If you are unhappy with your nose and you’re contemplating undergoing rhinoplasty, then you need to know that as many as 30% of rhinoplasty surgeries end up requiring a revision. This is not meant to scare or discourage you—on the contrary, it’s meant to motivate you to be extremely careful with the decision-making process to make sure you don’t end up as the one in every 3 rhinoplasty patients who are disappointed with their results.
To be honest, there are a lot of things I wish I knew before my primary rhinoplasty surgery. If you’ve had some time to browse my site, you would know by now that my first rhinoplasty ended up in devastating results. This came as a surprise to me because like any careful patient, I was fastidious with my research prior to choosing a surgeon. I learned everything there is to know about rhinoplasty surgery, I gathered information as to what makes a qualified and excellent surgeon, I read surgeon reviews online and I even talked to other patients on rhinoplasty forums. Once I was confident that I am able to make an informed decision, I decided to take the leap and selected a doctor who was supposedly a “Rhinoplasty Expert” with many glowing online reviews.
Looking back to my first consultations with this primary surgeon, I realize now that there were some red flags that should have warned me. For example, the consultation always felt rushed. It’s not that he shooed me out of the room or anything like that, but he always seemed like in a hurry to get our meeting over with. I simply assumed that being one of the top plastic surgeons, he was a busy doctor who is always in demand. What I failed and now is so obvious, is that he really didn’t care that much about me as a patient. I honestly think this can make or break whether or not you get a great outcome.
Another red flag that should have warned me was the fact that he barely listened to what I said during our consultation. I felt like all I was supposed to do was sit there and listen since he was the expert, and that he didn’t really need to hear my goals or concerns. Both these red flags gave me some hesitations. However, I wanted the surgery so badly that I just dismissed any qualms I felt in my gut. Besides, how could all those raving reviews be wrong?
Little did I know that I should have followed my instincts! I was completely devastated by the result since it was nowhere near the nose I wanted. Even though the surgeon offered to fix it for free, I decided that I was never going to let him operate on me again.
Once I’ve met my fantastic revision rhinoplasty surgeon, Dr. Anil Shah, I was finally able to see things clearly. Like my primary surgeon, Dr. Shah specializes in rhinoplasty. Also like my first surgeon, Dr. Shah received excellent feedback in message boards and forums. But as far as I’m concerned, these are where their similarities end. Dr. Anil Shaw performs hundreds of rhinoplasty surgeries in a single year alone (much more than my primary surgeon) but our consultations never felt rushed. In fact, he would treat me like I was his only patient and give me as much time as I needed. Unlike my primary surgeon, Dr. Shah also allowed me to voice out my desires, worries and other concerns. In short, our consultation was a two-way street, and not a one-man show. And needless to say, I am 100% happy with my new nose! I made the mistake of selecting the wrong surgeon the first time around, but now I am confident that I’m in the best hands.