Should I get a revision rhinoplasty? (Photo)

Question

I had surgery a few years back for a broken nose and then another comped one to fix some irregularity in the tip. I recently rebroke my nose and besides it being slightly crooked I've been thinking it looks kind of pointy and sticks out still. How hard of a surgery is it to make it less pointy? I've seen someone out where I live and we met and they quoted me and said there was some things they could do.

Richard G. Reish, MD, FACS · Answer

Hello and thank you for your question. Based on your photographs, you may benefit from a nasal tip deprojection during your revision. I highly recommend that my patients focus much more on real longterm before and after photographs rather than 3D imaging.   I encounter so many patients in my practice who see me for revision rhinoplasty who previously had surgery elsewhere who feel like they were mislead into surgery by surgeons who relied heavily on 3D imaging without adequate real before and after pictures to back it up.  Photoshop is easy but real surgery is very different.

I always recommend that you carefully evaluate your surgeon’s online before and after gallery on their website for both quality and quantity of results. Make sure that there are hundreds of real before and after pictures which demonstrate long-term follow up results. If your surgeon is posting mostly on table results without real long-term follow up results, that is usually a major red flag.  If a surgeon is posting mostly just splint removal day videos without longterm follow-up pictures, that can also be a red flag.   Long-term results are much more meaningful than on table results or 1 week post-op results.  With good surgical technique, you could have an outstanding result. I recommend that you seek consultation with a qualified board-certified rhinoplasty surgeon who can evaluate you in person.

Best wishes and good luck.

Richard G. Reish, M.D.
Harvard-trained plastic surgeon

Should I get a revision rhinoplasty? (Photo)

Answers (1)