Novel research: Broken Nose? [Archive]

Gardenarian

11-19-12, 5:58pm

Hey all,

I'm writing a novel and the hero breaks her nose. I would love to have some first-hand reports on what it feels like to break your nose. Did you know right away it was broken? What did you experience (swelling, black eyes, pain, loss of smell?) Did it heal well? Did the doctor set it when it was broken? Did you have to go back and have work done to make it look right?

My novel and I thank you! I will be back with more crazy questions!

notebook

11-20-12, 7:23am

I broke my nose badly years ago playing rugby. The guy I had just tackled didn't take too kindly to being tackled and punched me in the face while I still had my arms wrapped around his legs.

Surprisingly, I don't remember any pain. Blood, yes.

What I remember most were the horrified looks of others when they saw my face. My nose was pretty much flattened and off to one side. Not being able to see myself, it was very strange to experience such looks of horror in others.

I was driven to the ER by a friend to have it looked at. It was not an easy case of pinching it to reset it. I had to return later to have it repaired while I was under anaesthetic.

If you can believe it, I had to wear a mini cast on my nose for a few days. When the cast was off I was kind of disappointed with the surgeon's "interpretation" of my nose. The bridge seemed to me to be too narrow and delicate, but he wasn't going from any knowledge of what my nose used to look like.

I continued to play rugby. I recall being extremely conscious of the vulnerability of my nose for the first few weeks. It felt like I had egg shells for a bridge.

Over the years after the initial smash, my nose took various amounts of punishment while playing rugby. I eventually got closer to having my original nose, but it is now off to one side a bit.

Hope that helps.