How do I decide between 2 surgeons that have 2 different opinions? (Photo)

Hello and thank you for your question.

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.

Best wishes and good luck.

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

From these photographs, it does appear that you have thick skin which will hinder refinement in the nasal tip. Because of the thick skin, you may need several steroid shots in the tip of the nose to reduce swelling in that area after the surgery, so follow ups with your surgeon will be very important. Carefully study your prospective rhinoplasty specialist's before and after rhinoplasty photo gallery, which should be extensive with lots of natural looking results. In our practice, we perform closed rhinoplasty with all the incisions placed on the inside of the nose, and no painful packing is placed inside the nose either. It's also important to release the depressor septi ligament which prevents the tip from drooping downward when smiling after the surgery.