgent (not emergent) evaluation within 1 week with a Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon who specializes in rhinoplasty to see if “resetting” the nose can be of help.  This usually would need to be performed within the first 3-7 days to be effective.   But sometimes this may not result in a perfect result if the trauma was significant.   We don’t recommend any formal rhinoplasty or septorhinoplasty for up to 6-8 weeks to allow the swelling of the nose to come down prior to surgery.    For these formal surgeries, we usually combine it with a septoplasty (straightening of the septum to improve breathing) to use the cartilage removed as grafts and struts to help reconstruct the nose. 

How soon can a player go back to practice and/or playing after a nose job?

With my closed rhinoplasty aka Scarless Nose technique, I advise all my patients they can resume limited exercise 7 days after surgery but with limitations. These include no heavy lifting (over 20 lbs), no forward bending down, and no running/jumping/jogging or any impact sports to allow the bones to heal fully.  After 6 weeks, patients can resume ALL normal sports activities.   

What precautions should an athlete take the following procedure?

Following the procedure, we recommend not getting hit again!  This can be tough depending on the type of sport being played. For my Boxers and UFC fighters, I tell them to wait to fix their nose (if they can and don’t have significant breathing or cosmetic concerns that must be fixed urgently) til after they are done the fighting.  That being said the biggest thing is just to be very careful for the first 6 weeks, after which, they can resume all normal activity again and are allowed to be back in the arena!