Everything You Need to Know About Rhinoplasty, with Dr. Sand

So I often get asked a question about what it is that we’re doing when we’re offering surgery for the nose.

And I think with this, it really depends on the person’s situation. And for every person they may have some slight deviation of the nose. They may have a small bump to the nose. They may have a small area that they’re just concerned dissatisfied with or that looks uneven or unbalanced. The number one thing that we’re trying to accomplish with rhinoplasty is balance.

That is to achieve a nose that looks like it fits the face and one that looks like the nose you should be born with. I think that the mistake with rhinoplasty that was performed 20-30 years ago was to create a nose that looked artificial, a nose that looked surgical, a nose that, quite frankly, didn’t work.

And a good working nose is also a nose that looks good and looks balanced and looks like the nose you should have. And so our entire culture here around rhinoplasty and what our aims are to create natural, beautiful results. Which also means that it’s a functioning nose but it’s a beautiful looking nose.

Who is a good candidate for rhinoplasty?

As we’re assessing patients for rhinoplasty, when they come in, we typically perform a full exam of the nose and also an interview to determine whether or not the goals that you’re seeking are achievable. We can accomplish this discussion usually with image simulations which can help basically give an idea of what is possible with rhinoplasty.

And I think that those conversations are absolutely critical to set the expectations for what we can do, what we can’t do what could or could not happen. I think that, our outcomes are exceptional but sometimes there are complications, and sometimes people’s idea of what they want is unachievable.

But I do think that a good candidate for rhinoplasty is someone that has, I think, a realistic set of expectations, and we hope to provide that with an in depth conversation.

How is the procedure performed?

With regards to how rhinoplasty is performed, it depends a bit on what we’re attempting to do.

Generally patients for this type of procedure are asleep. And we get minimal access incisions into the nose, which allows to accomplish the restructuring of the tissues inside there in order to improve the aesthetic of the nose and often has improved the breathing at the same time.

Sometimes there are very small things that we can do just under local anesthesia, meaning that a patient doesn’t require being asleep. But that is definitely gonna be on a case by case basis and certainly something that would Require an in depth conversation during a consultation.

What are the main benefits of rhinoplasty?

Rhinoplasty is an outstanding operation for the right patient. I think that if someone comes in and they have difficulty breathing and we are able to correct that for them, that is going to be a life altering change for that patient in that they’re going to be able to sleep better.

They’re going to be able to concentrate better. Oftentimes a lot of our patients feel less stress because they’re able to breathe through their nose better. One of the other main benefits of the rhinoplasty is altering the shape of the nose, which for a lot of people can be a source of insecurity and is often something that they’re looking at every single day and want it, wishing that could be adjusted. When we’re able to accomplish that for our patients they really do shed tears of joy being able to see themselves in a new light and have an old insecurity erased that will never come back. Which I think is one of the one of the greatest benefits of this procedure.

What risks should patients be aware of?

Thankfully rhinoplasty is a relatively low risk type of operation. I think probably the major risk that patients have when they’re undergoing this procedure would be the risk of anesthesia. But in most young healthy patients that we’re treating your risks of having some sort of accident while driving to the office or having a problem on a commercial airline are actually higher than any risk that they would see from this type of procedure. Oftentimes, patients have a little bit of bleeding and bruising, which is, to be expected. There’s some scar tissue that forms and that, rarely can cause some issues. Infection is a real rare risk. We do often provide some antibiotics to help, reduce that risk even further.

Some patients can get some numbness around the nasal skin. That typically comes back after a few months. There are some other, very rare risks. Something called Empty Nose Syndrome and some other types of things, most of those are textbook examples that are described and rarely ever seen in real life.

What is the recovery process like?

What we typically see for our patients is minimal pain. We provide nerve blocks at the end of the procedure, which last typically for the first day or so. And that really reduces people’s need for pain medication. We give enough pain medication for about two days.

And it’s pretty rare that we have to refill that. So oftentimes patients are experiencing discomfort just for that first couple of days. Bruising around the eyes is probably the number one thing that we see. Typically at about a week probably seventy to eighty percent of that bruising is gone.

And typically by two weeks greater than 90% would be gone. For some of our patients that are able to use makeup, they can typically cover that up almost entirely after one week. We have some very detailed post operative instructions that we provide as well as some ointments and Also some nasal sprays and different things that we’d like you to use.

And we do go in depth about all of those things with our patients before they undergo surgery so that you feel very comfortable with every aspect of the postoperative care.

How can someone learn more about Sand Plastic Surgery?

Our office is available twenty-four seven via email. We have text message availability. At any moment you can give us a call. And we are more than happy to get you scheduled for a consultation. We do offer virtual consultations as well. And we do have patients that email us their photos and we do image simulations to help them understand, what is available with rhinoplasty.

If someone is interested in this procedure we would love to help them on the journey of discovery. And the first aspect of that would be for us to have a sit down conversation and discuss what is available to you and what the expected outcomes could be.

What is your expertise in Rhinoplasty?

When patients are coming to see us regarding rhinoplasty, they might be interested to know how many of these types of surgeries we’ve done, what type of training this office provides.

I’m personally double board certified in both head and neck surgery as well as facial plastic surgery. I performed over 10,000 procedures, many of those being rhinoplasties. We do have hundreds of results available on our website of patients that have undergone this procedure, as well as several hundred reviews from our patients that have received care at our office, including mostly rhinoplasty. I would say for patients that are coming to see us for this procedure, I would say that we have some of the greatest expertise in the region for this type of operation.