Dr. Theodore Golden Rhinoplasty, 23 Yr Old Female. Troy, MI

Original nose characteristics: very wide, droopy columnella, small hump.

History of my nose: Long story short, I landed on my nose with my full body weight twice- once in fifth grade and once in ninth grade. Shortly after the fifth grade incident, two boys started calling me "big nose." I laughed it off, but that name had stuck with me up until my rhinoplasty (big nose no longer!). I avoided pictures altogether during my teen years and NEVER took a frontal photo.

Breathing problems: I started having major breathing problems at night when I was approximately 20 years old. I went from snoring once every few months to snoring multiple times a week. When I wasn't snoring, I was breathing VERY heavily to get air through my nose. I then started mouth breathing at night altogether. I would cry myself to sleep because I could not breathe. I went to an ENT who told me I had a deviated septum and that I needed a septoplasty. Needing a septoplasty gave me the green light to get a rhinoplasty, as well. That specific doctor does not perform rhinoplasties, so I was on the hunt for a plastic surgeon.

Choosing Dr. Theodore Golden: After many weeks of searching doctors across the country- Manhattan, LA, Beverley Hills- I came across Dr. Golden's website. Too many doctors only had profile 'befores and afters' in their galleries of the shaved hump, and my hump was not my main concern. The doctors who did have frontal 'befores and afters' had a miniscule change. There was no way I was going to fork out thousands of dollars and come out with a nose that was just as fat as my old nose. I wanted drastic. My nose was so fat and I wanted to thin it out so badly I used to joke that I wanted an MJ nose (just a joke, of course). Dr. Golden's 'before and after' gallery was the ONLY rhinoplasty gallery that I found to have very large noticeable changes in the widths of his noses. The pros of Dr. Golden? He only performs facial plastic surgery, which in my eyes is a specialty within a specialty. He only performs closed rhinoplasties- quicker recovery, no pain/stinging from an incision, and no exterior scarring. He also does not use packing, something that everyone else has said is the most painful part of rhinoplasties. So how can one doctor limit his surgical options and produce such fabulous noses? Because he's an artistic genius.

Consultation: I scheduled a consultation with Dr. Golden. He and I got along very well for personal reasons, but I have heard from others that he is rude and arrogant. Rude? I did not experience this. Arrogant? Yes. This seems to be a problem for many other reviewers, but not for me. I was not going to make a $7,000 decision to change my face based on my emotions. Arrogance does not make a doctor good or bad at their job. Quirky? Oh yeah. He's a hoot. Regarding my nose, I told him that I wanted to thin my nose and I didn't care about anything else. He said that he would break my dorsum, reshape the bones, and the bones would 'fall into place as they please.' Thank goodness they fell into place thinly. He also said he was going to shave my hump, which was fine with me (now I am VERY glad I decided to shave my hump, because it was much larger than I thought). He also fixed my septum.

Surgery: I came in the morning and I believe I arrived before Dr. Golden. His nurses were very kind and prepped me for surgery. Nurse Moe was awesome. Love her. My surgery was performed while I was reclined in a chair. I was surprised because I have never seen a rhinoplasty performed while the patient was in a chair, but I didn't think twice about it because I was confident I was in good hands. Dr. Golden came in, started my IV, and I was out in less than 10 seconds.

Recovery: *MY* recovery was HORRIBLE. Of the few hundred rhinoplasty journals I follow, I would say my bruising was in the top 5 worst of all (I bruise easily to begin with). See my Instagram for those pictures. As far as pain, I had no pain at all. I did not take any Vicodin that he prescribed me. The only thing on my body that hurt was my back from sleeping propped up. Discomfort from swelling/bruising was the worst of my recovery.

Results: Three months post op today and my nose is still changing. It is so thin and I just love it! It fits my face so well. When I started making 'before and after' photos, I noticed that he lifted my columnella. I never realized how droopy my columnella was until I started making the comparison photos, and damn, he did a great job. He really knows what he's doing. I prefer to think of Dr. Golden as an artist rather than a plastic surgeon. A good plastic surgeon considers the aesthetics of the body. It's also nice to only take 1 photo and have my nose looks great instead of taking 5 or 6 photos and choosing the one that's least ugly. My confidence has definitely been improved majorly since my surgery. I've already apologized to my friends for having to deal with me and my nose... Oh, and breathing! Holy crap! I didn't know people could actually breathe like this!! At two weeks post op with major interior swelling, I was already breathing better than I did before. I am so grateful that he performed my rhinoplasty and I am happy and lucky that I came across his website. I have been trying to recruit friends and family to go get work performed by him. Thank you Dr. Golden for your excellent work! Looking forward to seeing you at my 6 month post op!

If anyone has any questions, concerns, or you just wish to remain private, you may email me. Good luck in your search!