Amazing Experience & Natural Results

Like everyone here, I had an amazing experience with Dr. Lydia & team during my rhinoplasty.

It took me a long time to make the decision to proceed, so I wanted to leave some nuanced thoughts, in case it helps someone with a similar mindset.

My nose had a slight bump and downward turn, quite common, and nothing that stopped me from living life. But I did notice it more and more recently, especially during video calls and in pictures. So I decided to seriously explore the rhinoplasty option. After taking a CT scan of the head pre-op, I also discovered that I had a badly deviated septum - likely resulting from falling as a child.

Friends working in the medical field told me that the most important factor in choosing a surgeon is their level of specialization - i.e. how many surgeries of this exact type have they done before? Looking at the outcomes, specialized clinics always have better results and lower complications than general ones. So I started looking for surgeons who specialize in rhinoplasty and could only find 5 in the UK!

2 of the 5 are Lydia and Charles. The 3rd doctor had quite a peculiar website that features not-so-natural-looking results, which turned me off. The 4th had quite a few negative reviews online. I had a consultation with the fifth and felt comfortable with his expertise. However, his suggestion was to proceed with the "open rhinoplasty".

Compared to Lydia's preservation approach, the "open approach" suggested by the other surgeon felt like going back to Windows '98:

- Longer recovery

- Higher risk of infection

- Higher likelihood of unnatural results

For some people, it's impossible to avoid it but in my case, given the option of preservation rhinoplasty, it was an easy choice. The operation went well, I was back home the same day. The pain was very manageable and got by on ibuprofen and paracetamol, without any heavy-duty stuff. I was working on day 3 and walking my dog on day 5 (both not recommended but I felt great and was quite restless).

The entire team working with Lydia was great! The office staff are easy to get hold of, Giulia, the clinical assistant, called me on the first few days after surgery check-in. That was another factor that persuaded me to choose Lydia instead of the other surgeon - his assistant took ~3 weeks to reply to emails.

The biggest improvement from the surgery is my breathing. Before the operation, I couldn't breathe through my nose during exercise. As soon as my heart rate went above ~120 bpm, I didn't get enough airflow through the nose. Now I can sprint and breathe through the nose! The second surprising benefit was lifting the tip of the nose slightly upwards. I was quite hesitant about it because, when not done well, it is the biggest giveaway of "nose jobs". But it looks very natural and makes a huge difference when I smile.

Rhinoplasty is quite a "safe" procedure. Something really needs to go wrong for you to have serious complications. But revision rates are very high (~12%), meaning a lot of people are unhappy and want a second surgery. If I wasn't able to have the procedure done by the best surgeon, I would not have gone ahead with this at all.

Thank you so much to Dr. Lydia and her team for the great experience!