Are My Expectations Realistic for Rhinoplasty Surgery?
In my last post, I answered the popular question, “Will insurance cover the cost of rhinoplasty surgery?” In this entry, I’ll try to paint a good picture of how we can determine whether or not patients have realistic expectations for rhinoplasty surgery.
Mirror Imaging
After my patients meet with our patient coordinator, I will perform a full examination of their nose using the Mirror Imaging system. I find imaging incredibly helpful prior to nose surgery for two major reasons:
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It gives me an idea of what the patient is envisioning.
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It gives the patient a realistic idea of what to expect.
As a plastic surgeon, imaging also helps me better understand those patients who have unrealistic expectations, which is very important. If I show someone a potential result and they say they don’t like it or they want it to be better or smaller yet it’s not feasible to make their nose any better or smaller than what I’m showing them, then I have come to the realization that they may not be a good candidate for rhinoplasty.
Imaging also helps enable the patient to understand what the limits of surgery actually are. Sometimes I’ll have patients come in with photos of celebrities, and I’ll have to take a lot of time explaining to them that it’s hard to make one nose look like another nose. There’s only so much you can do with someone’s nose due to its unique subtleties, so computer imaging is very helpful to sort of fine-tune exactly the way they want their nose to look while staying within the realm of realistic possibilities.
Stay Tuned
In my next post I will answer one final question: “What is recovery from rhinoplasty like?” Stay tuned to find out.
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