Health Issues and the Budget

What are your priorities in terms of health expenses? Are you someone more likely to direct available funds towards “essentials” or do you think that elective procedures are just as valuable and important too?

This is actually a very interesting concept when the subject is “rhinoplasty”. This is surgery done on the nose and it can be corrective or cosmetic. What makes it interesting where health expenses are concerned is that it is such a controversial topic. Consider that some people believe that they should feel “normal” and that means that cosmetic surgery is a “must”.

Others think that you are born with the nose you are born with, but agree that correcting a deviated septum or reducing the size of polyps is a good thing to do.

The good news is that both groups are correct. An article in the New York Times cleverly discussed the author’s life-long conflict with her own nose. She simply disliked it and wanted to get it altered. She had various reasons over a ten to twenty year period for not getting it done – with fear of pain cited as one of them. She related many tales of friends who had developed “body dysmorphia” which is a condition that is distinguished by repeated surgeries on one part of the body, and yet no satisfaction with the outcome.

In each of the tales, she mentioned how friends had overdone their efforts to get the perfect nose and ended up with obvious “work”. She admits too that she uses their extreme examples to shy away from her own decision making processes. This is all very useful information for those who are torn about what sorts of expenditures to make.

Do you get a face that pleases you when looking in the mirror or do you just get extra mucous membrane tissue removed and leave it all alone? The questions are stimulating and make it a good idea to consider what is at stake.

The Stakes

For example, let’s say that you are someone who suffered an injury to the nose in childhood. You have only a slightly noticeable angle to the your nose and yet you also have some difficulty breathing out of one side of the nose. Should you, you wonder, get rhinoplasty that visually straightens the nose or should you get the septum cleared and opened instead?

You have to consider the “value” of these choices. For one thing, your respiratory problem could be making your sleep less effective because you struggle to breathe comfortably. On the other hand, you may find that you only struggle when you have a cold or sinus irritation.

So, you have to choose whether the cosmetic surgery is something you want to commit the time and effort to doing. A good surgeon is going to sit down with you and review all of the possible outcomes, and help you to make the best choice.

This means that you want to get yourself familiar with two different professionals if you are considering any sort of nose work at all. First, you want to have your regular physician assess any conditions. Then you want to have an ENT and a cosmetic surgeon recommended. The ENT is an ear, nose and throat specialist who can give you an accurate examination of the interior structures of the nose. The cosmetic surgeon is the one who can outline the possibilities with the exterior structures of the nose as well.

Working with two experienced professionals is likely to give you the best results. Whether you decide to invest in a picture perfect nose or just one that runs like clockwork, you should always work with knowledgeable health experts.