Choosing a Surgeon

Choosing the best nasal or rhinoplasty surgeon to treat your nasal condition is an important decision that can significantly impact the outcome and success of your procedure. While surgeons may be licensed and certified to perform nasal surgery procedures, this does not ensure their skill level and experience in performing your individual cases. Effective results will be best achieved by a surgeon who is comfortable with your specific type of procedure and has proven his/her skills through previous similar procedures on similar patients.

Below are some mistakes many patients make when seeking a nasal surgeon. Please do not skip out on the due diligence process.

AVOID COMMON MISTAKES…

1. Not getting a second opinion.

Always consider a second opinion if you are having a major nasal procedure. Even if you are comfortable with your surgeon hearing another opinion my simple confirm your thoughts,or lead to more questions you can clarify with your surgeon.

At the Osborne Head and Neck Institute, we have developed a reputation for treating routine and complex nasal problems including septoplasty, turbinate surgery, treatment of nasal fractures, primary and revision rhinoplasty, and septal perforation repairs. We are an international referral source for doctors who wish to refer on these difficult cases. Many of our patients have already had a surgery and are unhappy with their appearance after the procedure. We also specialize in reconstructing deformities the nose after primary rhinoplasty.

2. Not insuring there is informed consent.

Informed consent means that along with signing a consent form to have your procedure, you understand not only about the procedure itself, but all the alternative treatments, with pros and cons, and complications associated with each treatment choice. Your should also ask how complications will be handled and if your surgeon has experience treating complications of your procedure. Simple because a surgeon can perform a procedure does not insure that they can treat all potential complications should they arise.

YOU SHOULD ALWAYS:

1. Find out specifically how many procedures your doctor has performed.
2. Check to see if your physician is properly licensed with the medical board
3. Assess whether or not your specialist is certified specifically in the procedures you have requested
4. Ask to see before and after pictures of his/her patients.

The pictures should not only show how well the patients have healed but be of sufficient resolution to clearly see improvements. Pictures should be standardized and poses uniform. If the doctor can not show you pictures, they may not perform many of these procedures.

At the Osborne Head & Neck Institute, Dr. Hamilton perform all of your nasal surgery from start to finish. No residents, physician assistants, or medical students perform any part of your procedure, which is commonplace at many teaching practices, hospitals and universities. There is a place for education in routine cases, but for more complex surgeries you want the surgeon with the most experience performing all of your surgery.