Revision Rhinoplasty 33/female – New York, NY

I have never written a review for anything before, and I never imagined THIS would be what I'd be reviewing. But I really have to give credit where it's due, and Dr. Slupchynskyj deserves it. This board and the people who share their experiences here have been a great resource for me, so I wanted to share my experience too.

I had three rhinoplasty surgeries over the past seven years before meeting with Dr. Slupchynskyj in September of 2013. I had extensive damage to the structure of my nose. I was very scared of undergoing another surgery, but after several lengthy consultations with Dr. Slupchynskyj I decided he was the right person for the job.

My primary rhinoplasty was done by a surgeon who also performed breast augmentations, liposuction, and any other body procedure you could imagine. He was not a facial/rhinoplasty specialist. This was a big mistake on my part. I wound up with an over-resected nose and a collapsed tip. My two "revisions" did little aesthetically except to traumatize my nose further, and give me a slight pollybeak deformity, and also increase the bulbous tip. My appearance didn't change drastically to others, but to me it was unacceptable.

For this fourth (and LAST) procedure, I had consultations with several rhinoplasty specialists in NYC. The general consensus was that I shouldn't expect much in terms of change. I had very little cartilage remaining in my septum as much of it had been removed, and even with multiple rib/ear grafts (which were suggested by each and every surgeon) it would not be likely that I'd be pleased with the results. There was almost a somber feeling to each these visits, kind of like like my nose was dead. I brought pictures of people whose noses were somewhat similar to mine but more refined and was almost instantly told they were not realistic. Even the computer imaging wasn't promising.

The last surgeon I met with was Dr Slupchynskyj. I figured he'd say the same thing I'd been hearing from the others but he didn't. He didn't tell me that he could fix every issue I had and give me a perfect nose. But he did tell me that he was confident that a major improvement could be made. I showed him the pictures I brought with me, and he told me some of them were absolutely realistic. Rather than pointing out how low I should set the bar, his opinion was that it could made much better. The computer imaging he did for me seemed a little too good to be true but he told me it was realistic. He suggested using a small custom made silastic implant on the bridge, and using ear cartilage in the tip. The implant scared me a little at first, and everyone has an opinion about it, but after some thought I decided I was comfortable with doing it so I agreed.

I came in three more times and asked the same questions over and over. He was patient and answered them all over and over. He didn't rush me. He told me to come back whenever I was ready. A month later I did.

I could talk about his demeanor and how nice he was but none of that really matters. What matters is that not only did he make my nose better...he made my nose beautiful. It's subtle but makes such a difference. It is what I asked for. It looks very much like the computer imaging he did before the surgery. I actually like the nose he gave me more than some of the pictures I showed him.

As for the surgery itself, from what I can remember before my "nap" the anesthesiologist was excellent. I'm not good with the needle part but she was very gentle. When I woke up and well into the next day I actually looked OK. No bruising which was surprising because I usually bruise easily. But day two it hit me like a ton of bricks - I was absolutely hideous for the next three weeks. I had extreme bruising all over my eyes and looked much worse than most of people posting their post op pictures on here, but revisions are harder to recover from, and he did extensive work on my nose. It eventually all went away. I also swelled in the bridge for a few weeks but that has gone down too.

Dr. Slupchynskyj asked me if he could use my before/after pictures on his website, and it's a shame because the pictures are impressive and really speak volumes to the caliber of his work...but I'm not comfortable having them online. I will post a few here, but if you're considering having surgery with him and you'd like to see my photos, I can share them in a private message.

Lastly I'll mention that the staff is very good. Jana the coordinator is very personable and easy to work with as is Maddie the nurse. They're nice, friendly people and I like chatting with them when I'm there.

Good luck!!

I am still very pleased with my nose. It has maintained its shape and the tip is still nice and defined. I haven't had any problems with it. My swelling subsided after about 3 months and the tip has maintained its projection. Nothing has really changed since that last review. I haven't had any breathing issues and my sense of smell is remarkably good. I do find that I need to get botox between my eyes just above where the silastic begins because it becomes slightly visible to me when I furrow my brow. But I look better with the botox anyway so it's ok. I have had regular followups with Dr. S and he has continued to make himself available to me whenever I need to see him. As you can see from my photos, in different angles my nose can still look different. Luckily I am ok with how it looks from any angle now, tho I still don't ever want to look at a camera head on.
Also, I do have days were I look more swollen, and other days where I look very narrow and refined. A lot of this is determined by diet and how I sleep. I believe my nose is far from perfect, but I am really happy with the improvement.
To Dr. Slupchynskyj's credit, he did the single most important job a plastic surgeon can do by performing good surgery on me with a positive aesthetic result. As a bonus, it turns out that he is a very caring doctor who won't dismiss you once you've had your procedure done. You can see him whenever you think there is an issue. I am posting a few more "before's" and "afters" from different angles to really demonstrate what was done. Please excuse the creepy eye blurring and that they aren't in order. I tried to label them. Hope this helps anyone in a tough situation!