After new photos of Heidi Montag surfaced today showing the reality star in Costa Rica with surgical tape on her nose, rumors quickly spread that she may have gotten more rhinoplasty. But Heidi Montag reveals exclusively to Life & Style that the suspect strip is just another drawback from her 2009 marathon surgery, when she had her nose tweaked for a second time. (The first was in 2007.)

"Except for filming and a few photo shoots, I've had my nose tape on 24 hours a day since November," she tells Life & Style. "It takes a year for your nose to heal. This is just the first photo that anyone has seen of it."

So she's simply following orders from her plastic surgeon Dr. Frank Ryan, who tragically died in a car crash on Aug. 16. "The last time I didn't wear tape after surgery and my nose changed shape," she explains. "The tape is supposed to keep the swelling down and hold my nose in place the way Dr. Ryan sculpted it. Dr. Ryan always said I was his best, most cautious patient, and I'm not taking any chances now that he's gone. I don't want my face to fall off like Michael Jackson's."

For more from Heidi, pick up the new issue of Life & Style, on newsstands now.

Credit: Splash