Are You Awake During A Nose Job?

More and more facial plastic surgeries are being performed under local anesthesia. This means that patients are fully or–more commonly–partially awake during their surgery. Dr. Santos frequently performs facelifts, neck lifts, and facial liposuction, among others under local anesthesia. As one of the more common facial plastic surgeries, patients often wonder, “Are you awake during a nose job?”

When you have a nose job with Dr. Santos, he will place you under general anesthesia. There are a few reasons that he prefers to use general anesthesia for rhinoplasty surgery over local anesthesia as he does for most other cases. Firstly, rhinoplasties tend to take longer. Depending on the case, a nose job can take anywhere from two to six hours. The average facelift takes an hour. This means that local anesthesia would have to be continuously applied to last long enough.

Secondly, local anesthesia can numb the skin and muscles. However, a nose job may involve altering the bone or structures that will not effectively react to local anesthetics. This can make the procedure under local anesthesia uncomfortable or even painful in some cases. 

Finally, unlike a facelift which is typically safer under local, a rhinoplasty is best performed under general anesthesia, even for minor cases. To learn more and schedule a consultation, call us at 206-430-1035. You can also reach out online using Price Simulator, chat, and contact form.