Rhinoplasty 101

How will I know what questions to ask when I go for my rhinoplasty consultation appointment?There may be a few out there who blithely wake up one morning and decide it would be a good day to have surgery on their nose, but, for most people, it doesn’t work that way. There are a lot of reasons to explore rhinoplasty, some not as good as others, but all require thought and preparation. Most procedures are motivated the desire to either improve appearance by changing the size or shape of the nose or to address an issue caused by an injury or structural abnormality.Enabling you to breathe better is an excellent reason to consider a nose job. Improving self-confidence and feeling comfortable with how we look can be life-changing. Right or wrong, how we look affects how we interact with the world, and the nose is the most prominent feature on the face we present to that world. If for some reason that nose makes us stand out in a markedly different way, it can be traumatic. For children, especially, teasing and bullying can cause those just developing a sense of self-worth to be become anxious, depressed and withdrawn.So, assuming that your reason for surgery is one that will have lasting benefit and not simply a whim to look like Adele or some other celebrity of the moment, your first step will be to schedule an appointment with a highly-recommended and experienced rhinoplasty surgeon. But, wait. Is that really the first step? This is big decision. Rhinoplasty has become increasingly more popular and success rates have soared, but this is your surgery. The best surgeons will spend all the time you need in that initial consultation to make sure that you understand the process and have realistic expectations, but the more prepared you are, the better.

Some Basic Rhinoplasty Vocabulary

We’ve already covered the Top 10 Questions to Ask Your Rhinoplasty Surgeon.  To get even more out of your consultation, here are some basic terms that it will help to be familiar with…

• Rhinoplasty – surgical procedure done to reshape the nose for structural or aesthetic reasons. It can increase or decrease the size, change the angle in relation to the upper lip or modify the tip of the nose. Defects, such as bumps, indentations or other abnormalities, can be corrected.
• Nasal septum – the narrow strip of skin and cartilage, also known as the columella, that divides the nostrils into right and left sides.
• Deviated septum – misalignment of the septum, the cartilage separating the nostrils, sometimes causing partial nasal airway obstruction and making breathing difficult. It is believed that most people have some level of misalignment to their nasal septum but only the more severe require surgical intervention.
• General anesthesia – a combination of drugs and/or gases to induce an unconscious state during surgery. Unlike a local anesthetic, it affects your entire body, rendering you completely unaware and unable to feel pain.
• Intravenous sedation – sedative-type drugs injected intravenously to induce relaxation and relieve anxiety during the surgical procedure. Often used in combination with local anesthesia.
• Local anesthesia – drug injected directly to a specific site where pain is likely to occur during a surgical procedure. Often used in combination with intravenous sedation.

Once you are clear on your motivation and have familiarized yourself with the process, it’s time to book that appointment. Experienced, board certified and dedicated, Dr. Geoffrey Tobias was recognized 12 times as “best in his field” by New York Magazine. When you need a highly-skilled and experienced rhinoplasty surgeon, you could not make a better decision than to request a consultation with Dr. Tobias. To start that process, simply click here.