What is the nose tampon and how many days it should be in your nose?

After Rhinoplasty is finished, doctors put a kind of gas that smeared with Antibiotic Oinments or Tetracycline in your nasal cavity that is nasal tampon. Tampon prevents bleeding and forming hematoma in, the nasal blade. The Nasal tampon should be in your nose one day and after one day, the surgeon will take it out from your nose. Time of removing a tampon from your nose can changes from 4 to 24 hours depends on surgeon’s opinion and the type of your surgery. Taking out a tampon from your nose doesn’t have any pain and just for some seconds, you may have some unpleasant feelings.

In some surgeries depends on patient’s situation they don’t need Tampon. But in some surgeries like nose deviation, nasal polyps or cartilage transplantation to nose should use interior splint to consolidate new septum. In continue, there are the most important tips about Tampon.

What is a nose tampon? It’s Type and size

What is the form of nasal tampon and what is used for? The tampon is a spongy and soft bandage that is mostly connected to a 15 centimeters string, that this string makes it easy to change the position of tampon or take it out from nose.  The surgeon smeared the tampon with antibiotic ointment, or some times Lidocaine before put it in the nose. This operation prevents bleeding after surgery. A tampon is used in some Rhinoplasties that nasal blade is rebuilt like Cystoplasty, Turbinectomy, or polyps surgeries because a tampon prevents hematomas.

– How many centimeters is the nasal tampon?

The size of a tampon is between 15 to 30 centimeters. But there are some mini tampons that they are between 5 to 8 centimeters.

– Types of tampon:

Nose tampons have different sizes and type of tampon that is suitable for you is based on surgeon’s decision. The material of tampon can be cotton or sterile gas or foam. Tampons that were used before were big and taking them out of a nose was with pain for patients. But nowadays there are mini tampons in the shape of small lint that taking them out of nose is without any pain.

Some tampons have silicon’s airway for easier breathing for patients that we call them Airway or Stent but the performance of them is less than the ones that are blocked completely. These Airways are a kind of interior splint they can be used instead of tampons in Rhinoplasty.

Why a tampon is used after Rhinoplasty?

– The usage of a nasal tampon:

The most important usage of a tampon is to control bleeding by making pressure on nasal blood vessels. The second usage of a tampon is to make the nasal cavities soft and wet because they are smeared with antibiotic and prevent the nasal skin become dry and also prevent wound and injection in a nose. The third usage of a tampon is like the interior nasal splint in some surgeries that nasal blade (septum) is changing, so it prevents making hematoma and it helps to keep the position of the new nasal blade.

– Disadvantages of a tampon:

A tampon doesn’t have any disadvantages and the only disadvantage that we can point is to make a mouth dry.  Since a tampon is inside your nose, the patient can’t breathe from a nose and breathing is just by mouth so it causes dryness in a mouth and throat.  But it isn’t an important issue and I’ll be solved by removing a tampon. During 24 hours that a tampon is inside your nose you can drink warm water (not too cold, not too hot) to keep your mouth wet.

When doesn’t tampon use?

Most people because of not having enough knowledge about a tampon and removing it from a nose they feel fear. So they prefer Rhinoplasty without a tampon. But as it said before a tampon has a lot of advantages. So it’s better not to insist on Rhinoplasty without a tampon and trust your doctor’s decision. In most cases depends on a patient’s nose and situation a surgeon diagnoses that it doesn’t need to use a tampon. For example for the elderly that breathing by mouth is hard for them a tampon may not use. Or surgery is done in a way that a surgeon presumes that there isn’t any bleeding after surgery so he\she doesn’t use a tampon.

How many days a tampon should be inside your nose?

When does a tampon remove from your nose? In fact it’s not easy to answer this question. Because the best time to remove a tampon for each person is different and depends on a surgeon’s anticipation about bleeding after surgery. In the past, most plastic surgeons remove a tampon after 7 or 14 days after surgery. But this activity causes many infections and harms. Because of this reason today surgeons remove a tampon between 4 to24 hours after surgery. Limiting this time gap causes no harm to a person. Generally a tampon removes between 4 to6 hours after surgery. It means that when you go home you don’t have a tampon. But in certain surgeries like nose deviation and nose fracture, a tampon may be inside your nose ‘till 24 hours.

What should you have done before removing a nose tampon?

Based on the specified time by a surgeon, you should visit the doctor for removing a tampon. Removing a tampon doesn’t have any pain. But for more caution, you can take a pain killer before going to the clinic. Clean your face gently with wet cotton. Be careful don’t wet your bandage, splint, or nasal cavity. Also, wear a shirt with bottoms because after removing tampon and coming back home and want to change the clothes you don’t have to take it from your head.

How to remove a tampon from a nose?

This activity should be done by a surgeon and in the clinic because removing it at home can harm your nasal blade. The way of removing tampon from a nose in the clinic is at first you lie down on a bed or a chair and lean back your head. Then surgeon starts to remove a tampon with a tool like surgical forceps. In a meantime, the surgeon checks the bleeding symptoms by pushing some pressure on a mucosa membrane. Then she \he uses a shrinker drop like phenylephrine. If there isn’t any sign of bleeding after removing a tampon, it was asked the patient to rest for some minutes ‘till the surgeon be sure that there isn’t any bleeding.  After passing some minutes if everything about a patient is normal she\he can go home.

Does it have any pain to remove a nose tampon?

Most patients scared of putting and removing a tampon. Putting a tampon is in the surgery room when you are in comatose. But removing tampon is by a surgeon in the clinic. The first point is that today smaller tampon is used than before so removing it doesn’t make any pain.  The second point is that some surgeons before removing a tampon drop numbing drops inside the nasal passages to make it senseless ‘till the patient doesn’t feel pain. So you should not be worry about a pain just for some second you may feel unpleasant pain.

Care after removing nasal tampon.

What should we do after removing a tampon? In continue there are seven cares after removing a tampon:

• Doing these operations accelerate your recovery and prevent the next complications.
• Immediately after removing a tampon may have some runny nose with watery blood that is natural and you shouldn’t worry.
• Do not blow your nose to remove dry blood from your nose. Generally, you shouldn’t blow your nose three weeks after your surgery. Because blowing nose increases bleeding.
• After removing a tampon clean your nose based on the orders below.
• Use a cold compress for about 10 minutes on your nose to tighten blood vessels and reduces inflammation.
• Use nasal drops prescribed by your doctor to prevent nasal congestion.
• If you want to sneeze do it naturally.
• Do not bend, lift heavy things or do not do other activities that make pressure on your nose until 48 hours.

Bleeding after removing a nose tampon

A nose has lots of little blood vessels inside and bleeds because of different reasons like repeated nose- blowing, dry nose, and impacts. Epistaxis (nose bleeding) can happen on a backside or front side of a nose. But generally, most bleeding happens on a nasal blade. Bleeding happens after removing a tampon might be because of removing pressure from blood vessels.  If bleeding continues or happens again call your surgeon.

• -Do not be afraid and stay calm because extra exciting increases your blood pressure and worsen bleeding.
• -Keep the tip of your nose for three minutes by your thumb and your finger.
• – take two painkillers. ( Do not use aspirin or anti-inflammatory)
• – wash your face and neck with cold water or use a cold water compressor.
• – Do not lie down or keep your head downward.