Why Surgeons Wait a Year Before Revision Rhinoplasty: Swelling, Healing and the Right Timing

Six weeks after her rhinoplasty, a woman stands in front of the bathroom mirror at 7 a.m., turning her head a few degrees at a time. The bridge looks fine. The tip, though, seems rounder than she expected, and one nostril sits a shade higher than the other. She has already typed the question into her phone twice this week: how long to wait for revision rhinoplasty, and is the surgeon stalling when he says a year?

He almost certainly is not. The year is one of the few things nearly every rhinoplasty surgeon agrees on, and the reason has less to do with patience as a virtue than with what nasal tissue does after it has been cut, moved and stitched. Swelling comes down in stages. Skin re-drapes over a new framework at its own pace. Scar tissue keeps remodeling long after the bruises have faded.

This article explains what is actually happening under the skin during those months, why the tip is the last piece to settle, when surgeons make exceptions, what a second operation involves, and how to use the waiting period so that if a revision is needed, it is planned on a finished nose rather than a guess.

What is actually happening in the nose during the first year?

Rhinoplasty, surgery that reshapes the bone and cartilage of the nose, leaves behind a small construction site. The skeleton has been altered, sometimes with tiny controlled fractures of the nasal bones, and the skin and soft tissue that cover it have been lifted off and laid back down. The body responds the way it responds to any injury: with fluid, inflammatory cells and, eventually, new collagen.

The Mayo Clinic notes that it can take up to a year for the nose to fully heal after rhinoplasty, and that subtle changes in shape continue during that time. Those changes are not random. In the first two to three weeks, most of the visible bruising and the puffiness across the bridge fade. What remains is a deeper, firmer swelling in the soft tissue envelope, the layer of skin, fat and lining that drapes over the cartilage framework. That layer holds fluid the way a sponge does, and it releases it slowly because the small lymphatic channels that normally drain the nose were disrupted during surgery.

Underneath, cartilage that was trimmed, sutured or grafted is developing a scar capsule. Scar is not static. For months it contracts, softens and thins, gradually pulling the skin tighter against the new framework. This is why a nose can look one way at three months and noticeably different at nine.

The practical consequence is simple. A surgeon looking at a three-month nose is looking at a draft. Operating on a draft means cutting into tissue that is still inflamed, still swollen and still changing, with no reliable way to know what the final version would have been.

How long to wait for revision rhinoplasty: what the evidence supports

The commonly quoted answer is 12 months, and it is grounded in observation rather than convention. The Mayo Clinic describes full healing after rhinoplasty as taking up to a year, and the NHS advises that swelling can take up to six months to disappear completely, with the final result not visible until then or later. Put those two statements side by side and the year begins to look less like a rule and more like a description of biology.

Some surgeons ask for longer. Patients with thick, oily skin, a history of previous nasal surgery, or a nose that needed extensive tip work often retain swelling well past the 12-month mark, and a surgeon may suggest 15 to 18 months before making a judgment. Others will review at 12 months and decide the picture is clear. There is no guideline from a national body that fixes the interval to the day, and the honest summary is that the year is a floor, not a ceiling, and the treating surgeon adjusts it to the individual.

Two distinct problems are being avoided by waiting. The first is operating on a deformity that would have resolved on its own: a slightly full tip at four months is often just fluid. The second is the mirror image, operating before a problem has fully declared itself. Scar contraction can pull a tip upward or pinch a nostril over months, and a surgeon who revises at six months may fix one issue only to watch another appear at ten.

What patients hear as “be patient” is really “let the evidence come in.” The nose is generating that evidence month by month, and the surgeon wants all of it before drawing on it with a scalpel.

Rhinoplasty healing timeline: what the months usually look like

Every nose heals on its own schedule, and the ranges below are typical rather than promised. They are drawn from patient guidance published by the NHS and the Mayo Clinic, and your own surgeon’s instructions take precedence.

Time after surgery	What is usually happening	What it means for revision decisions
Days 1–7	External splint in place; bruising and swelling at their peak; nasal congestion from internal swelling	Nothing about shape can be judged
Weeks 2–3	Splint removed; most bruising fading; bridge swelling reducing; many people return to work	Bridge visible in rough outline; tip still very full
Weeks 4–6	Strenuous activity usually cleared; nose looks “acceptable” to others but not to the patient	Early asymmetries often reflect uneven swelling, not structure
Months 3–6	Deeper soft-tissue swelling slowly resolving; tip definition emerging	Some surgeons begin documenting concerns; still too early for most revisions
Months 6–12	Scar tissue softening and contracting; skin re-draping over framework	Final shape approaching; consultation for revision typically begins near 12 months
Beyond 12 months	Thick-skinned or previously operated noses may still change subtly	Surgeon may advise waiting longer before committing to revision

The NHS notes that most people feel able to return to work and normal daily life within about one to two weeks, and are advised to avoid strenuous exercise for several weeks. The Mayo Clinic describes the splint as staying in place for about a week and swelling as continuing to improve for up to a year. Notice how the columns diverge: function recovers in weeks, but form keeps evolving for months. That gap is the entire reason the waiting question exists.

Why the nasal tip is always the last part to settle

Ask any rhinoplasty surgeon where late swelling hides and they will point to the same place: the tip. The reasons are anatomical and worth understanding, because the tip is also where most revision requests originate.

The skin over the upper two-thirds of the nose is thin and closely attached to bone. Fluid there has nowhere to pool, so it drains quickly, which is why the bridge looks nearly final within a few weeks. The tip is different. Its skin is thicker, richer in oil glands and fat, and it sits over flexible cartilage rather than rigid bone. Lymphatic drainage, the network of tiny vessels that carries excess fluid away, runs downward through exactly the region disturbed by surgery. When those channels are cut, fluid at the tip has the longest, slowest route out.

Tip work itself adds to the problem. Suturing, trimming or grafting the tip cartilages creates the most scar tissue in the smallest space. As that scar matures, it can pull the tip upward, rotate it, or blunt the definition the surgeon built. Some of that pull is intended and accounted for; some of it is unpredictable.

The consequence for timing is significant. A tip that looks bulbous at four months is often simply a tip that has not finished draining. A surgeon who operates then would be cutting into swollen soft tissue to remove volume that was going to leave anyway, and the second round of scarring makes the tip thicker, not thinner. Patients with naturally thick skin experience this most acutely, which is why they are frequently asked to wait beyond the standard year.

Who is usually a candidate for revision, and who is asked to wait

Revision rhinoplasty is generally considered when a specific, persistent problem remains after the nose has finished healing. The Mayo Clinic acknowledges plainly that a second surgery is sometimes needed to make further changes, and the NHS lists dissatisfaction with results and the possibility of further surgery among the recognized risks of nose reshaping. Neither source frames revision as failure. It is a known part of the landscape of a difficult operation.

The people most likely to be offered a revision consultation share a few features. Their concern is structural rather than fluid: a visible bump that has not changed since month six, a collapsed nostril rim, a tip that has drifted off center, or a bridge that appears scooped. Their concern is stable, meaning photographs from month nine and month twelve look the same. And they often have a functional component, such as breathing that worsened after the first operation, which raises the priority of intervention.

Patients who are typically asked to wait fall into a different pattern. Their concern is changing week to week, which points to swelling rather than structure. They have thick skin or a history of prior nasal surgery, both of which extend the healing curve. Or the concern is subtle enough that the surgeon wants to see whether scar maturation resolves it without another incision.

There is a third group worth naming with care. Some people arrive at consultation with distress about the nose that is out of proportion to what the surgeon can see, or that shifts from one feature to another. A thoughtful surgeon may suggest a conversation with a mental health professional before any further surgery, not as dismissal, but because operating cannot fix a problem that lives elsewhere.

When do surgeons operate earlier than a year?

The year is a general principle, and principles have exceptions. Surgeons distinguish between problems that swelling can disguise and problems that swelling cannot create. The second category is where earlier intervention sometimes makes sense.

A displaced graft is the clearest example. If a piece of cartilage placed along the bridge has shifted visibly off center in the first weeks, no amount of fluid resolution will move it back. A surgeon may choose to reposition it early, sometimes through a small incision, before scar tissue locks it in place. The same logic applies to a nasal bone that has healed in an obviously shifted position after an accidental bump during early recovery.

Functional emergencies also move the timeline. A septal hematoma, a collection of blood inside the wall dividing the nostrils, or an infection that is not settling with treatment, may need surgical drainage or removal of an infected graft within days. These are not cosmetic revisions but urgent repairs, and waiting would cause harm rather than prevent it.

A third, narrower category involves the airway. If a patient cannot breathe through one or both nostrils after surgery and examination shows a mechanical block, some surgeons will address it before the year mark, particularly when sleep or exercise is affected. Cosmetic refinement is left for later.

What does not justify early revision is anxiety about appearance in the first months, however genuine. Surgeons who agree to operate at three or four months on a still-swollen nose are, in most cases, trading a temporary problem for a permanent one. If your surgeon proposes an early procedure, it is reasonable to ask which of these exception categories applies and why swelling has been ruled out as the cause.

How common are nose job revisions?

People asking this question usually want a single number, and the honest answer is that no national guideline provides one. Published surgical series report a wide spread depending on how revision is defined, whether small touch-ups are counted, how long patients are followed, and which surgeons are studied. What the mainstream sources agree on is the direction: revision is common enough that every reputable patient guide mentions it.

The NHS lists the need for further surgery among the risks of nose reshaping and notes that some people are unhappy with the result. The Mayo Clinic states that occasionally a second surgery is needed, and that patients should wait until the nose has fully healed before making that decision. MedlinePlus similarly describes the possibility of an unsatisfactory result requiring more surgery. These are cautious, consistent statements from institutions that have no reason to exaggerate.

Why is rhinoplasty revised more often than many other cosmetic operations? Three reasons stand out. The nose is a small, central structure where a millimeter is visible across a room. It is built from cartilage that has its own memory and scars in ways that cannot be fully predicted. And the outcome depends on how skin, which the surgeon cannot reshape, drapes over a framework that has been changed underneath it.

Revision rates also vary with complexity. A minor hump reduction in a patient with thin skin is a more predictable operation than a complete reconstruction of a twisted nose after trauma. Anyone weighing a first rhinoplasty benefits from hearing their surgeon’s own experience with revisions for cases like theirs, stated as a range rather than a reassurance.

Revision rhinoplasty risks: how the second operation differs

Revision rhinoplasty carries every risk of a first rhinoplasty and adds several of its own. The NHS and Mayo Clinic list the general risks of nose reshaping as bleeding, infection, a reaction to anesthesia, breathing difficulty, numbness, persistent pain or swelling, an uneven appearance, scarring, a hole in the septum, and the possibility of needing further surgery. None of these disappear the second time around, and some become more likely.

The first added risk is scar tissue. A previously operated nose has a soft-tissue envelope that is thicker, stiffer and less predictable than untouched tissue. Lifting it off the framework is harder, blood supply to the skin is reduced, and the way it re-drapes afterward is less certain. Swelling after revision is often slower to resolve than after a primary operation for exactly this reason.

The second is missing cartilage. A first rhinoplasty frequently uses septal cartilage from inside the nose for grafts. If that supply is exhausted, a revision surgeon may need to harvest cartilage from the ear or a rib, each of which adds a second surgical site with its own discomfort, scar and small risk of complications such as a chest wall pain or a change in ear contour.

The third is diagnostic difficulty. The surgeon cannot always know from the outside what was done previously, especially if operative notes are unavailable. Plans sometimes change on the table.

Alternatives deserve neutral mention. Some concerns can be softened without surgery, through camouflage fillers placed by a clinician or simply through acceptance once the surgeon confirms the result is within normal variation. Every one of these paths, including doing nothing, is a legitimate clinical decision made with the treating team.

What revision rhinoplasty actually involves

The mechanics of a revision depend entirely on the problem being solved, but the operation tends to follow a recognizable pattern. Most revisions are performed under general anesthesia, as the Mayo Clinic describes for rhinoplasty in general, and take longer than a first procedure because dissection through scar is slower.

The surgeon typically chooses between two approaches. A closed approach uses incisions hidden inside the nostrils. An open approach adds a small incision across the columella, the strip of skin between the nostrils, which allows the skin to be lifted like a hood so the entire framework is visible. Revision surgeons often favor the open approach because it reveals exactly what was left behind by the previous operation.

With the framework exposed, the work falls into three categories. Reduction removes something that is still too prominent: a residual hump, an over-projected tip. Augmentation adds something that is missing, using grafts of the patient’s own cartilage to rebuild a collapsed bridge, support a weak nostril rim or restore tip definition. Repositioning moves structures that have drifted, often by releasing scar tissue and re-suturing cartilage into a corrected position.

Cartilage grafts are the central tool of most revisions. Septal cartilage, if any remains, is the first choice because it is straight and close at hand. Ear cartilage is curved and suits nostril rims. Rib cartilage provides the largest, strongest pieces for major reconstruction. Each source has trade-offs the surgeon will weigh against the specific defect.

Once the framework is rebuilt, the skin is laid back down, incisions are closed, and an external splint is applied. From that point the healing clock resets, and the same year-long story of swelling and scar maturation begins again, usually on a slower schedule than the first time.

Revision rhinoplasty recovery time: the days and weeks after surgery

Recovery from revision follows the same broad arc as a first rhinoplasty, with the caveat that scarred tissue tends to swell more and drain more slowly. The ranges below come from general rhinoplasty guidance published by the NHS and Mayo Clinic; your surgeon’s instructions may differ and should be followed.

In the first week, expect an external splint, internal swelling that blocks nasal breathing, and bruising that may extend under the eyes. Sleeping with the head raised and applying cool compresses to the cheeks, not the nose itself, are commonly advised. Any bleeding is usually light and settles within a few days.

The splint typically comes off around one week, per the Mayo Clinic. At that point many people see a nose that looks swollen and unfamiliar. This is expected. The NHS notes that most people can return to work and daily activities in about one to two weeks, provided the work is not physically demanding.

Between weeks two and six, bruising fades and the bridge begins to define itself. Surgeons generally ask patients to avoid strenuous exercise, heavy lifting, bending forward for long periods, glasses resting on the bridge, and anything that risks a knock to the nose. Contact sports are often restricted for longer.

From month three onward, the pattern of gradual tip refinement repeats, often over 12 to 18 months in revision cases because the tissue has now been operated on twice. Numbness of the tip is common and usually improves over months.

If a rib or ear graft was taken, the donor site has its own recovery: chest wall soreness with deep breaths for a few weeks, or a small ear incision that heals within about two weeks. Follow-up visits are scheduled at intervals so the surgeon can watch the healing rather than infer it.

Taping the nose and other non-surgical options during the wait

The waiting year is not always passive. Several non-surgical measures are used during this period, and their evidence deserves a candid description.

Nasal taping, applying thin surgical tape across the bridge and tip at night, is recommended by some surgeons in the weeks after splint removal. The idea is that gentle, sustained compression encourages fluid to leave the soft tissue and helps the skin conform to the new framework. The evidence for taping is limited and largely based on surgeon experience rather than controlled trials; some surgeons use it routinely, others not at all. It is generally regarded as low risk when the skin tolerates the adhesive.

A frequent question is whether it is still worthwhile to tape at six months. By that stage most surgeons consider the window of benefit largely closed, since the fluid that responds to compression has mostly drained and residual fullness is more likely scar or skin thickness. Taping at six months is unlikely to harm, but expectations should be modest, and the decision belongs with your surgeon, who knows what was done inside.

Corticosteroid injections, a class of anti-inflammatory medicine placed in tiny amounts into persistently swollen soft tissue, are sometimes used by surgeons to reduce scar fullness at the tip or above it during the first year. They work by dampening the inflammatory process and thinning scar. Used judiciously they can soften a stubborn area; used excessively they can thin skin or create a depression. Whether, when and how they are used is a clinical judgment for the treating surgeon and not something to seek independently.

Injectable fillers can camouflage small contour irregularities, though many surgeons prefer to avoid them in the first year because they can obscure the true healing picture that the revision decision depends on.

How to use the waiting year well

Twelve months feels long when you are unhappy with your reflection every morning. It passes faster, and yields better decisions, when it is treated as a period of data gathering rather than enforced patience.

Photograph the nose systematically. Once a month, in the same room, same light, same distance, from the front, both profiles, a three-quarter view and looking up from below. Phone cameras distort at close range, so step back and zoom slightly. Over a year these images become the single most useful tool at a revision consultation, because they distinguish a feature that is stable from one that is still shifting.

Keep the original surgeon in the loop. Even if trust has frayed, that surgeon holds the operative record: which grafts were placed, how much cartilage remains, which sutures were used. A revision surgeon works blind without it. Requesting a copy of the operative notes is a reasonable and routine step.

Write down the concern in plain words and revisit it quarterly. “The tip is too round” at month three may become “the tip is fine but the left nostril is higher” at month nine. Noticing your own concern migrate is informative, for you and for your surgeon.

Address breathing. If the airway is worse than before, note when: lying down, during exercise, one side or both. Functional problems shape the revision plan and sometimes its timing.

Protect the nose. A knock in month four can undo careful work. Glasses, contact sports and sleeping face-down each carry a small risk that adds up over a year.

Finally, avoid the internet’s comparison trap. Photographs of other people’s noses at other people’s healing stages tell you nothing about yours.

What people often get wrong about waiting for revision rhinoplasty

Misunderstandings cluster around a few predictable points, and correcting them tends to lower anxiety.

The first is that a year means the surgeon is hiding a mistake. In reality the year protects the patient, because the Mayo Clinic’s description of healing taking up to 12 months applies regardless of how well the operation went. A perfect nose looks imperfect at three months too.

The second is that swelling is uniform. It is not. The bridge clears first, the tip last, and the two sides can drain at different speeds, producing temporary asymmetry that reads as a surgical error. Uneven swelling is one of the most common reasons patients ask about revision at month two and stop asking by month eight.

The third is that “botched” and “needs revision” mean the same thing. They do not. Genuine surgical error exists, but a large share of revisions address the unpredictable behavior of cartilage and scar, or a mismatch between what the patient hoped for and what their tissue allowed. Rhinoplasty has a recognized revision rate precisely because it is technically demanding, not because most operations go wrong.

The fourth is that a revision is a simpler touch-up. Revision surgeons routinely describe it as the harder operation, for the reasons of scar, missing cartilage and reduced blood supply covered above.

The fifth is that waiting longer is always better. Past a certain point, usually beyond 18 months in most noses, further waiting yields diminishing information while a functional problem continues. The surgeon’s judgment about when the picture is clear matters more than the calendar.

The sixth is that fillers are a harmless shortcut. In the first year they can mask the very evidence a revision plan depends on.

Questions to ask your care team before agreeing to revision

A revision consultation is a two-way examination. The surgeon is assessing your nose; you are assessing whether the plan makes sense. These questions tend to produce useful answers.

• Is the concern I have describing something structural, or could it still be swelling? What in the examination tells you which?
• Have my monthly photographs stopped changing, and if not, how much longer would you want to wait?
• What exactly do you believe was done in the first operation, and do you have or need the operative notes?
• Will you need cartilage from my ear or rib, and what does that donor site mean for recovery?
• Which approach, open or closed, do you plan, and why for my case?
• What is realistic to improve, and what may not be fully correctable given the scar and skin I have?
• How does my breathing factor into the plan?
• What is your own experience with revisions similar to mine, described as a range rather than a reassurance?
• If I choose not to have revision, what would you expect to happen over the next few years?
• How would we handle it if the result of the revision is also not what I hoped?

Notice the shape of these questions. They ask for mechanisms and evidence rather than promises. A surgeon who welcomes them, and who is willing to say “I am not sure yet” or “this part may not fully correct,” is demonstrating the same quality of judgment that will be needed in the operating room. A surgeon who offers guarantees about the appearance of a revised nose is offering something the biology of cartilage and scar cannot support.

Bring a companion if possible. Conversations about appearance carry emotion, and a second set of ears helps.

When to call your doctor

Most of the waiting year involves no medical urgency at all, but a small number of situations should prompt a same-day call to your surgical team or, when severe, emergency care. The Mayo Clinic, NHS and MedlinePlus list the following among the complications of rhinoplasty that need prompt assessment.

Seek urgent help for bleeding that is heavy, will not stop with gentle pressure, or soaks through dressings repeatedly; fever, especially with increasing pain, redness or warmth over the nose; a sudden change in nasal shape after a knock or fall; new, severe pain that is worsening rather than easing; or discharge that is foul-smelling or thick. A rapidly swelling, tense area inside the nose that blocks breathing may indicate a septal hematoma and needs same-day evaluation.

Also contact your team, though less urgently, for a graft or edge that you can feel moving or that has become newly visible under the skin; skin over the bridge or tip that looks unusually pale, dusky or shiny; a whistling sound when breathing through the nose, which can point to a small hole in the septum; or breathing that is clearly worse than before surgery and not improving after the early weeks.

Emergency services are appropriate for chest pain, shortness of breath, or calf pain and swelling in the days after any operation, since these can signal a blood clot.

For concerns about appearance alone, the right call is to the surgeon’s office for a review appointment rather than to search results. The team that operated is the one that can distinguish expected healing from something that needs attention, and every decision about timing, observation or revision sits with them.

Frequently asked questions

How common are nose job revisions?

Common enough that every major patient guide mentions the possibility, though no national guideline gives a single figure. Published surgical series report a wide range depending on how revision is defined and how long patients are followed. The NHS and Mayo Clinic both list the need for further surgery among recognized risks of rhinoplasty. Rates rise with complexity, thick skin and previous nasal surgery, so ask your surgeon about cases like yours.

How risky is a revision rhinoplasty?

It carries the same risks as a first rhinoplasty, including bleeding, infection, breathing changes, numbness, asymmetry and further surgery, plus added risks from scar tissue, reduced blood supply to the skin and the possible need for ear or rib cartilage grafts. Swelling usually resolves more slowly than after a primary operation. Your surgeon can explain how these risks apply to your specific nose.

Is it okay to tape my nose 6 months after rhinoplasty?

It is unlikely to cause harm if the skin tolerates the adhesive, but most surgeons consider the benefit small by six months because the fluid that responds to compression has largely drained. Residual fullness at that stage is more often scar or skin thickness. Ask your surgeon before starting or continuing, since they know what was done inside and whether taping fits your situation.

How often are rhinoplasties botched?

Far less often than the word suggests. Genuine surgical error exists, but many revisions address the unpredictable behavior of cartilage and scar tissue, or a gap between what a patient hoped for and what their anatomy allowed. Rhinoplasty has a recognized revision rate because it is technically demanding and works with tissue that keeps changing for a year, not because most operations fail.

What is the typical revision rhinoplasty recovery time?

General rhinoplasty guidance from the NHS and Mayo Clinic describes a splint for about a week, return to non-strenuous work in roughly one to two weeks, and avoidance of strenuous exercise for several weeks. Swelling can take up to a year to fully resolve. Revision cases often run slower because scarred tissue holds fluid longer, and donor sites for cartilage add their own recovery.

Can I have revision rhinoplasty at 6 months?

Usually not for cosmetic concerns, because the tip and soft tissue are still changing and the surgeon cannot tell what the final shape will be. Exceptions include a displaced graft, a shifted bone, infection or a significant breathing obstruction, which do not improve with waiting. If a surgeon proposes surgery at six months, ask which exception applies and how swelling has been excluded as the cause.

Why does my nose look asymmetric a few months after rhinoplasty?

The two sides of the nose often drain swelling at different rates, and the tip lags behind the bridge, so temporary asymmetry in the first months is common and frequently resolves. Scar tissue can also shift structures slightly as it matures. Monthly photographs help distinguish asymmetry that is settling from asymmetry that is stable. Your surgeon can examine the underlying framework to tell the difference.

Will I need cartilage from my ear or rib for revision?

Possibly, depending on what remains inside the nose. Septal cartilage is the preferred graft source, but a first rhinoplasty often uses much of it. Ear cartilage suits nostril rims and small grafts; rib cartilage provides larger, stronger pieces for rebuilding a bridge. Each adds a donor site with its own recovery. Your surgeon will discuss which source, if any, fits your plan.

Do steroid injections help swelling after rhinoplasty?

Corticosteroid injections are an anti-inflammatory class sometimes used by surgeons in tiny amounts to soften persistent scar fullness, usually at the tip, during the first year. They work by dampening inflammation and thinning scar. Overuse can thin skin or cause depressions, so whether and when they are used is a judgment for the treating surgeon alone, not something to seek independently.

Should I return to my original surgeon or see a new one for revision?

Either can be appropriate, but the original surgeon holds the operative record describing which grafts were placed and how much cartilage remains, which any revision surgeon needs. Even if you consult elsewhere, requesting your operative notes is a routine and reasonable step. Choose based on communication, experience with revisions like yours, and willingness to explain limitations honestly rather than offer guarantees.

References

• NHS: Nose reshaping (rhinoplasty)
• MedlinePlus: Rhinoplasty
• Cleveland Clinic: Rhinoplasty

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.