Rhino/Septo/Turbinate Reduction with Dr. Grigoryants. Glendale, CA

Hi everyone! I have been reading everyones reviews for about a year now and it seems like almost everyone is really happy with Dr. G. I've been in touch with him and he's very helpful and responds right away. I'm considering getting the surgery in November or December.

I think my nose is a great shape, bump and all, but its too big for my face. I would love a doctor to just make it smaller and refine the tip, but still make it look like my nose. Dr. G seems to be really great at doing just this from all the pictures on his site and reviews.

I would go ahead and do this surgery in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the judgement I expect from my friends. Although all my friends are fit and attractive in their own way, we aren't 'classically' beautiful or do the standard barbie look (not that there is anything wrong with that if thats what you're going for!). I'm afraid they'll judge me for being shallow and too concerned with appearances. Although I know looks aren't everything, its just an objective fact that my nose is too big for my face. I think i'll end up doing this eventually, even if its not right away, but I don't want to wait until I'm a lot older to be happy with it.

Does anyone have suggestions of how to deal with the judgement? Do you tell your friends or just do it anyway? Do people notice and say things about it, or do most people not really pay attention? I also have no idea how to start talking about it with my boyfriend. Any of your comments and experiences would be really helpful!

Today I stumbled on a review about Dr. G that confirmed a nagging thought I had. It said that he seems to give everyone the same cookie cutter nose, which works well for people who want a cute sloped button nose but not so much for those who want more subtle changes. Its something I noticed in a lot of photos, though there is variation and a few stand out as more unique.

Either way, i've decided to consult with a few doctors closer to home. The trip out to Southern California would add about $1000 to the cost and Dr. G is already expensive. I'm going to schedule a consultation with Dr. Most next. Although there aren't too many recent reviews, I really like that he's so thoughtful and takes a very conservative approach.

For some reason, deciding to schedule an in person consult has made all of this seem more real!

Hi everyone!

First, thanks for all your kind comments :)

I met with Dr. Most today from Stanford. He's very professionally, friendly, and even cracked a joke or two. He has a lot more photos in the office than online too. He does only open rhino, which I was concerned about but he told me a few things that made me feel better about it:
- after doing a patient review of over 1000 people, more than 99% were happy with the scars and said they were not noticeable
- closed rhino is apparently not that great for any tip or internal structure work. It's also more likely to require revisions later on and most doctors are switching to open.
- the healing is often easier since the doctor can see more of what they are doing and cause less overall tissue damage. From reviews, it seems like most of his patients don't get crazy bruising which is a good sign.

He was really realistic, saying that because of thick skin my couldn't be thinned or brought in too much. He was also very understanding about my desire to keep my ethnic nose intact and bring it down in size, though as lerickson1 says, it won't look exactly the same.

We discovered that my turbinates are really enlarged and my septum is shaped like a s shape with 3 curves, which needs a lot of work. My nose also tilts to the left, which I never noticed before!

Overall, I like that the results would be subtle and deal with a lot of functional issues. He recommended doing allergy shots first to try to reduce my turbinates before surgery, so I have at least 6 months to wait. His price is $9400, which is really expensive but about right with all the other top surgeons. Still deciding what to do next, but I have the summer to think about it. Will post the results of the morphs done in office as soon as I get them!