How to travel for Rhinoplasty?

Question

I live in Canada near Vancouver, but so far online I haven't found many doctors before and after pictures that I really like. There's some in LA and the states that I do find fabulous, so I'm considering travelling for surgery. Is this advised? How long would I need to stay in the states, and is it safe to fly home a week or ten days later? What about the consult and follow up appointments? Any info on travelling for rhinoplasty would be helpful.

Thomas Buonassisi, MD · Answer

Hello Minn123,It is quite common to travel for rhinoplasty especially if there are no nearby rhinoplasty specialists. At my practice we see patients from all over Canada and have a well defined travel program. The length of stay in the city you have surgery will depend on your surgeon's assessment of your situation, but is usually about 1 week.It is is usually safe to travel after surgery but please consider follow up care. While it is uncommon to have a complication after surgery, it is important to be able to access your surgeon for questions and concerns for at least a year after the procedure. I see my patients on a regular basis after their surgery until they are considered fully healed, which takes months.Vancouver has several board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeons who are excellent and know to do vast numbers of rhinoplasty surgeries.Re before and after photos - the best way to assess what YOUR nose would look like after surgery is to have a consultation that includes computer imaging. During your consultation, your surgeon can explain what you can realistically expect from your surgery. Not everyone can have a perfect nose after rhinoplasty, and this is the reality that you are seeing in before and after photos. Seeing before and after photos of other patients is a small part of the process. What is more important is that you meet with a short list of rhinoplasty surgeons, meet their staff and see how you connect with them. Evaluate if you think you are meeting with surgeons who really do perform a lot of rhinoplasty, and who have a team that will be there to take care of you while you prepare and recover. Have a frank conversation, based on computer imaging done for you specifically, if your objectives are reasonable or if you will have to settle for something slightly less perfect than what you were hoping for. The consultation, aside from the surgery itself, is the most important part of the process. I've included a link below to some guidelines for assessing the quality of your rhinoplasty consultation.All the best,Tom Buonassisi

Rod J. Rohrich, MD · Answer

I have my patients who
travel from out of town stay for at least one week post-op so I can
evaluate them and remove the splint and sutures. I make
sure they’re doing well before they leave. I allow my patients to travel by air
7-10 days
post-op if they use Afrin spray during take offs and landings. Contact your
plastic surgeon
for further follow up visits.

Thomas A. Lamperti, MD · Answer

It's quite common in my practice to have patients come to Seattle from out of state and internationally for surgery. It's recommended that you stay at least until your 1 week postoperative visit. I have found that most of my British Columbia based patients prefer having their office visits done at my more northern location (Bothell, WA) since it's closer to the Canadian border.You can read more about traveling to the Seattle area for surgery at my web reference link below. We can also help with hotel arrangements, etc. if you like.

Sam Naficy, MD, FACS · Answer

It is very common in our practice to have patients fly in from out of town areas for rhinoplasty and fly out after 1 week.  There are a few considerations, especially for air ravel, which we discuss wiht patients.

Steven M. Denenberg, MD · Answer

I'll tell you how we handle it here. The patient sends photos, so we see if we can determine with some accuracy that the patient is actually a good candidate for surgery. If so, we arrange a date for the operation, with an in-person consultation the day before surgery.After surgery, we provide someone to stay with the patient overnight. After that, the patient is fine on her own at the hotel. She generally goes around town seeing things and entertaining herself for the week.One week after surgery, the splint comes off the nose, and the patient can go home that day. Return visits for follow-up aren't necessary, since we can send photos through the email to check the progress of healing.This is very common. Over half of my rhinoplasty patients are from out of state, about 15% from outside the U.S.

Toby Mayer, MD · Answer

Go to a very experienced rhinoplasty surgeon who does noses you like and the arrangements are made in our office that cover everything you would need as Im sure other experienced rhinoplasty surgeons do. Pick a surgeon who does noses YOU like. You need to be in town for 1 week and can fly home after. Youcccan send photos of your nose to your proposed surgeon to discuss before.

Sirius K. Yoo, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question.  First, if you have identified a surgeon who you like, it is worth calling their office to find out if they have a concierge who can help arrange your travel and let you know the generally recommended schedule.  Many offices have arrangements at local hotels/spas for lodging, and can arrange for local transportation as well.  Some patients opt to have a nurse stay with them for the first night after surgery and many offices can provide this.I generally ask my patients to stay locally for 1 week.  This will include a preoperative consultation and examination the day before surgery.  Any lab tests that need to be performed can often be obtained ahead of time and the results faxed.  Sutures/splints all come off/out 5-7 days after surgery.

Daniel Shapiro, MD · Answer

For many patients, traveling outside of their hometown or even their state or country is well worth the trade-off of finding the right surgeon who can give them the results that they desire. Most offices are happy to work with you to help you find suitable, affordable accommodations near their office and to make the travel and surgical process as pleasant and stress-free as possible.The post-op course for out of town patients will vary depend on the type of surgery. In general we encourage patients to stay in town until all sutures have been removed after their procedure and in the case of a Rhinoplasty we would have patients stay in town for 1 week until the splint and packing has been removed from the nose.

Eduardo Mejia, MD · Answer

thanks for the question, as said its normal the we as a plastic surgeon receive patients from all around the world, we are accustom with this practice. 7-10 days is ok. by that time you won't have stitches nor the cast. swollen is slow and even if you stay on the country won't be faster. good luck!

William Portuese, MD · Answer

It is acceptable to travel for a rhinoplasty procedure. In our practice, patient's fly home one week later after the cast is removed at their first postoperative visit. It's also very important for patients to followup with their operative surgeon to manage the soft tissue( skin envelope) over the new cartilaginous and bone bony framework of the nose. The followups are usually at one, 3, and 6 months after the surgery, but some patients require more than that. The postoperative followups are just as important as the surgery itself. Most plastic surgery offices, including our own, have a fly in for surgery program to help with flight and hotel arrangements. For more information, many examples of rhinoplasty, our price list and fly-in for surgery program, please see the link and video below

How to travel for Rhinoplasty?

Answers (13)

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