Dr. Toriumi Saving the World One Nose At A Time

TL;DR
I had my surgery with Dr. Toriumi and I would highly recommend him.
Background:
- I had exceptional plastic surgeons, Dr. Koire of Beverly Hills (deceased) and Dr. Gruber of Oakland (retired), who had done my previous surgeries so I have nothing bad to say about them - I had gotten excellent results only to have my nose change over time unfortunately. I just had my 4th revision rhinoplasty on March 1st with Dr. Toriumi. The surgeon fee was $30,500 and then the surgery center fee was just under $8K.
- I originally had consultations with Dr. Toriumi (Chicago), Dr. Rohrich (Dallas), and Dr. Calvert (Beverly Hills). I wanted to have a consultation with Dr. Nassif (Beverly Hills), but his consultation rate of $1K (now I see online that it is $750 so maybe other people complained - LOL) in addition to a starting surgery fee of $40K made my stomach turn, especially considering that he doesn't even come highly recommended by other surgeons so I passed on even meeting him.
Surgery Details:
- Dr. Toriumi used some kind of aspirin during the surgery so when I woke up I wasn't in agonizing pain like I had been after previous surgeries. I was able to vomit (I always vomit after any anesthesia) without pain which was quite helpful taking into consideration that he did in fact use a piece of my rib cartilage to perform the revision. The pain started to kick in around 8PM that evening after the aspirin wore off. My rib was super sore for a good 3 days, but as the days wore on the pain subsided little by little. He had also taken cartilage from my ear and while that wasn't super painful, the muscles around my ear / my scalp muscles were incredibly sore. That pain subsided after a couple of acupuncture treatments.
- Through Toriumi's office I had scheduled ahead of time to have a nurse accompany me after the surgery for the next 1.5 days and it was the best $1,750 I have ever spent in my life. She got me food, she helped administer my medications, she got me up and walked with me around the block to get me some exercise, she answered all of my questions, she helped me get in and out of bed, she took me to my appointments, and she also helped with my antibiotic drains hanging from my face. I would highly recommend having a nurse / hired companion who has experience with rhinoplasty recovery to accompany you - you definitely won't regret it!
- Dr. Toriumi wants his patients to be on a limited amount of salt a day (only 600 mg) so you may want to read his Anti-Inflammatory Diet book ahead of time if you are going to have him perform your surgery so that you are prepared for the type of diet that you will need to be on before / after the surgery. https://www.toriumidiet.com/
Post Op:
- I saw Dr. Toriumi the day after my surgery. I immediately followed it up with acupuncture and HBOT treatments that the office has previously scheduled for me. I would take charge of any future scheduling for acupuncture and HBOT.
- I got the antibiotic drains removed about 5 days after my surgery.
- I got the cast / bandages removed 7 days after my surgery.
- I was ridiculously swollen - my nose looked huge and quite hideous actually, but luckily I found this blog post that Toriumi wrote several years ago so I knew that it was all a part of the process. http://deantoriumireview.blogspot.com/2013/08/dean-toriumi-nasal-shape-changes-over.html?m1
- I ended up staying in Chicago for about 2 weeks after my surgery. In that time, I got 5 rounds of acupuncture and 14 HBOT treatments so Dr. Toriumi was very pleased with my efforts to stay on track with his recommended protocols. It does get pricey though as these costs are not included with the surgery fee so please keep that in mind (HBOT is about $165 per treatment and the acupuncture treatments with Olivia Toriumi are anywhere from $80 to $120 a session).
- I am usually a pretty healthy eater (i.e. I don't do gluten at all, I rarely eat dairy, etc) and I made an effort to not eat a ton of salt so that helped me stick with his diet for the most part.
Important To Note:
- Dr. Toriumi is world famous not only because he is intelligent and wildly talented, but also because he follows his patients for many, many years. What does this mean? This means that he is 100% committed to you so you have to be 100% committed to him as well. This means that you will have to see him about 3 times per year each year after the surgery is over. Was I thrilled to learn this information? No! However, I know that he knows so much because he has chosen to follow up with his patients throughout the years. The nose has a mind of its own and it can change drastically throughout one's lifetime so THAT is why he wants to see his patients all the time. I am still adjusting to this information since I live in California and work a full time job and he is In Illinois, but I keep telling myself that at least I don't live in Europe, China, or Japan like a lot of his other patients!
Final Thoughts:
- I am still in the early stages of recovery obviously and my nose is still a bit of an eyesore to a degree, but I can see signs of hope each day and I have a feeling that it will look amazing within the next 2-3 years.
- I am so glad that I chose Dr. Toriumi. He is a fabulous surgeon and he is incredibly kind. All these people in numerous reviews who say that he is arrogant or too quiet or unskilled are just being irrational. He is awesome so don't listen to those folks. Once you look at this before and after photos, and get a feel for his lovely supportive staff, and meet him and his fellows in person I think you will see that he / his office is a cut above the rest.
I will post more updates and some photos as I continue to heal.

I have posted photos so that you can get a sense of my recovery / progression. My nose is still quite large and swollen which makes sense since it was my 4th surgery coupled with the fact that Dr. Toriumi used a ton of grafts. Aside from that, the swelling overall has definitely gone down a bit compared to when I first got my cast removed. My breathing has improved immensely and my nose doesn't seem to be running as much as it used to prior to the surgery. I have to wait a few years to see how things play out in the long run, but so far I am happy with my results and I feel grateful for the enhanced functionality of my nose.
Please note: If some of the healing looks asymmetrical it is because Toriumi has been having me do nose compressions on only one side of my nose (my right side) as a result of some natural deviation after the cast was removed.
Circling back on a point I made in my last review:
I want to clarify a point that I made in my original review that those who think that Toriumi is too quiet or too unskilled or too arrogant are merely being irrational. I was actually referring to people who make quick judgments about him without even having met him in person, or for those who have never had any surgical experience with him, yet find themselves running around various online forums speaking poorly of him and/or giving him bad reviews/1-star ratings. I in no way was insinuating that anyone who has actually had a poor outcome as a result of his surgery (or multiple surgeries done by him) is irrational. Everyone is entitled to their own experience(s), but I think that verified reviews and photos to back up one's claims, along with actual in-person and virtual consultations are the best bet for anyone interested in moving forward with this type of complex surgery. Reviews that are posted merely to complain for the sake of complaining should be taken with a grain of salt in my opinion.

Just adding some updated photos as I previously promised in my initial review. These are from August up until January 2024. My nose is still on its healing journey, but the swelling has gone down a bit so that has been nice. I am still doing my nasal soaks (1x daily) and then my nose compressions per Toriumi's request.