Cosmetic Plastic Surgeon
Like many things in life, there are few ironclad guarantees. That includes rhinoplasty surgery which may, or may not:
- Improve how your nose looks
- Allow you to breathe through it properly
The final results depend on the skill, experience and training of your rhinoplasty surgeon, the strength of your cartilage and how thick or thin your nasal skin is. Next hoop to jump through: the healing process.
So you want to work very carefully with the cosmetic plastic surgeon who is going to do your nose job. In addition to filling out many forms, if you are having a revision rhinoplasty, you should bring all the records of that procedure.
When the surgeon examines your nose, he or she will use a spray that slightly numbs the nose. To open the nostrils for a better look, the surgeon then uses a non-invasive tool known as a speculum.
If you are seeing a nose surgeon about functional surgery (a breathing problem), the surgeon will also closely examine your ears and throat.
If you have not already looked online at the surgeon’s before and after rhinoplasty pictures, a good time would be while you’re in the office.
Another tip while you’re in the office: if you see patients who have already had a nose surgery procedure, buttonhole them, ask how the surgery and everything else went.
During the consultation, tell the surgeon exactly what you do not like about your nose and what changes you want.
If you’re in an advanced cosmetic plastic surgery office, the surgeon will enter a picture of your nose as it is into a special computer. Then, working with a graphic artist, doctor and artist will generate a picture of your nose’s most likely appearance after surgery and healing. That technology is known as computer imaging.
If you live in location far-flung from the surgeon, you can accomplish all this over Skype and by snail or e-mailing your pictures to the surgeon’s office.
Tobacco use is bad on all fronts – it interferes with anesthesia and proper healing. So you’ll have to quit using any nicotine-containing substance at least two weeks before surgery. If you need help, ask the doctor for a prescription for Chantix which contains no nicotine.
Carefully read all the instructions the surgeon gives you.
For instance, it’s now common for cosmetic surgery patients to wash hair and body with an antibacterial soap the night before, and the morning of, the surgery
(Read more about what happens just after nose surgery.)