Rhinoplasty for Our Mississauga and Toronto Patients
One of the most popular procedures we perform at the Plastic Surgery Clinic is nose reshaping, or rhinoplasty. Residents of Toronto, Oakville, and Brampton come to our Mississauga clinic because they know that Dr. Frank Lista is one of the most skilled and experienced plastic surgeons in Canada. Each year Dr. Lista performs 75 to 100 rhinoplasty procedures. Using advanced techniques, Dr. Lista can make a nose smaller or larger, change the shape or angle of the nose, and even correct some injuries, birth defects, and breathing problems. Dr. Lista always strives for results that look as natural as possible, and he demands that every rhinoplasty procedure be performed under the safest conditions.
- Before Your Surgery
- The Rhinoplasty Procedure
- After Rhinoplasty Surgery
- Returning to Everyday Life
- The Risks of Rhinoplasty Surgery
Before Your Surgery
Dr. Lista personally sees all his patients at least once prior to their rhinoplasty surgery. Mississauga, Toronto, Oakville, and Brampton-area residents are requested to meet with Dr. Lista twice, if possible. During these meetings, Dr. Lista will spend all the time necessary to discuss your goals for your surgery and advise you on the limitations of each procedure. With computerized digital imaging, Dr. Lista can give you a preview of the approximate results of your procedure after all healing is complete.
Dr. Lista will provide full instructions on how you should prepare for your rhinoplasty. Among other things, the instructions provide recommendations for diet, drinking, smoking, and taking vitamins and medications. Adherence to Dr. Lista's instructions will help ensure optimal results. If you are a smoker, you should plan to quit at least two weeks before your surgery because smoking impedes blood flow and can affect healing.
Dr. Lista performs most rhinoplasty procedures at his Mississauga Plastic Surgery Clinic. If you prefer, your surgery can also be performed at the Trillium Health Center (The Mississauga Hospital), where Dr. Lista serves as chief of plastic surgery. Our doctor performs all surgeries himself—residents or students do not assist in any surgeries.
Depending on your preference and Dr. Lista's recommendations, your surgery may be performed using local anesthesia with sedation or general anesthesia. If general anesthesia is preferred, it will be administered by a specialist who is board certified in anesthesia. This physician will stay with you throughout the procedure, until you wake up.
You will need to arrange for a friend or relative to pick you up and drive you home after surgery, and to stay with you for at least 24 hours while you recover.
The Rhinoplasty Procedure
Rhinoplasty is typically performed as an outpatient procedure and usually takes one or two hours to complete, although more involved procedures can take longer. Dr. Lista most often makes incisions within the nose so that no external scarring results. In some complicated cases, however, it is necessary to perform an open procedure by making small incision across the columella, the strip of tissue that separates the nostrils.
Working through the incisions made within the nostrils or at the base of the nose, Dr. Lista lifts the skin of the nose and sculpts the underlying bone and cartilage to the desired shape. If the nostrils are too wide, Dr. Lista removes small wedges of tissue from the septum and brings the nostrils into closer proximity. When shaping is complete, the skin is returned to the framework of the nose.
To learn more about the particular shaping methods Dr. Lista uses in his rhinoplasty procedures, Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, and Brampton residents can contact the Plastic Surgery Clinic to schedule a consultation with our expert surgeon.
After Rhinoplasty Surgery
You can expect some discomfort after your rhinoplasty procedure. Our Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, and Brampton patients who have had their nose reshaped can tell you that you will have a puffy face, an aching nose, and possibly a headache, especially in the first 24 hours following the procedure. Dr. Lista will prescribe pain medication to help you with the discomfort. You should expect to stay in bed with your head elevated during the day following your rhinoplasty procedure.
Swelling and bruising that develops around the eyes will peak after two to three days. You can use compresses to reduce the swelling and increase your comfort. This swelling and bruising should fade completely within two weeks. If your nose bleeds in the first days after your rhinoplasty surgery, there is no cause for alarm. This is common. You may have a stuffy nose for about a week. However, Dr. Lista will advise you not to blow your nose during this week so that the tissues can heal properly. The nasal packing placed after the surgery will be removed after three or four days, and after about two weeks the external splint or cast will be removed.
Returning to Everyday Life
Although within two days you will likely be able to get up and move about after your rhinoplasty surgery, you should expect full recovery to take several weeks. Dr. Lista will provide detailed guidelines for resuming normal activities. He will advise you to avoid doing anything strenuous for two to three weeks. It's important not to rub or hit your nose for two months. You should avoid sunburn during this period as well.
Wearing contact lenses is fine anytime after your rhinoplasty surgery, but glasses must be taped or positioned so that they don’t rest on your healing nose for six to seven weeks.
You will have several follow-up appointments with Dr. Lista in the months following your rhinoplasty procedure. He will check the progress of your healing, and you can ask any questions or report any unusual developments. Of course, you may contact Dr. Lista or a member of his knowledgeable staff anytime after your surgery if you have questions or concerns.
It's important to keep in mind the longer-term aesthetic goal of your surgery in the days and weeks following your procedure. Because healing takes time, you may become depressed and worry that you'll never reach that goal. These feelings are natural and will pass as healing progresses. The final results take about a year to become fully apparent, so patience is the key word in a rhinoplasty procedure.
The Risks of Rhinoplasty Surgery
Because of Dr. Lista's expertise and experience, rhinoplasty patients at our office serving the Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, and Brampton area can be assured that chances for complications during their surgery are very small. However, all surgery carries some inherent risk. After rhinoplasty surgery, small blood vessels may burst and become apparent on the surface of the skin. This is usually temporary but may become permanent. Open rhinoplasty procedures will leave small scars at the base of the nose that usually are not noticeable. In about 10 percent of cases, a second procedure is necessary to correct an aberration or deformity. This is typical of even the most skilled cosmetic surgeons and usually requires minor corrective surgery.
Schedule a Rhinoplasty Consultation
Dramatic or subtle nose reshaping can be accomplished with our outstanding rhinoplasty procedures. Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, and Brampton residents who feel rhinoplasty could improve their appearance should contact the Plastic Surgery Institute today to schedule a consultation with Dr. Frank Lista.