What can I do to accept potential risks and mitigate them?

Question

I’m 30 years old, in good general health - as far as I know. Stopped oral contraceptives about 5 years ago. My BMI is 26.6. I had a consult with a very well recommended doctor who has been in practice for many years. I am just struggling with moving forward knowing there are serious risks like stroke, blood clotting, vision problems, etc. I know they are less common risks but still risks none the less. How can I mitigate these risks? Is there anything I can do to feel confident to move forward?

Eric M. Joseph, MD · Answer

I do not think that stroke is a complication of rhinoplasty surgery, and it's not clear why you are concerned about this. Visual problems after rhinoplasty is not a concern either, however, we have rarely encountered patients that have epiphora that has been short-lived. During general anesthetic, compression devices are placed on peoples legs to prevent thrombosis. Along with consulting with an anesthesiologist, you may also benefit from consulting with your primary care physician who can confirm that you are indeed in excellent health and do not have risk factors for a significant problem like you are concerned about. Wishing you good luck moving forward! Sincerely, Dr. Joseph

Zoran Potparic, MD · Answer

The risks you mentioned are not seen frequently in rhinoplasty surgery, particularly in your age group. We all, even those of us who performed and witnessed over 20,000 surgeries, feel the same anxiety undergoing our surgery in general anesthesia. Talking to a couple of surgeons and a few friends who had similar surgeries may help to control your anxiety. Staring anti-anxiety medication a couple of weeks before and after surgery can also help. Good luck.

Ronald J. Edelson, MD · Answer

Those risks are exceedingly rare. You need to concentrate on finding a surgeon you feel comfortable can give you the result you are looking for

Neil Tanna, MD, FACS · Answer

Surgery always has risks, scarring, and recovery. It's important to pick a doctor that will stick with you if any adverse event occurs.

William Portuese, MD · Answer

The risks that you have mentioned are exceedingly rare, and we have never seen them in over 30 years. Much more likely is that even in the best of hands, there's a 10% chance of requiring you to need a touch up surgery one year after your primary rhinoplasty. There's also a small chance of getting a nosebleed after the surgery which would require nasal packing. Rhinoplasty is the most difficult procedure to perform in the entire field of cosmetic surgery, so choose your surgeon based on extensive experience producing natural results consistently. Study your prospective surgeon's before and after rhinoplasty photo gallery, which should be extensive with results that you like.

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

The best way to minimize the chance of elective cosmetic surgical procedures is to not have surgery.
If you are motivated enough to have the procedure, then that means by definition, you are motivated enough to accept the risk.
Medical doctors do not want to see you have bad outcomes or medical complications so the medical community has done the best we can at making sure these risks are as low as possible.
Nothing in life is risk free.
In comparison to daily activities like driving a car. Cosmetic surgery is pretty safe.
If you’re highly risk averse then don’t have unnecessary surgery.
If you are willing to accept risk, but want to minimize them, then provider selection becomes the most important variable that you do have control over.
People typically are not very good at selecting the best plastic surgeon for their needs.
To find the right provider, I suggest patience schedule multiple in person, consultations with providers, who seem to have overall good reputations with a proven track record of doing the procedure you’re interested in for at least one or two decades.
I suggest patients avoid virtual consultations whenever possible.
During in person, consultations, ask providers to open up your portfolio and show you their entire collection of before, and after pictures of previous patients who had similar characteristics to your own.
 Being shown a handful of preselected images, representing only the best results of a providers career is insufficient to get a clear understanding of what average results look like in the hands of each provider, what your results are likely to look like, or how many of these procedures they’ve actually done.
In reality, the biggest risk is not developing a blood clot, but having an undesirable outcome requiring revision surgery Regret, and potential disfigurement.
This is what patience should be scared of.
There’s no correct number of consultations needed to find the right provider.
The more consultations you scheduled the more likely you are to find the better provider.
Depending on what procedure you are interested in it may be more or less important to put greater emphasis in provider selection.
Generally speaking, I recommend patients have at least five or six consultations if they are serious about finding the better provider.
The biggest mistake patients make a scheduling only one consultation Which basically eliminates the ability to choose the better provider.
I also highly recommend people avoid virtual consultations, which does not give the patient the ability to properly vet the provider.
Patients need to take an active approach in the consultation process in order to verify each providers, actual skill and experience level.
Being bored, certified in plastic surgery, with years of experience, and an overall good reputation, does not mean that somebody has mastered any one single procedure.
When, in doubt, slow down and schedule more consultations.
It is also critically important that patients understand their own candidacy for having the procedure.
Somebody was an excellent candidate for a cosmetic surgical procedure has the potential of having excellent outcomes if they choose an excellent provider.
They also have the potential of having horrific outcomes if they don’t choose the provider correctly.
 Individuals who are not good candidates do not have the potential for getting quality outcomes, regardless of who they choose as their provider.
Patients typically do not know how to judge candidacy for surgery.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom, MD

What can I do to accept potential risks and mitigate them?

Answers (6)

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