POSTED UNDER Rhinoplasty REVIEWS
I Had a Good Experience!
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I Had a Good Experience!
njerasiSeptember 11, 2025
WORTH IT
I have a feeling this will be a whole essay… Going through this process was nothing like I thought it would be. Because I live in Edmonton, most of my appointments were virtual, and I only had one in person appointment before my surgery that was spent mostly taking before photos. I was a little nervous going into surgery feeling like I didn’t really know Dr. Zakhary, however, this was to no fault of her or her clinic, solely the distance.
What I loved about this clinic was that they always put the patients physical and mental health first. I had to get a clearance note from my family doctor, as well as blood testing. These processes helped me feel less anxious going into surgery.
The pre care and post care is extensive with Dr. Zakhary… good!! However, the two things I was concerned about were 1. Both of the prescriptions given to me by Dr. Zakhary were written incorrectly and 2. Lots of the aftercare booklet had typos/informational mistakes. For example, the booklet said to take 15mg of zinc leading up to/after surgery, and Dr. Zakhary informed me day of surgery that it should have been 50mg. There were a few more inconsistencies like this, so make sure to double check everything!
For the 2-3 days following the surgery I definitely didn’t feel great, but there was no “pain”. If you stay on top of your pain killers, you’ll definitely still feel out of it from the surgery, and pressure/discomfort, but I was never in pain. I was also given a prescription for an anti-nausea pill so that wasn’t any worry for me!
The sinus rinses were the worst at first. There was just already sooo much pressure, so doing the rinses when my sinuses were still swelled added more. But of course it’s worth it for the healing to go well!
Sleeping was also uncomfortable at first. Constantly waking up with dry mouth, and having to be elevated with a neck pillow was not fun. However for dry mouth, the Biotene dry mouth spray worked wonders!
After day 4 post op- I felt totally back to normal energy wise. The most annoying thing after day 4 was that I could constantly feel the plastic tubes that were up my nose pressing against my septum.
Also… what I totally wasn’t prepared for was how ITCHY under the cast was!!! There was one night where I seriously had to focus on not bashing my nose into the wall just to itch. Benadryl helps though! And Reactine works pretty good too for day time!
When I got the cast off, from the front, due to the swelling, my nose looked relatively the same. I was a little disappointed. But that’s when I took a photo of my side profile. Holy sh!t. I took photos for the rest of the day. I couldn’t stop looking at myself, nor could I believe that was my side profile!!!
Now that I’m 6 weeks post op, my front profile has definitely changed, but I’m sure it’s still quite swollen. I also noticed it gets more swollen throughout the day! There are a couple small things I wish were done differently, like my tip being raised higher, and my tip starting lower on my bridge, however it’s still a HUGE improvement.
6 weeks post op I’m feeling totally fine. The only discomfort is that the inside of my nose feels very stiff/dry. I’m still doing so many sinus rinses and using nasal oil. There’s also some stitches left in my nose that can feel painful from time to time but it’s not bad.
If you’re looking for a surgeon in Alberta I do recommend Dr. Zakhary. I’m quite happy with my results so far, and can’t wait to see the final results!
What I loved about this clinic was that they always put the patients physical and mental health first. I had to get a clearance note from my family doctor, as well as blood testing. These processes helped me feel less anxious going into surgery.
The pre care and post care is extensive with Dr. Zakhary… good!! However, the two things I was concerned about were 1. Both of the prescriptions given to me by Dr. Zakhary were written incorrectly and 2. Lots of the aftercare booklet had typos/informational mistakes. For example, the booklet said to take 15mg of zinc leading up to/after surgery, and Dr. Zakhary informed me day of surgery that it should have been 50mg. There were a few more inconsistencies like this, so make sure to double check everything!
For the 2-3 days following the surgery I definitely didn’t feel great, but there was no “pain”. If you stay on top of your pain killers, you’ll definitely still feel out of it from the surgery, and pressure/discomfort, but I was never in pain. I was also given a prescription for an anti-nausea pill so that wasn’t any worry for me!
The sinus rinses were the worst at first. There was just already sooo much pressure, so doing the rinses when my sinuses were still swelled added more. But of course it’s worth it for the healing to go well!
Sleeping was also uncomfortable at first. Constantly waking up with dry mouth, and having to be elevated with a neck pillow was not fun. However for dry mouth, the Biotene dry mouth spray worked wonders!
After day 4 post op- I felt totally back to normal energy wise. The most annoying thing after day 4 was that I could constantly feel the plastic tubes that were up my nose pressing against my septum.
Also… what I totally wasn’t prepared for was how ITCHY under the cast was!!! There was one night where I seriously had to focus on not bashing my nose into the wall just to itch. Benadryl helps though! And Reactine works pretty good too for day time!
When I got the cast off, from the front, due to the swelling, my nose looked relatively the same. I was a little disappointed. But that’s when I took a photo of my side profile. Holy sh!t. I took photos for the rest of the day. I couldn’t stop looking at myself, nor could I believe that was my side profile!!!
Now that I’m 6 weeks post op, my front profile has definitely changed, but I’m sure it’s still quite swollen. I also noticed it gets more swollen throughout the day! There are a couple small things I wish were done differently, like my tip being raised higher, and my tip starting lower on my bridge, however it’s still a HUGE improvement.
6 weeks post op I’m feeling totally fine. The only discomfort is that the inside of my nose feels very stiff/dry. I’m still doing so many sinus rinses and using nasal oil. There’s also some stitches left in my nose that can feel painful from time to time but it’s not bad.
If you’re looking for a surgeon in Alberta I do recommend Dr. Zakhary. I’m quite happy with my results so far, and can’t wait to see the final results!
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