Luckily, you have plenty of options so I suggest to your advantage. For those interested in rhinoplasty surgery I suggest you begin the process by looking for plastic surgeons in your community who seem to have a lot of experience with this procedure. Try to get a list of at least five providers. Next begin scheduling in person, consultations with the providers on your list. It’s a good idea to look at a lot of before and after pictures. You can start the process by getting a good set of facial pictures of yourself. Look at how plastic surgeons take before and after pictures to get an idea. Having pictures of your own nose and face Helpful when reviewing before and after pictures. Look for others, who have similar facial and nasal features to your own, and keep copies of results you find appealing. During consultations, make sure you meet with the surgeon who’s going to do your procedure and are not being seen by a commission sales person a.k.a. patient care coordinator. During turn off, location, ask each provider to open up their portfolio and show you their entire collection of before and after pictures of previous patient who had similar nasal characteristics of your own. An experienced plastic surgeon that should have no difficulty showing you the before and after pictures of at least 50 previous cases. Being shown a handful of pre-selected images, representing the best results of a provider’s career, pictures don’t look like yours is insufficient to get a clear understanding of what average results look like in the hands of each provider or what your results are likely to look like. The provider how often they perform rhinoplasty surgery and how many rhinoplasty surgery they’ve done in their career. Generally speaking, a plastic surgeon shouldn’t have before and after pictures for at least 1/3 of the number of cases they claim to have done. This means a plastic surgeon who claims to have done 1000 rhinoplasty surgeries should have between 300 and 400 complete sets of before and after pictures if not more. Rhinoplasty is not a single procedure. It is an umbrella of many different operations, all focused on changing the appearance of the nose. Surgery related to the septum is referred to as septoplasty. Sept all related issues, especially related to breathing difficulties are generally covered by medical insurance so it’s not uncommon for people to have rhinoplasty septoplasty combined surgery that is in part, covered by medical insurance, and in part covered by the patient. Bring pictures of your own face with you to use while reviewing the before and after pictures during the consultation. Take care phone number during each consultation, especially regarding the quantity and quality of before and after pictures. Make a careful list of each of the specific procedures. The surgeon is recommending to be included in the rhinoplasty surgery. You need to understand each of the different sub components. Rhinoplasty procedures may include dorsal reduction, tip lifting, tip definition, tip projection, creating a supra tip break, in fracturing etc. etc. Continue having consultations until you feel comfortable. You found the right provider for your needs. Rhinoplasty surgery is complex and getting consistent quality of times including making accurate assessments is not always straightforward or easy. This is definitely a procedure that choosing the right provider makes a big difference. Look for plastic surgeons, who have a lot of rhinoplasty experience or preferably specialize in the procedure exclusively. There’s no correct number of consultations needed to find the best provider. The more consultations you scheduled and we’re likely you are to find the best provider for your needs. The biggest mistake patients make is scheduling one consultation and then scheduling surgery. Being board-certified and plastic surgery with years of experience, and an overall good reputation does not mean somebody has mastered any one single procedure, especially not rhinoplasty surgery. When, in doubt, slow down and schedule more consultations. Best, Mats Hagstrom, MD