COVER STORY
Manhattan Magazine
THE NEW PLASTIC SURGERY
in New York
Spring 1998 |
 She was beautiful in every way, and as a talented young actress, she was enjoying critical and commercial success. But she always felt both her self-image, and her career, were severely limited. By her nose. "I was in an accident when I was little," explains Sharon, "and ever since, I had a crooked, flattened nose. I never felt complete. "But my plastic surgeon basically gave me a nose — and now everything that stood in my way before is gone, and I feel like a whole person."
She notes that her doctor was very realistic. "He never said 100%.' That's why I felt so trusting. He said he only could give me 80% of what we wanted.
But it really is 95% of what he hoped could be done! And it doesn't even look like a nose job. He also is a very warm, funny human being," she adds, "easy to talk to."
Now, several months after the operation, she says, "It looks so natural, people say, 'You look great. Did you go on a vacation?' " Given such an enthusiastic recommendation, I meet the surgeon, Dr. Geoffrey Tobias, in his Park Avenue office soon after.
He tells me he aims to be one of the best plastic surgeons in New York, and judging by such happily satisfied patients, he may be in sight of his goal. "But to become one of the best," Dr. Tobias explains, "I believe a surgeon must focus all his or her skills on one specific field, bringing everything to what is really an art. For me, it's rhinoplasty and reconstructive surgery of the nose. Only the nose."
An attending surgeon and instructor at Mt. Sinai Hospital and School of Medicine, Dr. Tobias graduated from Tufts University Medical School, completing his residency at Mt. Sinai. Nationally known for his techniques in nasal surgery, he has travelled the nation teaching other surgeons. He is Board certified and a fellow of the American Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery, and has been interviewed by CBS-TV, Fox News, The New York Times, Self, • and Cosmopolitan, and among others. Dr. Tobias also was recently recognized as one of New York's top rhinoplasty surgeons, in 'How To Find The Best Doctors' (Castle Connolly Metro Area Guide).
Even as a child, the doctor had an interest in sculpting, painting, and biology. "My ambition was to join these avid interests into one singular area of expertise — the art and science of rhinoplasty — which also permitted me to do something good for others." When he was still a youngster, his sister had nasal surgery. "It looked like the typical surgery of that era, that 'kewpie doll' look. I always believed in the natural beauty and wonder of things — and here was this surgery that ended up looking fake and robotic."
Many people would come to New York and get this work done. "More often than not, they were very displeased — because they had the same nose! It was a 'Dr. X nose,' a 'Dr. Y nose.' " Dr. Tobias observes that your nose is the most important defining characteristic of your face, and this is the most visible surgery. "You can camouflage every other plastic cosmetic surgery, but not the nose. Eyeglasses, hair, clothing, makeup: nothing can hide it."
Because of what he saw friends and family experience, Dr. Tobias is especially sensitive to surgical results. "Not only do you have devastating emotional trauma if the esthetics fail, but you also can have medical trauma, where you cant breathe or smell properly, or even worse, there is a collapse of the nose — all because of overly aggressive, poorly thought out surgery."
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