How do I Know if My Surgeon is a Rhinoplasty Specialist?
There is no questions about it - rhinoplasty is the most complicated of all cosmetic surgeries to master. Your new nose can't be hidden under a sweater. And unlike other procedures, even the most subtle change to your nose can dramatically change your overall facial appearance. We can not emphasize enough how important it is to choose a rhinoplasty specialist - a surgeon that has extensive training and experience performing cosmetic that they gained AFTER their reconstructive surgery residency. As a patient considering surgery, you know that you need a specialist, but often times it can be hard to identify one. This article is intended to help you figure out what clues you should be looking for as you evaluate potential surgeons.
How Do I Know if The Surgeon Really Is an Expert?
You will have noticed that most cosmetic surgeons list rhinoplasty on their website as one of their procedures. This is by no means proof that they are an expert. Identifying a specialist requires you to be a little bit like a business analyst: you are searching for clues about your surgeon's experience, which you collect through you interactions with his/her marketing and staff, combined with a systematic approach to evaluating your consultation.
Clues You Look For:
1. Post Residency Training in Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
Ask what fellowships the surgeon has completed - they should be related to the face and nose. You should be able to find this information on their website, or a quick call to the office will work too. While not all surgeons who are great at rhinoplasty surgery have completed post residency fellowship training, this is a good sign. Another good sign is proof of many rhinoplasties completed - hundreds is ideal.
2. Many Before and After Photos to Review
Keep in mind that some facial surgery patients are not comfortable with their photos being available on a website - they will, however, often give consent for surgeons to show their photos at the office during consultations. One of the strongest indicators that a surgeon is a specialist is a large before and after photo gallery - 50 or more patients is recommended. Not only does this prove they have many happy patients (you of course need to see the results and agree that they are great), but it also shows that the practice is prioritizing the task of asking patients for photo consents. This takes time and effort - the practices who make this effort care about providing a valuable consultation experience and will go out of their way to provide lots of support materials for you to consider.
3. Lots of Great Reviews About Rhinoplasty
www.realself.com is the most reliable and credible source of cosmetic surgery reviews. If your surgeon has several excellent rhinoplasty reviews (the more the better), then that is a good sign. Remember - you are looking for reviews about rhinoplasty, not about the other procedures they perform.
4. Much Experience Performing Surgery on Noses Like Yours
During your consultation, your surgeon should be able to show you examples of patients who had similar changes made to what you are hoping for. It really matters that they have experience a variety of noses and a vast array of rhinoplasty techniques.
5. Ask to Speak to a Patient
If your surgeon has many happy rhinoplasty patients, it should be easy to arrange for you to speak to one of them. Don't be shy - after your consultation, ask to be connected to one of them.
6. How Will You Be Treated?
In addition to the surgeon's experience and expertise, you can gain many clues about the service you will receive by evaluation the staff who meet with you and their consultation process. Are they professional and knowledgeable? Do they send you home with an information package? Is it obvious that they have provided post operative support to hundreds of patients just like you?
We Are Here to Help
Dr. Buonassisi is a fellowship trained Facial Plastic Surgeon with over ten years experience performing cosmetic rhinoplasty. To find out if rhinoplasty might be for you, we suggest you have a complementary preliminary consultation with a patient care expert. We often review your photos so that we can provide you with an assessment of what kinds of changes would be ideal for you, as well as a cost estimate. Then you are armed with the information you need to decide of you are ready to proceed to the next step and schedule a computer imaging consultation with Dr. Buonassisi.
Related resources
- Article: Evaluate Your Consultation Like a Pro
- How to Avoid Wasting Time & Money on Rhinoplasty Consultations
- Article: Can You Make My Nose Dramatically Bigger or Smaller
- Video: The Importance of a Thorough Rhinoplasty Consultation
- Video: See How Computer Imaging Works with this Case Study
- Video: How Reliable is Rhinoplasty Computer Imaging
- Article: How Will My Surgeon Know What Looks Good?
- Video: Part 1 of Amanda's Rhinoplasty Documentary
