How can I tell if someone is an expert on revision rhinoplasty?

Hi momo! This is a very hard question. Some things to consider: how long have they been in practice, are they board-certified and by what groups?, how many revision rhinoplasties do they do approximately (maybe per year or per month), do they feel comfortable handling your nose in particular, do they sound like they know what they are talking about during your consultation, have they published on this or presented on this (not necessarily required but usually does mean that they are at least respected in their field), asking to see before/afters.

Hello, That is a great question. A good surgeon for revision rhinoplasty is one who has first mastered primary rhinoplasty, then extended their knowledge to the issues that can go wrong and how to fix them. There is no certifications or badges for those who excel in revisions. In fact, having certain credentials doesn't guarantee a surgeon is good at rhinoplasty, it just ensure they have gone through the initial parts of adequate training. The mastery of this difficult surgery comes from continued hard work, care, and certain innate abilities. For any rhinoplasty, step one is to find someone board certified in either facial plastic surgery or plastic surgery, this will help narrow it down. Step 2 is to make sure they are truly a rhinoplasty specialists. Rhinoplasty should be a major part of their practice. This also does not ensure you are getting the right surgeon and some may do high volume, low quality... but again this is how you continue to narrow it down. The next step is to look through their web content, photo galleries, reviews, etc .... and see who you feel has the highest level of expertise. The last step is go to several consultations and evaluate the surgeons. Learn from what they are telling you. Get a feel for their feedbacks and knowledge. Compare what they tell you. Ask what their experience is with revisions and what level of satisfaction they have seen. See if they can show you an example of a similar case to yours. See if they are genuinely interested in achieving the best possible results. Then choose the one you feel most comfortable with based on all the information. Since you are looking at a revision, also think of what went wrong with the primary surgeon choice.Good luck!

First of all, there are no credentials to check. The board certification exams don't test or even observe the quality of a surgeon's results. And they don't check to see whether she has an artistic eye, whether she will connect with you and take the time and effort to understand exactly what you want to change and by how much. They don't check to see whether she will offer you an operation even if she doesn't have the skill to make the changes you need. So what do you do? You must look at before and after photos, that's a given. You can check reviews, I guess, but everyone knows that's a plus/minus way of getting an idea. You can send photos to a few doctors and see whether their ideas and recommendations make sense to you -- even if you're not a surgeon, if something just totally doesn't make sense to you, then maybe it truly just doesn't make sense. Alright, I'll quit here; I'm having trouble getting you any good info beyond that!

I do believe that before and after photos and patient testimonials on physician review sites are excellent places to start your research. Revision rhinoplasty surgery is exponentially more difficult than primary rhinoplasty surgery so choosing your specialist carefully is imperative. Certification by the American Board of facial plastic surgeons is important, along with years of experience and practice. When those criteria have been met, go on several consultations. And I always recommend patients to go with their gut. I hope this helps! Sincerely, Dr Joseph

Every busy rhinoplasty surgeon has done lots of both primary and revision rhinoplasty procedures. Study your perspective surgeon's rhinoplasty photo gallery to make sure that it is extensive with results that you like. There should be hundreds of patients on their photo gallery. Also look for a double board-certified ENT/facial plastic surgeon, who can address both functional and cosmetic nasal surgery issues