Can a nose job change your voice? Or do you need Rhinoplasty? It’s a common question, especially for people who use their voices frequently at work. The answer for most patients is “No.” However, there are a few notable exceptions. Mostly it depends on the nature of your specific procedure and your sensitivity to the sound of your voice. Let’s first review rhinoplasty itself, and then we’ll explain what effect it can have on your voice.
What is Rhinoplasty?
Rhinoplasty is a surgery designed to correct a multitude of different challenges you may face with your nose. For some patients, it is purely cosmetic. They’re looking to reshape or decrease its size.
Other patients want to correct airflow issues and the problems they cause with sleep or breathing during sports. Septoplasty, for example, is a procedure related to rhinoplasty that straightens the nasal cavity. Sometimes, patients will seek to correct both the look of their nose and deal with respiration issues with a single surgery.
Rhinoplasty and Your Voice – Can a Nose Job Change Your Voice?
Now, let’s get to the core question: Can a nose job change your voice? As we mentioned above, the answer is generally going to be a no, but it can depend on the specific nature of your rhinoplasty procedure. Let’s take a closer look.
Purely Cosmetic Procedures
If your rhinoplasty is purely cosmetic, you probably shouldn’t expect much change in your voice. Yes, immediately after surgery, your nasal tissues will be swollen and you’ll sound like you have a cold. However, this will gradually dissipate as your swelling subsides.
When healed, the air passage that your voice travels through will not have changed much, so neither will the sound. Real changes to the voice can occur when the tissues inside the nose are reshaped.
Rhinoplasty With Other Corrections
Some patients combine rhinoplasty with other corrective procedures like correcting a deviated septum (septoplasty) or removing turbinates, which are small bones that protrude into the nasal cavity. People who decide to have these additional procedures are often hoping to obtain better nasal breathing and the benefits that come with it.
For example, better nasal breathing can decrease snoring and provide a better quality of sleep. Taking in more air is also beneficial to endurance athletes like runners and cyclists. Although we may not associate these benefits with a nose job, patients often seek out surgeons that can employ these techniques to get them.
Additional procedures can improve the way air travels through the nose. Therefore, they can change the sound of your voice. It’s like the difference between someone speaking through a closed door versus an open one.
How Well Do You Know Your Voice?
Most of us are startled (and disappointed) to hear the sound of our voice in a recording.
Singers, however, are not. Someone who trains and listens to their own voice frequently is the most likely among us to notice a change after nasal surgery.
If you are a singer, rest assured. The tone quality of your voice may be less nasal sounding after a rhinoplasty. And if your surgery improves your breathing, you’ll have even more air to help you hit the high notes.
Teachers, salespeople, and other frequent talkers may also notice a slight difference. But again, they, too, could benefit from the added breathing ability the surgery provides. Finally, anyone who has always felt their voice sounded nasal may notice a difference.
Special Considerations for Singers
We mentioned singing, but it may be worth going into some greater detail about how rhinoplasty can impact those who sing professionally. Indeed, those who sing recreationally (say, regular karaoke nights) probably have nothing to worry about, but for those whose livelihood is wrapped up in singing, even the slightest vocal change is worth knowing about.
So, for singers: Can a nose job change your voice? While you are recovering from your rhinoplasty procedure, you can anticipate sounding a little more nasal than usual. This difference may last for up to five months. And, throughout the healing process, you may notice some additional fluctuations in your vocal character.
Even for those who sing professionally, though, the differences are usually going to be pretty minor, and most of the changes will fade away once you have fully recovered from your nose job. As a final note, a well-trained singer will have the tools necessary to adapt their singing voice, meaning that some small changes should be nothing to worry about.
Speeding Along with Your Rhinoplasty Recovery
Still, worried that your voice may sound unusual during your nose job recovery? The good news is that there are some basic steps you can take to expedite your recovery, returning to normalcy as quickly as possible. Some of our top tips for recovering from rhinoplasty include:
- Get plenty of rest. Getting sufficient sleep will help your body to heal properly. We recommend getting at least eight hours of sleep each night during your nose job recovery.
- Elevate your head. It’s also important to promote proper blood circulation, something you can do by sleeping with your head elevated by two or three pillows.
- Take medications as directed. Make sure you follow your surgeon’s instructions regarding antibiotics and pain medication, allowing your body to normalize accordingly.
- Stay hydrated. It’s tough to overstate the importance of hydration during rhinoplasty recovery. Drink plenty of water to flush toxins out of your system.
- Avoid smoking. Nothing will slow your healing process like tobacco and nicotine. Abstain from smoking during your nose job recovery.
In short, for those asking can a nose job change your voice, one of the best things you can do to avoid unwanted changes is to ensure a smooth, efficient recovery process.
The Bottom Line – Can a Nose Job Change Your Voice?
In general, voice changes after rhinoplasty are neither frequent nor drastic. Most likely, you will continue to sound like yourself. Improvements in appearance or breathing are your best reasons for choosing the procedure.
More questions about what a nose job entails, or about the different effects that rhinoplasty creates? We’d love to chat with you further. To schedule a one-on-one meeting with a Charlotte plastic surgeon, reach out to H/K/B Cosmetic Surgery in to do Rhinoplasty Charlotte, NC at your next opportunity.
