Patient Questions

Hootan Zandifar is an Expert Contributor on FindaTopDoc. Here are some of their recent answers to patient questions.

Plastic Surgeon
Hootan Zandifar, MD

After chin liposuction, the swelling can be there for a few weeks. However, every day you should feel like it is going down. There are several steps that you can do to decrease the swelling. First, you can sleep with your head elevated. Second, you can continue to wear the chin harness that should have been given to you. And finally, you can get lymphatic massages or ultrasound therapy to allow for the swelling to go down faster.

Hello, sorry to hear about your accident. Good news is you have several options. First, we can excise the scar and close it so that you may have a smaller and less noticeable incision. Secondly, we can do hair transplant around the scar to cover it up. This should get you both of your desired outcomes.

If you did not have a CT scan then the plain film X-Ray is useless in diagnosis of deviated septum. The plain film X-Ray only shows deviation of the bony septum and not the cartilagenous septum. To diagnose that you can either get a CT scan or more importantly, it should be pretty obvious to your surgeon during your physical examination. If you do not have a deviated septum, you can get a rhinoplasty to correct all of the issues that you have with the appearance of your nose. A nose job or a rhinoplasty is designed to improve the appearance of the nose and can improve breathing if done appropriately and correctly.

The best nose straightening procedure is a rhinoplasty or a nose job. During a nose job procedure, the surgeon is able to mobilize and re-position your nasal bones so that they are in a more straight position. The surgeon is also able to remove extra bulges of cartilage as needed.

I am sorry to hear that after your septoplasty, you feel like your breathing is worse. I will say that the first thing you should do is to contact your surgeon. It is possible that you now have a hole in your septum and thus feel like you cannot breath as well. It is also possible that if you had a turbinate reduction with your surgery, you have developed empty nose syndrome. This is a condition that is difficult to diagnose or treat. However, it is also rare. A third possible cause is a condition called nasal valve collapse. This is something that can be easily diagnosed and treated. Hopefully you find the correct cause and you and your surgeon are able to treat it accordingly. Hootan Zandifar, M.D., FACS

There are feminizing techniques to a blepharoplasty that can be done to make an eye appear more feminine. However, there is some limits to the extent that it can be done.

Eyelid plastic surgery or blepharoplasty is a surgical procedure to rejuvenate the appearance of the eyes. We can use this surgery to remove excessive skin and protruding fat. The results will last a lifetime but do age with you so you may need a repeat procedure in a decade.

The treatment for a scar depends on the appearance and location. You may need surgical excision of the scar but it is possible that you can improve the appearance using lasers or dermabrasion

Although revision rhinoplasty can be used to correct a previous rhinoplasty surgery, the best way to get the results that you want is to have it done correctly the first time. Revision rhinoplasty rarely gets the results that you would desire.

Depending on the location, depth and size, dermal pigments can be removed using laser or peels. You would need a consultation with a dermatologist or a plastic surgeon to see if your pigments would qualify for these treatments.

Thank you for your question. A septoplasty is a procedure that is done to straighten the crooked nasal septum. The nasal septum is the middle wall of the nose. Typically, a septoplasty does not change your outward appearance. You may have a splint placed inside the nose that is removed after 1 week, but you should look normal pretty much immediately after a septoplasty. Some people mix up a septoplasty with a rhinoplasty (nose job). In that case, then it may take a couple of weeks to no longer look swollen or bruised.

The best and most reliable method of removing fat is liposuction. Liposuction, uses suction attached to a specialized equipment called a cannula. The fat cells are then permanently removed.

Thank you for your question. Mohs surgery is very safe. It is simply a technique used to remove cancer and allows for that surgeon to look at the specimen and know if the cancer is cleared or not. The advantages of Mohs surgery is that the amount of normal tissue that is removed is not as much as it would be if you undergo regular excision. The disadvantages is that it may take longer for the procedure to clear the cancer because right after removal you have to wait for the Mohs surgeon to clear the tissue. Hootan Zandifar MD

Thank you for your questions. You should know that a nose job, or a rhinoplasty, is a very well-established procedure that, in the hands of a capable and experienced facial plastic surgery, has a great success and satisfaction rate. I would recommend finding someone who is a board certified facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon, as they have extensive experience in nasal surgery.

Thank you for your question. Although hormone levels do have a bearing on hair thickness and hair loss, in your case losing 20-40 hairs a day is completely normal. On average we lose about 100 hair strands a day as this is part of the normal hair cycle. If that is what you are seeing then there should be no cause for worry.

There are several ways to improve the appearance of facial scars. It depends on location, size, shape and direction. Lasers can be used to blend the scars with the surrounding structure, techniques such as dermabrasion can also achieve the same result. However, sometimes surgery is the only option. It is important to know that no matter what technique is used, there will never be a scar free result. We can only hope to improve the appearance of the scar so that it is not noticeable.

First of all, one of the side effects of Metoprolol is hair loss. It is possible that if you change that medication your hair may return. However, hair loss in women is common and 1 in 5 women will struggle with it. First, we need to make sure there is no medical cause for your hair loss. If none is seen then treatment options would depend on the amount of hair lost. We can do PRP treatment to increase density and decreased further hair loss. Finally, hair transplantation is an excellent option to restore the fullness and appearance of the hair.

Hair transplantation is a procedure that is usually done under local anesthesia and with little discomfort. We use long lasting anesthetics to ensure a comfortable experience. Sometimes, the first night is a little uncomfortable but most of my patients can control their pain with simple Tylenol. Usually after the first day there is no discomfort.

Hair transplantation is typically a very safe procedure with little to no side effects. However, you can have pain, discomfort, bleeding, and infection as a side effect. Also, there is a risk of scarring depending on the technique used. Finally, there is a risk that the procedure will not work. As for discomfort, typically, hair transplantation is very well tolerated, and normal over-the-counter pain medication will take care of the pain. After the first night, most patients do not need any pain medications. Typically, the recovery time for hair transplantation is around 7-10 days.

Thank you for your question. It is usually recommended that after a rhinoplasty procedure, you do not blow your nose for about 6 weeks. You will need to use saline spray to get rid of any fullness that you feel in your nose.