POSTED UNDER Rhinoplasty REVIEWS
Rhino/septoplasty - 1 Year Post-op - Not Happy with the Outcome and Had a Revision Elsewhere - Houston, TX
ORIGINAL POST
I had a primary rhinoplasty and septoplasty by Dr....
swtpea2628January 7, 2016
$9,890
I had a primary rhinoplasty and septoplasty by Dr. Siegel in Novemeber of 2014. I had a pleasant experience with him and his office staff, but I am not happy with my results. It has been over a year since my procedure and I wanted to be sure I was fully healed before writing a review. Although, I will say his office was very pushy in wanting me to write a review at my first post-op visits!
I presented with a large hump, crooked nose, and a severely deviated septum. I wasn't breathing well and wanted to correct my breathing issues, most importantly. During the consultation he explained the procedure and told me what he would do and showed me with computer imaging. In addition to correcting the functional aspect of my nose he proposed the following cosmetic changes - removing the hump to a straight profile with a very slight slope and straightening my crooked nose as well as deprojecting it. He said he would leave the tip alone as it was an appropriate size (not bulbous). I have very thin skin and was worried about irregularities and he assured me my skin would not be an issue and he would take the time to make sure everything was nice and smooth. I went into this very realistic and didn't expect perfection. I specifically asked how close he expected to get to the computer imaging and he told me it would be very close and he wouldn't show me anything he couldn't do. I felt confident in him and gave it some thought for a couple days and booked the surgery.
Surgery came and went and recovery was a breeze. I had some bruising, not bad, and minimal swelling. The worst part about the recovery was the splints placed inside the nose. Those were driving me crazy halfway through the first week until he removed them on cast removal day at 1 week. Once the splints were removed and he cleaned out my nose I was breathing great and was very excited about that! He gave me a mirror after cast removal and man was my nose super, super swollen!! I didn't like my nose then, but I knew it would be swollen.
Over the next year I was patient and gave it time to heal and the swelling to subside. At first I was happy enough with it and mainly because I was breathing so much better. Around 3 months I started noticing some things and expressed my concerns with Dr. Seigel. My nose wasn't perfectly straight, which I was ok with. I didn't expect it to be perfect and the crookedness was greatly improved. What I was concerned with was a depression along my bridge, a "ridge" along the side of my nose, and a residual hump. He told me it was swelling and to give it more time. I didn't feel like it was related to swelling, but I gave it more time. As the months passed by the depression on the bridge and the ridge along the side worsened. The "swelling" on my bridge didn't go away. I also felt like my tip dropped a little and that is was more bulbous than my original pre-rhinoplasty nose. Overall, I just wasn't happy with the way it looked and it wasn't what we talked about during the consultation. Over the course of the year my breathing got worse as well. My nose didn't quite feel right and it would get very dry and would whistle periodically when breathing.
At one year post-op I wasn't happy with the functional or cosmetic changes to my nose and I decided to seek out second opinions. I set-up 2 revision rhino consults and then a 3rd one in case the first two opinions differed. The first 2 surgeons I consulted with told me the exact same thing so I cancelled the 3rd consult (I don't like too many opinions as I feel like you start getting confused!). Cosmetically they both told me I needed my nasal bones narrowed, hump removed, irregularities on the bridge corrected, tip refined and rotated a little. They also told me I had an inverted V - the "ridge" on the side of my nose. As for the functional aspect of my nose - They both put a scope up my nostrils and showed me I have a small septal perforation and a large concha bullosa, A CT of my sinuses was also ordered.
I will admit that I didn't continue following up with Dr. Siegel throughout the 1st year post operative period. I believe the last time I saw him was around 4 months post-op. He made no mention of the perforation, concha, and told me everything was swelling and looked good. We were clearly not on the same page and I chose not to go to my next appointment around 10 months post-op...I knew I had issues and I knew I didn't feel comfortable with him correcting them.
I chose to go through with a revision rhinoplasty 12/2015 with one of the doctors I consulted with and, while I am only 1.5 weeks post-op, I am super excited about the results so far!! I am swollen, yes, but everything is so much different this time around, I will update as I heal on a different review.
I know I like to see photos with reviews and I'm sure y'all do too! At this time I don't really want to display myself on the internet.
I presented with a large hump, crooked nose, and a severely deviated septum. I wasn't breathing well and wanted to correct my breathing issues, most importantly. During the consultation he explained the procedure and told me what he would do and showed me with computer imaging. In addition to correcting the functional aspect of my nose he proposed the following cosmetic changes - removing the hump to a straight profile with a very slight slope and straightening my crooked nose as well as deprojecting it. He said he would leave the tip alone as it was an appropriate size (not bulbous). I have very thin skin and was worried about irregularities and he assured me my skin would not be an issue and he would take the time to make sure everything was nice and smooth. I went into this very realistic and didn't expect perfection. I specifically asked how close he expected to get to the computer imaging and he told me it would be very close and he wouldn't show me anything he couldn't do. I felt confident in him and gave it some thought for a couple days and booked the surgery.
Surgery came and went and recovery was a breeze. I had some bruising, not bad, and minimal swelling. The worst part about the recovery was the splints placed inside the nose. Those were driving me crazy halfway through the first week until he removed them on cast removal day at 1 week. Once the splints were removed and he cleaned out my nose I was breathing great and was very excited about that! He gave me a mirror after cast removal and man was my nose super, super swollen!! I didn't like my nose then, but I knew it would be swollen.
Over the next year I was patient and gave it time to heal and the swelling to subside. At first I was happy enough with it and mainly because I was breathing so much better. Around 3 months I started noticing some things and expressed my concerns with Dr. Seigel. My nose wasn't perfectly straight, which I was ok with. I didn't expect it to be perfect and the crookedness was greatly improved. What I was concerned with was a depression along my bridge, a "ridge" along the side of my nose, and a residual hump. He told me it was swelling and to give it more time. I didn't feel like it was related to swelling, but I gave it more time. As the months passed by the depression on the bridge and the ridge along the side worsened. The "swelling" on my bridge didn't go away. I also felt like my tip dropped a little and that is was more bulbous than my original pre-rhinoplasty nose. Overall, I just wasn't happy with the way it looked and it wasn't what we talked about during the consultation. Over the course of the year my breathing got worse as well. My nose didn't quite feel right and it would get very dry and would whistle periodically when breathing.
At one year post-op I wasn't happy with the functional or cosmetic changes to my nose and I decided to seek out second opinions. I set-up 2 revision rhino consults and then a 3rd one in case the first two opinions differed. The first 2 surgeons I consulted with told me the exact same thing so I cancelled the 3rd consult (I don't like too many opinions as I feel like you start getting confused!). Cosmetically they both told me I needed my nasal bones narrowed, hump removed, irregularities on the bridge corrected, tip refined and rotated a little. They also told me I had an inverted V - the "ridge" on the side of my nose. As for the functional aspect of my nose - They both put a scope up my nostrils and showed me I have a small septal perforation and a large concha bullosa, A CT of my sinuses was also ordered.
I will admit that I didn't continue following up with Dr. Siegel throughout the 1st year post operative period. I believe the last time I saw him was around 4 months post-op. He made no mention of the perforation, concha, and told me everything was swelling and looked good. We were clearly not on the same page and I chose not to go to my next appointment around 10 months post-op...I knew I had issues and I knew I didn't feel comfortable with him correcting them.
I chose to go through with a revision rhinoplasty 12/2015 with one of the doctors I consulted with and, while I am only 1.5 weeks post-op, I am super excited about the results so far!! I am swollen, yes, but everything is so much different this time around, I will update as I heal on a different review.
I know I like to see photos with reviews and I'm sure y'all do too! At this time I don't really want to display myself on the internet.
swtpea2628's provider
Replies (10)
January 25, 2016
Thank you for your comments. I appreciate all feedback - as it is a great opportunity to understand and resolve any perceived concerns. I regret that we were not able to achieve the goals we set out to accomplish with your procedure. As I've always maintained, I would have preferred to see your care through to at least one year post-surgery, as I believe we could have successfully addressed your stated concerns - and prevented the need for you to spend additional resources.
I strive to deliver the best possible results for my patients, and I am able to do so in an overwhelming majority of the cases I treat. Nonetheless, no surgical results are ever guaranteed. I spent a tremendous amount of time, prior to surgery, educating my patients on the risks, benefits and likely outcomes of the recommended procedure(s). Since there are many factors involved with the surgery and its after-healing, every surgery, as well as every surgeon, will experience some complications in a number of cases. It is imperative to find a surgeon who experiences a very low number, and that these fall in the minor complication category. There are no full-proof procedures, nor surgeons - no matter how talented they are.
As you've indicated, you chose to forego the follow-up care you were recommended four months after your surgery. While every patient is unique, typically, four months is not enough time to determine if a revision procedure is warranted or if a complication seriously affected surgical results. Unfortunately, complications do occur, and are not always preventable. Even the top surgeons in their specialties deal with unexpected complications. I would have been glad to address and correct any problem that resulted from the surgery I performed - had I been given a chance to do so. That said, during the time you were under my care, the appearance of the nose showed swelling consistent with the timing of surgery, no symptoms of a complication were observed - nor voiced - at that time.
Regarding the cosmetic concerns you report - we discussed at lengths the various options to address your concerns, as well as the potential hurdles. Per your wishes, we performed the surgery as to achieve a conservative result, as you did not want a dramatic difference in your appearance. We also discussed the fact that patients with thin skin tend to show minor imperfections more easily, and these may not be readily visible after the six month mark or later.
I regret that you did not feel comfortable discussing your concerns with me after the surgery - although, I'm not entirely sure of the reason behind your discomfort. I am glad that you have addressed your concerns, and hope your revision achieves the hoped-for results.
November 26, 2016
December 8, 2016
wow, your rude. I'm not the one to but-in into ppls conversations but have some respect. Do you have a doctorates degree to level up to this man? Have some respect
December 8, 2016
August 28, 2016
Who performed your revision? Are you still happy with the results from the revision?
August 29, 2016
Dr. Funk performed my revision. Yes, I'm happy so far with the results. It takes a good while for all the swelling to subside (especially with revisions), but I have very thin skin so the swelling has gone down fast. I'm currently 8 months post op (8 months yesterday!). I'm sure I will still see some refining, but we're not expecting any significant changes. My breathing has improved a ton!
September 21, 2018
Wow. I am happy to hear Dr. Funk did your revision and that you are happy. I am scheduled to undergo a procedure with him soon.
May 21, 2019
HI, I am looking for a revision and would like to know where you went and if you were happy with your results.
August 31, 2020
Omg please contact I went to him and am experiencing the same exact thing he keep telling me it swelling can u please contact me and tell me who u went to having major problems
Thank you for sharing your experience!