Rhinoplasty

We would like to welcome you to our practice. It is difficult to explain all that is possible and all that is not with rhinoplasty without examining you in the office. When you come for your consult, we will provide you an honest assessment of your nose and what we can do to improve its appearance and function. We will listen to your concerns and your goals and see how we can best address all of them. Rhinoplasty is sometimes fairly straightforward and is able to be done through incisions inside the nose and mild swelling. At other times, it is important to insert cartilage grafts to maintain and improve the framework long-term. This is often done through a small incision along the base of the nose and may be associated with prolonged swelling. The aftercare of the nose is important to emphasize before surgery. One can return to most activities within a couple of weeks but have to avoid any contact even incidental with the nose for at least a couple of months after surgery. We will be seeing you regularly during this process to make sure your healing is proceeding as we had hoped and if it’s not then to guide it back into a better place. I feel that operating on a patient almost forms a partnership where we both have the common goal of getting you the very best result possible. I can assure you I will always strive to treat each patient like a member of my family.

Our goal is to make you feel comfortable in our office. We will always treat our patients with respect and total honesty. We will provide you with an honest assessment of your nose and how best to give you a natural looking result that fits your face as best as it can.

Dr. Ducic’s Philosophy:

By the time I see a patient for a rhinoplasty consultation in the office, that patient has often spent years being unhappy with the appearance and often the function of their nose. As one would expect, it takes years to get comfortable changing the one structure in the middle of the face even if you are not happy with it.

With rhinoplasty, there is a marriage of form and function. A nose that doesn’t look good usually doesn’t function very well either. The goal is to improve both appearance and breathing ability whenever possible. One has to remember that each nose is unique. The skin that envelopes that nose is one part we cannot change but minimally and this can profoundly affect the final result. Thick skin or excessively thin skin are both undesirable. The amount of cartilage twisting or cartilage memory also affects the ultimate result. Most important is to maintain a natural aesthetic that fits the face.

The art of rhinoplasty involves more than merely making your nose smaller. Your nose needs to look natural and complement all of your facial features with the right size, width and angles. The procedure is highly individualized because both the left and right sides of the nose need to match as much as possible so that it looks smooth and natural from all angles. The bridge should be straight and smooth so that the profile view matches the front view.

With a rhinoplasty, I will make your profile complementary to your other facial features. Otherwise, your nose can appear too big or too short and draw too much attention. No face is perfectly symmetrical, but certain asymmetrical features, like the nose, tend to be more evident. The nose is a bilateral structure, so you want both the left and right sides to match as much as possible so that the nose looks basically the same from the front and side views. Symmetry is crucial. Different people have different features, so there’s no one nose that fits every face.

When the nose is too wide, it can detract from other features, like the cheeks. A strong or prominent nose or a hump or bump on the bridge can really throw off the balance of the nose and the profile.

Dr. Ducic is best known for:

An individualized approach to consistently excellent long term results in rhinoplasty. I pride myself in trying to give each patient the very best outcome possible. The final result needs to fit the patient’s features and appear natural. We often use grafts either from the septum, ear or rib to maintain stability to the rhinoplasty which is very important to be able to maintain the result long term. Dr. Ducic has described a technique of rib cartilage graft harvest that minimizes pain and deformity if a rib cartilage graft is needed. It is important to honestly provide the patients with a good idea of the goals and limitations of surgery in each case. We can do a lot in rhinoplasty with modern techniques but certain aspects of the nose may not be able to be reasonably changed without causing an unnatural appearance or bringing about new nasal obstruction. Certain things such as reducing a large hump are relatively straight forward to address.

Patients have taught me to listen. Knowing exactly what bothers them and addressing that before surgery is very important.

What to expect after rhinoplasty procedure:

Upon waking up after surgery, your nose will be covered with a splint (which you may need to wear for up to a week). You may have gauze and padding in certain areas, but I will advise you of all your post-op care with detailed instructions so you’ll feel confident when you leave. Expect to be swollen and bruised around the eyes and cheek area, and you may feel like you have a cold, which is very typical.

Get to know Dr. Ducic:

Q: What would be your alternative occupation?

A: Construction work or architecture. The idea of creating something beautiful and functional is very appealing no matter what you are doing.

Q: What do you do each day to improve your health?

A: I start each day with a moment of self-reflection and prayer for the upcoming day including one for my family and my patients. Then a quick workout to get the blood flowing.

Q: What one lifestyle change could most benefit our health?

A: Proper nutrition is so very important. It is so very hard in our modern busy society to eat properly on a consistent basis. It takes a lot of effort to eat healthy. But that is important to avoid weight fluctuations that stretch the skin, improve mental clarity, keep your arteries clean and give your skin a healthy glow.