Non Surgical Rhinoplasty

Question:

I have sleep apnea and have been told by 3 different docs (ENT, allergist, pulmonologist) that I would benefit from nasal surgery to correct my deviated septum and enlarged turbinates. (Haven't been able to use CPAP through the night, but am awaiting heated humidifier to hopefully solve problem. May still benefit from nasal surgery however).

My ENT initially suggested an RF procedure for my turbinates, but I've heard bad things about RF.

So, my questions are:

1. What should an ENT include in a proper evaluation of whether to do surgery (eg., endoscopic exam, CT scan?0
2. How do you go about finding the best ENT/other doc to do the procedure?
(I'm in San Jose, CA area)
3. Some have recommended having a board certified plastic surgeon do the surgery rather than an ENT, would you recommend a plastic surgeon over an ENT?
4. If using a plastic surgeon, how difficult is it to get HMO approval to include rhinoplasty? Does rhinoplasty increase pain/recovery time?
5. What other things should be insisted upon and/or requested for nasal surgery?

Answer:

The ones I hear whining about RF are generally pushing laser.... more experience (and they probably don't want to buy the RF ablation hardware).

Figuring out if there are any non-surgical corrections that can be made.

Given #4 - doesn't that pretty much mean the decision was made for you?

Depends on how much working over they have to do vs. the functional correction.

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