What is the Most Common Concern of Patients?

What is the Most Common Concern of Patients?

woman looking in hand held mirror

-by Brooke Laundry, Patient Consultant for Dr. Vito C. Quatela, double board-certified facial plastic surgeon

“I want to look natural!” This is the most common concern that most of the providers hear at the Quatela Center for Plastic Surgery.

This is our number one objective as well. From the very first conversation on the phone to the pre-operative session, we have long discussions with patients on what their goal and desires are from the procedure that they are interested in. We never want patients to look unnatural, or like a different person than who they are. It is always our goal for others who are unaware that someone had surgery to notice a difference in their appearance, but not be able to pinpoint what has changed.

Naturalness in Rhinoplasty Surgery

In regard to rhinoplasty, or nose surgery, our main goal is to achieve a better balance with the nose to the rest of the face; essentially to make the nose “fit” better. At the Image Enhancement Session, utilizing patient photos and imaging software, patients do get a glimpse of what they can expect to see after rhinoplasty surgery. Oftentimes patients will make comments like, “I still look like myself,” or, “My eyes seem to stand out now.” 

We may make suggestions to further enhance the balance of the face such as adding some projection to the chin, possible buccal fat extraction, or contouring of the jawline. But in doing so, it is never meant to make someone look different than themselves.

Balance and Symmetry

Facial contouring procedures, of which rhinoplasty is one, are all about facial harmony and making sure that the proper planes of the face are in balance. There are a lot of discussions with patients about symmetry and specific goals with rhinoplasty. We want patients to really understand our goals and what we are looking to achieve as well.

Recovery Expectations After Rhinoplasty Surgery

Specific to rhinoplasty, one other goal is what to expect during recovery. At 7 days post-surgery the nose will obviously not show the final result. Rhinoplasty can take a full year to reach 100% of the end results. But even at one week, patients get a taste of what their nose will look like when the cast comes off.

At cast removal, the biggest compliment that we could hear from a patient is, “I look like myself,” or, “It looks so natural.” If we hear this, we know we have done our job well. And, their nose will only continue to get better!

To see more rhinoplasty reveal videos of our patients, visit our Instagram @quatelacenter_plasticsurgery.

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