New year, new nose?

January 4, 2006 7:57 AM

Experiences with rhinoplasty (nose job)? And, can anyone recommend a good plastic surgeon?

I've decided to look into getting a nose job, and also possibly something for the bags under my eyes. I've never liked the way my profile looks and my eyes just make me look tired all of the time even though I'm only in my mid-twenties. It's something that's bothered me for a long time and I'm very sure I want to do it. However, I'd like to hear experiences of anyone who has had similar procedures or known people who have. I've done a lot of research online and know all of the facts but what I'm lacking are personal stories since I don't know anyone who's ever had this done. Surprisingly, this doesn't seem to have been discussed here before.

Was it what you expected? How long was your recovery time? How long before you went back to work? What kinds of reactions did people give you? If it matters, I'm male, so I'd be especially curious about men getting this type of work done.

Also, if anyone has personal recommendations for plastic surgeons on the east coast (NYC or DC preferred) that would also be great.

posted by anonymous to health & fitness (6 comments total)

A girlfriend of mine got a nosejob while we were together. Here's what I remember: she told me that it's important to look through the surgeon's book because most surgeons make the same new nose over and over. So, she chose her surgeon based on the nose she wanted. This made getting recommendations difficult, but she was pleased with her nose. It took a long time for the tenderness to go away, I can't remember how long for the bruising. She did it for herself and she loved the results. I could hardly tell she'd gotten it done, she mostly just got a bump smoothed out. She really liked that I had a hard time telling.
posted by OmieWise at 8:25 AM on January 4, 2006

The only experiences I've had with it are stories that I've heard. IE that it hurts like a mother-bitch, and you will be dreading your decision to get a nose job for a while after the surgery. Then, once it's healed, you will be happy as a clam (provided it's not botched, of course). :)
posted by antifuse at 9:12 AM on January 4, 2006

I would recommend that your MD is
American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery approved. This means the following:

Has completed an approved residency in one of the two surgical specialties that include identifiable training in all aspects of facial plastic surgery (otolaryngology/head-and-neck surgery or plastic surgery, generally).

Is double boarded, having earned prior certification in one of those specialties through the American Board of Medical Specialties or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Canada.
posted by blackkar at 9:42 AM on January 4, 2006

I'm female, and my surgeon is long retired, but I had a nose job when I was fourteen. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Now granted, my parents paid for it - so the expense was not a worry of mine. The recovery was.

And there was no "book of noses" to pick something out from at my doctor's office - to be honest, I always thought that was a myth. My surgeon expressed to me that he wanted to make my nose fit my face more harmoniously, and he did an outstanding job.

The recovery was not so bad - right after the surgery was not very pleasant, but in my experience (and I'm a quick healer) recovering from my wisdom teeth extraction was FAR worse.

It takes about a year for the swelling to truly disappear, but I looked fine and the bruising was gone about a week after the surgery, if I remember correctly. And a few kids at school mentioned it, but it was really no big deal. People will notice, but they'll probably just squint and look at you and say "what's different?" I got a little bit of that. Email in my profile if you have any questions.
posted by pinky at 1:36 PM on January 4, 2006

I had a nosejob when I was almost 18 to remove a large bump from the bridge and slim down my very Jewish nose which I was very self conscious about. My recovery was extremely quick and I actually had very little pain - the worst bit was actually when they removed the nasal packing the morning after the operation, where they removed what felt like miles of cotton wool from inside my nose, because it just felt weird! I stayed overnight in hospital and went home the next day.

I had a protective nose-shaped cover and gauze on for a week; as is normal, I got the most almighty black eyes during that first week and looked like I'd gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson (it looked a LOT worse than it felt, it really wasn't that sore at all). Once the protection was removed one-week post-op most of the bruising had gone, though I retained a yellow-green tinge and was still fairly puffy and swollen so looked a bit like a frog, but as little as ten days post-op I actually went out to the cinema and walked through the shopping centre without people pointing and staring at me, though of course I was still reasonably puffy. The puffiness had gone by about 2-weeks post op but the total swelling took a while to go down - my surgeon said to me that it would take up to 6 months for my nose to settle down to the finished product, so to speak.

When the cover first comes off it's hard to tell as you'll still be pretty bruised and puffy - so although my nose didn't look vastly slimmer, I could see that the massive bump was gone and the bridge was lovely and smooth, which I loved. I was horrified over the next few weeks as it seemed as though I'd been given a ski-jump nose that turned up at the end, but this was just part of the swelling and it wasn't long before I was completely and 100% ecstatic and overjoyed at my wonderful lovely new nose and 100% more confident.

For me it wasn't about how I looked, but how I felt - the important thing, that my surgeon stressed, was that if I thought that having a nose job would change my life, then I shouldn't have one. But it did achieve what I wanted: I felt more confident in my appearance and felt more confident in myself in a way I hadn't before. Friends and family said 'you don't need a nose job!' before I had it done, because it wasn't THAT huge or out of place, and some friends thought it was vain. But even the doubters were pleased for me afterwards not to much because of how much better it looked to them, but because how pleased I was and because I felt good about myself in a way I didn't before. Which probably is vain, of course, , but I never regret having had my nose job, and am still overjoyed at not feeling self conscious and shy as I used to. Only you can decide if it's right for you, but I'd say think it through carefully, don't be afraid to shop around for a surgeon you're happy with, and make sure you think about why you are considering this, and what you want to get out of it.

I'm female and in the UK but my email is in my profile if you'd like to ask any more questions.
posted by kitschbitch at 1:42 PM on January 4, 2006

http://www.outer-beauty.com/

Dr. Andrew Klapper

I did residency with him. He's got good hands.
He's located in NYC and will do "Botox parties" for the right price!

erd0c
posted by erd0c at 3:28 PM on January 4, 2006