Have you ever looked in the mirror and wished your nose looked different? Maybe you like the way it looks from the front, but you don’t love the side profile. If you’ve ever considered nose surgery but found yourself overwhelmed with the information on the Internet, plastic surgeon and rhinoplasty specialist Dr. Michael Lee of The Wall Center in Shreveport, Louisiana has some great advice to help you navigate your way from consultation to recovery. “What you’re trying to do is achieve harmony. When people look at us, we don’t want them to notice our nose, we want them to notice our eyes,” says Dr. Lee.
by Michael Lee, MD
The Plastic Surgery Channel
Choosing a surgeon to improve your nose involves doing your homework. Once you have narrowed down to several surgeon options or recommendations, you’ll need to verify that they’ve had proper training and are certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery or the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. The next step is to view previous noses they’ve operated on. “I think it’s very important to see before and after results of the surgeon,” stresses Dr. Lee. If a surgeon doesn’t have many results posted on the Internet, they will often have additional before and after pictures available in their office for you to review at the time of your consultation.
Communication = Success
A successful rhinoplasty is the result of more than just a skilled surgeon. “The most important thing is that there’s really good communication,” says Dr. Lee. He urges patients to take the time to discuss their desired result and all of the options. There are many elements that combine to make your nose what it is: nostrils, bridge, septum, nasal bone, cartilage and tip. Changing one or several of these elements during surgery can restore facial harmony – the first time. “You don’t want to go back and have your nose fixed a second time. That’s a much more challenging operation,” says Dr. Lee.
Visualizing the Result
In the past, rhinoplasty consultations often involved the surgeon examining a patient’s nose and facial composition, followed by a discussion of options. The only tools that were available to aid the patient in visualizing their own results were a mirror or printed photographs, which limited the angles a patient could see. Dr. Lee uses Vectra ® 3D Imaging during his consultations to enable his patients to better understand and visualize the expected outcome based on their discussion. “We take a picture of the patient’s face and then during the consultation, I make the changes on their face they want, and they get to see what it looks like.” The computer generated 3D image allows the surgeon and the patient to analyze the current nose as well as the desired outcome from many angles.