Doctor Refused to Give Me Rhinoplasty, Is This Normal? (photo)

 

There are many reasons doctors refuse to operate on patients

 

There is a saying " I would much rather a patient be made at me for not operating on them then for operating on them"

 

But with that bit of philosophy aside here are some common reasons

 

1) Patient is not emotionally or medically appropriate to operate on

 

2) Doctor does not think he/she can make the patient happy because the patient seems to be the type of patient that can never be happy

 

3) Doctor thinks that the patient’s description of what is wrong is out of touch with reality and/or the patient’s description of what they want to look like is not something that can be achieved

 

4) There is literally nothing wrong with the patients feature and therefore no surgery is needed (this is relatively rare - how many truly perfect noses, faces, breasts are floating around out there)

 

5) there is something wrong with the feature (perhaps subtle) but the doctors does not feel comfortable or confident in their ability to fix it (when this is true in the doctors mind they but the patient in category 4 and try to convince the patient of that) with that said it is good that surgeons who do not feel comfortable or confident in dealing with subtle changes do attempt to make them. That is to say some surgeons will only operate on patients with gross deformities because they know no matter what they do they can make a positive difference. The stakes are higher when the defect is more subtle. More experienced surgeons are more likely to tackle these patients’ problems.

 

With that said you do not need to chase down a plastic surgeon. There are literally hundreds who will beat down your doors to operate on you.

 

Go visit some others in your community

 

If a lot of surgeons start to refuse surgery then you might fit into category 1, 2, 3

 

But based on your photo I would consider offering you a surgical plan after a consultation if you should up in my office. 

 

Interested in traveling to Austin? 

 

We make arrangements for out of town patients

 

It’s actually a good thing that a surgeon recognizes he may not be able to perform a surgery that will make you happy. Surgeons refuse to do surgery for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is because the patient has unrealistic expectations, or has placed great importance on perceived flaws that are not visible to the surgeon. Other times it is because the surgeon does not have enough experience to successfully achieve the desired results of the patient, or feels that achieving the result still would not make the patient happy. If one surgeon has refused you, you can always seek a second or third opinion. If the photograph that you posted is what you look like on the left, and what you want to achieve on the right, then it seems like your goals are reasonable and achievable.  I would definitely research board certified plastic surgeons or facial plastic surgeons who have experience with rhinoplasty and alar base excision. That is one particular procedure that is difficult to fix when done poorly, so you want to get it right the first time.

 

Refusing to operate on a patient can be a challenge for plastic surgeon.  He clearly did not feel confident that he could not make you happy.  His honesty should be respected, but you should seek opinions from other board-certified plastic surgeons before giving up.  Best of luck.

Hello. I would recommend you find another board certified plastic surgeon who specializes in rhinoplasty. It sounds as though the surgeon you spoke to was either not confident in performing your surgery or your expectations are unrealistic. Try consulting with another surgeon for a 2nd opinion.

It is difficult to answer your question without seeing more pictures – you should consider posting more images showing your profile.  It is possible that your expectations are not realistic.  You can also consider getting consults with other surgeons

I commonly see patients in consultation and explain to them they do not need to undergo surgery when it is not needed. Unfortunately to many surgeons perform surgery when not needed. Their are certain criteria a surgeon uses to decide if to operate on some one or note. At times a surgeon may refuse to operate if he is not familiar or comfortable performing the procedure. 

Pit is always good idea to obtain another opinion.

 

Best of luck to you!

It's possible your surgeon felt that your nose looked great as is, or that your expectations or level of concern were greater than your 'deformity' warranted. It could just as likely be that he wasn't comfortable with performing a 'finesse' type of rhinoplasty on a young attractive woman. You really should avail yourself of another consultation or two to determine if your concerns can be reasonably addressed with surgery. Best of Luck Dr Harrell

A Plastic surgery consultation is a two way street. Just as you look over the Plastic surgeon, his demeanor, his office and his staff, he looks you over as well. After listening to your concerns and wishes, the Plastic surgeon needs to decide if he can make you happy. Are your wishes reasonable or are they unrealistic? Would it be safe to operate on you? Are you intelligent enough to understand the operation, its recovery and that complications may happen?

Our income would be MUCH greater if we did not use ethics and judgement and operated on everyone who asked for a procedure. But - we would also create a lot of disappointment and unhappiness.

I would consult with one or more well-regarded Plastic surgeons and learn what they have to say. If most of them express a reluctance to operate on you (be it because of fear of airway narrowing, scarring, change of ethnicity, whatever) I would take it to heart.

Do not take it as a personal insult just because one surgeon declined to operate on you. He may have done you a favor. Do your homework and learn if he was right or he was just personally uncomfortable with you.

Good Luck.

Peter A Aldea, MD
Memphis, TN 

 

There can be a number of reasons that a surgeon might refuse to do surgery.  If the surgeon felt that your expectations were unrealistic or that their experience would not permit a good result then that is not the surgeon for you.  Not every consultation ends with a surgical plan.  I would suggest that you see other rhinoplasty surgeons and that if you have not done so; that you be as specific about what it is that you want to accomplish in changing the shape of your nose.  Any examples of ideas that you have, you should bring along to the consultation.  Finally, I believe that preoperative imaging is essential to allow you to see what the surgeon is contemplating and to confirm that it complies with you desires. 

I f a patient has unreasonable expectations they would not be a candidate for surgery. Also the surgeon and the patient should be on the same page as to what would look best.