Your recovery stay in Brazil, day by day.

How long do you need to stay in Brazil after rhinoplasty?

Seven days is the usual minimum. Ten days is more comfortable, especially if you are traveling from another continent or combining surgery with a few quiet days of travel afterward.

The number comes from one simple fact: the external cast made of thermoplastic material stays on the nose for around seven days. Once it comes off, the nose is taped for another week, swelling is already dropping, and long flights are generally cleared. Leaving before that means flying with the cast on and removing it far from the surgical team, which is not the preferred plan.

Patients who live abroad, including Brazilians living overseas, are seen regularly in Maringá. The logistics page for international patients covers documents, language support and travel details in more depth.

Before you fly: teleconsultation, tests and planning

Nothing about the trip should be improvised. The sequence is:

1. Initial teleconsultation. Photos, history, discussion of goals, breathing complaints and realistic options. Digital simulation is shown and explained as an approximation, with roughly 60 to 70 percent resemblance to the final result.
2. Preoperative tests in your own city. Blood work, cardiac clearance when indicated and any imaging requested. Results are reviewed before you buy tickets.
3. Surgical plan and schedule. Technique, estimated operating time and whether grafts may be needed. The budget is only presented after a consultation, and it includes the team, hospital, anesthesia and follow-up visits.
4. Travel booking. Maringá airport, code MGF, receives direct flights from São Paulo and Curitiba. Driving from inland São Paulo state, Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraguay is also common.

A companion is recommended for the first week. Not mandatory, but it makes the quiet days easier.

Day by day: arrival to cast removal

Day	What happens	How you usually feel
Day -2 or -1	Arrival in Maringá, rest, in-person consultation at the clinic with physical exam, standardized photos and high frequency nasal ultrasound when indicated	Normal, a little travel tired
Day 0	Surgery under general anesthesia, 3 to 5 hours in most primary cases, hospital admission for 12 to 24 hours	Sleepy, congested, mild discomfort rather than pain
Day 1	Hospital discharge, transfer to hotel, head elevated 30 degrees, ice, saline rinses	Blocked nose, light bleeding is expected in the first 48 to 72 hours
Day 2 to 3	Rest, short walks inside the hotel, first postoperative check	Peak swelling and periorbital bruising
Day 4 to 6	Bruising starts to fade, breathing begins to open	Bored more than uncomfortable
Day 7	Cast removal at the clinic, taping applied for another week, flight usually cleared from here	Relieved, swollen, nose still changing
Day 8 to 10	Optional extra days, short trips, taping maintained	Presentable in most cases, with visible swelling

Fever up to 38 degrees Celsius in the first two days can happen. Numbness of the upper lip and front teeth may last up to three months. Most patients have no nasal packing, and a silicone internal splint is used only in selected cases, for about ten days.

Where the surgery happens

Procedures are performed at the Saine Health Complex, a boutique hospital in Maringá with 7,500 square meters, eleven operating rooms, adult and neonatal intensive care, intensivists on site 24 hours and hyperbaric medicine. Admission for one night is standard for rhinoplasty, which keeps the first hours monitored before you go back to the hotel.

Smaller facial procedures under local anesthesia can be done at the clinic itself. Larger combined surgeries are always hospital based.

Life in the hotel: what recovery actually feels like

Most patients describe pressure and congestion rather than pain. The routine is repetitive on purpose:

• Sleep with the head elevated at 30 degrees for at least ten days.
• Cold compresses around the eyes during the first two weeks.
• Saline rinses as instructed, and never blow your nose.
• No glasses resting on the nose for four weeks.
• Light walking from the first days, structured exercise only after fifteen days.
• No sun, beach or pool for one month, then sunscreen with SPF 30 for three months.

The team keeps contact by WhatsApp in Portuguese, English or Spanish throughout the stay. Hotels near the clinic on Avenida Cidade de Leiria are suggested in advance, most of them within a short drive.

Maringá weather and what to expect from the city

Maringá has a humid subtropical climate. Summers are warm and rainy, winters are mild with cooler nights. Air conditioning in the room helps, though very dry air is uncomfortable for a healing nose, so moderate settings and saline rinses work better.

The city is planned, green and calm, with wide avenues and short distances. Pharmacies, supermarkets and malls are close to the hotel area. During the cast week, the goal is low stimulation: reading, streaming, short walks indoors and early nights.

After the cast: Foz do Iguaçu and flying home

Once the cast is off and taping is applied, many patients add two or three days of travel before going home. Foz do Iguaçu, home of the Iguaçu Falls, is in the same state of Paraná and is reachable by a short domestic flight or by road.

If you go, keep the postoperative rules in mind. Walking the trails is fine at an easy pace. Sun exposure is not, so a wide hat and sunscreen matter. Mist from the falls is harmless, but avoid boat rides with impact, crowds that risk a bump to the nose, and any pool or lake swimming during the first month.

Flying is usually released after cast removal. Cabin pressure does not damage the nose. Hydration, saline spray and an aisle seat make the trip easier. Long haul connections are better scheduled with some margin rather than the same day as the clinic visit.

Follow-ups once you are home

Return visits are scheduled at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months, in person or by video with standardized photos. Definitive shape takes 6 to 12 months, and up to 18 months in thick skin or revision cases. Revision rates reported in the rhinoplasty literature range from 5 to 15 percent, and any reassessment is only considered after twelve months.

Documentation in English or Spanish can be issued on request, including for the functional part of the surgery such as septoplasty or turbinate reduction, which some insurance plans reimburse. If your main interest is in technique, the pages on preservation rhinoplasty and ultrasonic rhinoplasty explain the approaches used, and the surgeon profile lists training and publications.

When to contact Dr. Sella's team

If you are planning surgery abroad and want to understand whether your case fits a one week stay, the first step is a teleconsultation. Indication, risks and the full plan are individual and defined only after a complete evaluation. You can reach the team through the contact page to check availability and build the travel schedule around the surgical date.