'Case Study'

A key aspect of rhinoplasty is simply making the decision to have the procedure, says Sydney plastic surgeon Dr Kourosh Tavakoli.

Brenda McCormick reports.

Rhinoplasty is one of the most common cosmetic surgery procedures performed in Australia, although many people take a long time to actually decide to have the surgery, according to Sydney plastic surgeon Dr Kourosh Tavakoli. He says prospective patients often postpone the decision because of self-consciousness, anxiety or a lack of confidence. However, once they have taken the plunge and had the procedure done, many admit they wish they had done it sooner.

One of Dr Tavakoli’s patients is a typical case; she considered rhinoplasty for many years before finally deciding to undergo the procedure. ‘I’ve just always hated my nose’ she says, ‘I was going get a rhinoplasty done when I was 21 and then decided to go overseas instead, so when I was turning 30 I thought, well, I’ve always wanted it done so I started to really look into it.’

After doing a lot of research online, she narrowed her choice of surgeons down to a shortlist of three, but she says that after meeting with Dr Tavakoli her mind was made up. ‘During my first consultation with him he showed me computerised before and after pictures of what a rhinoplasty could do for my nose.’ She also felt comfortable with Dr Tavakoli and his staff, which sealed her decision. ‘They had an opening available so I said, “book me in!”‘

The surgery took about two hours and altogether she spent only six hours in the clinic. She says she felt ‘completely fine’ when she woke up after surgery and suffered minimal swelling. ‘For about three days I had really bad black eyes and some swelling, but I was back at work two weeks later and no one even knew.’

Dr Tavakoli’s patient says she feels very lucky to have had such a positive experience and straightforward procedure. She says having the opportunity to see the digital ‘after’ shots at the consultation stage meant she had realistic expectations of what the surgery could achieve and that she is very happy with the result.

Sydney plastic surgeon Dr Kourosh Tavakoli’s case study shows how cosmetic procedures can be combined to reduce costs, anaesthesia and recovery times. Gillian Samuel reports.

Sydney plastic surgeon Dr Kourosh Tavakoli’s patient says she had a bump high on the bridge of her nose that, while it didn’t bother her unduly, always caught her eye when she saw herself in a mirror.

She says the bump is a family feature shared by her father and aunt and as she found herself noticing it more and more in her mid-twenties, she began to think about having it corrected. When she consulted Dr Tavakoli about a rhinoplasty, she mentioned during their discussion that she had always wanted a breast augmentation. At more than 180cm tall, she says she has always felt she was completely flat-chested.

Dr Tavakoli explained she could have both procedures at the same time and the convenience strongly appealed to
her, so she made arrangements to take two weeks off work in August this year.

‘The breast augmentation is something I’d always thought about. I used to talk about it with my mum and we’d joke that we’d do it together,’ she says, adding with a laugh that her mother is jealous of her now she has gone from an A to a D cup.

She said that Dr Tavakoli reassured her there wasn’t any extra risk involved with undergoing the two procedures simultaneously. Her rhinoplasty and breast augmentation operations took about three hours and she says she went into day surgery at 7am and was at home by 2pm.

Dr Tavakoli removed the bump from the bridge of her nose and also performed a septoplasty to narrow it. She says she is very happy with the result.

He also inserted high profile, round silicone-filled implants behind the pectoral muscle to provide some forward projection and to give her fullness in the upper pole of her breasts, giving her the bustline she had always dreamed of having.

She says that even Dr Tavakoli has been impressed by the speed of her recovery. ‘From the moment I woke up and he was holding my hand and telling me that everything had gone very well until now, which is five weeks later, I’ve had no pain at all, just a little tenderness with my nose.’

She says she took a prescription painkiller for a week and a half after the surgery and that although all the work on her nose was internal, she did have bruises over her upper eyelids, which faded in a week.

Her breast augmentation incisions were relatively small and are healing very nicely. Overall she is extremely pleased with the outcomes of both procedures.

‘I don’t think it’s changed me as a person, I just feel so much more comfortable when I look in the mirror and the breast augmentation has given me a lot more confidence about wearing summer clothes,’ she says. ‘I haven’t needed to buy more clothes, the ones I have still fit, they just look better!’

Dr Tavakoli says the safety of modern procedures and technologies means patients can combine procedures for two-in-one cosmetic results.