Of all the surgery that I perform, the nose is my favorite. I have spent a majority of my life in pursuit of training, education and experience with the masters of nasal surgery in order to provide the best care to my patients. I have performed many hundreds of rhinoplasty (nose reshaping procedures) and I have had only one that required revision surgery (secondary correction surgery). This information should indicate the care and precision in which we do nasal surgery.
I like to think that there is no surgery more important than nasal surgery. The nose has two roles. One, is that the nose enters the room first and sits right in the center of your face during conversation. It is the focal point and represents your image. The second role is functional. It allows us to breathe. One cannot be exchanged for the other and great care must be taken to maintain the functional role while improving the cosmetic role.
A very large portion of my practice is revision or corrective surgery of other physician's work. I take great pride in making note that I have repaired over 30 major rhinoplasties from other physicians where the patients have had up to 11 nasal surgeries without cosmetic or functional success. These are the most difficult cases and often result in the happiest patients. Challenges are what make my life worth living. There is no problem too challenging for our review and consultation.
The range of surgical techniques in rhinoplasty is very wide. A basic cosmetic rhinoplasty to reduce the hump might take 1 hour to perform. A nose that requires a correction of the septum, narrowing the base, and changing the tip might take up to 3 hours. As a result, the fees may vary accordingly. As the old saying goes, "time is money" when it comes to the charges of my anesthesia team!
The average recovery is 4-8 days and again depends on the significance of the procedure. Approximately 50% of patients do have minor black eyes as a result of the surgery and this can linger for up to 14 days. You have to wear a hard nasal splint on the outside of the nose for 4 days. The nose DOES NOT NEED TO BE PACKED- EVER!!!!! This is an antiquated technique that should have been discarded years ago. The nose does not need to be packet and I have not packed a nasal surgery in over 14 years! Your nose will swell inside and outside and this will restrict your nasal breathing for up to 3 weeks. Slowly, the airway will clear and breathing will return to normal or improve from that before surgery.
The following photos represent some interesting cases. We have hundreds more in the office and these are also available for your review.
Click on an image below to see a larger image of the Nose Reshaping procedure.