Early warnings include:

• An endlessly ringing phone
• A busy signal
• An uninterested, bored phone receptionist

Some rhinoplasty surgeons charge for a first consultation and apply the fee toward the cost of the procedure.

Rhinoplasty is more difficult than you can imagine. You’ll be in far better hands and much more likely to prevent future problems if you use only board-certified plastic surgeons. (More about the difficulty of nose surgery.)

If you’ve found three or four surgeons online in your area you like, try filling out the patient contact forms on their websites.

Explain you are seriously interested in a nose job but working on a limited budget so a consultation fee is out of the question.

It’s okay these days to talk about budgets first!

When you go to the consultation, have the attitude that you are hiring a surgeon.

Ask:

• To see the surgeon’s before and after rhinoplasty pictures
• How many times weekly or monthly the surgeon performs the procedure in which you are interested. The more, the better!
• If you can call former patients

In the consultation, most surgeons hand you a mirror and ask you to point out what bothers you about your nose.

If you’ve had previous nose surgery, if you think your nose is too large, too crooked, too bulbous or too bumpy, say so, being as specific as possible about the change you want.

Try bringing a friend or relative along.

An artistic eye is usually necessary for nose surgery to create a nose balanced with the rest of your face.

Do you see balance and harmony in the surgeon’s before and after rhinoplasty pictures? If your eye does not go immediately to the patients’ eyes in the after pictures, the results are less than desirable.

Do you feel comfortable and reassured with the surgeon?

Remember, he or she wants to please you while making your nose look as good as possible. Why? One happy patient brings in five others!

If you decide to go ahead, ask for a firm quote on the total cost of the surgery. That includes:

• Surgeon’s fee
• Anesthesiologist fee
• Charge for operating room
• Recovery garments
• Medications

In New York, plastic surgeons have taken on the case of 24-year-old Brandy Elias who lost her nose to gunfire in Guyana, her homeland.

In Africa, Brandy had about two dozen surgeries on her face which became a mask of scar tissue; her appearance forced her to wear a gauze mask where her nose once was.

The novel surgical approach of creating a new nose is allowing it to grow and develop a blood supply by placing the fledging nose on her forearm. The bridge of the new nose is actually a piece of arm bone with the blood vessels attached.

According to Dr. Minas Constantinides of NYU Medical Center, Brandy will be able to breath and smell after the fledgling nose is moved from her arm to her face.

Exclaimed Brandy “I can’t wait to stop wearing the bandage (over my face) so people will stop staring and asking a lot of questions!”

Watch the KABC New York video about Brandy’s nose surgery.

The technique was done at least once before in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 2001, when 25-year-old Madina Yussuff  showed up, explaining she lost her nose as a child in Nigeria.

A gangrenous, flesh-eating disease known as Noma destroyed her lip and one eyelid along with her nose.

Consequently, Madina has spent most of her life in hospitals.

Scottish surgeons used Madina’s own ribs and thin slices of her skull to build the framework of a nose which was then implanted into her forearm.

Her skin in that area of her arm was expanded to provide a covering for the new nose.

Once a blood supply was well developed, the nose and its blood vessels were be moved to her face.

Various charities have donated 30,000 British pounds (US$49,470) while medical staff donated their time and skills.

According to the National Health Service in Aberdeen, Madina returned to her homeland and had some additional touch up surgery to increase her mouth and nose openings and was planning on starting a business with the money that been donated by big-hearted people in the U.K.