People from all over the world visit Dr. Richard Reish in New York City each year for rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty because of the life-changing results he delivers.
Every patient has Dr. Reish’s personal cell phone number and he takes the...
People from all over the world visit Dr. Richard Reish in New York City each year for rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty because of the life-changing results he delivers.
Every patient has Dr. Reish’s personal cell phone number and he takes the time to text every patient night of their surgery, the morning after, and the weekend after. He maintains a constant stream of communication 365 days a year, including holidays and weekends, because it gives his patients an extra level of reassurance.
Understanding that rhinoplasty is followed by a very individualized recovery, Dr. Reish maintains contact with his patients long after surgery and even delivers extra modalities such as steroid injections during their recovery to ensure they get their dream results.
With a passion for constantly evolving and improving rhinoplasty, Dr. Reish is always developing new techniques and loves teaching residents and fellows the techniques he uses to change lives.
To learn more about Dr. Richard Reish
Follow Dr. Reish on Instagram
ABOUT MEET THE DOCTOR
The purpose of the Meet the Doctor podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you’re making a life changing decision and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be.
When you head into an important appointment more informed and better educated, you are able to have a richer, more specific conversation about the procedures and treatments you’re interested in. There’s no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close.
Meet The Doctor is a production of The Axis.
Made with love in Austin, Texas.
Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who’d like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book a free 30 minute recording session at meetthedoctorpodcast.com.
People from all over the world visit Dr. Richard Reish in New York City each year for rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty because of the life-changing results he delivers.
Every patient has Dr. Reish’s personal cell phone number and he takes the...
People from all over the world visit Dr. Richard Reish in New York City each year for rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty because of the life-changing results he delivers.
Every patient has Dr. Reish’s personal cell phone number and he takes the time to text every patient night of their surgery, the morning after, and the weekend after. He maintains a constant stream of communication 365 days a year, including holidays and weekends, because it gives his patients an extra level of reassurance.
Understanding that rhinoplasty is followed by a very individualized recovery, Dr. Reish maintains contact with his patients long after surgery and even delivers extra modalities such as steroid injections during their recovery to ensure they get their dream results.
With a passion for constantly evolving and improving rhinoplasty, Dr. Reish is always developing new techniques and loves teaching residents and fellows the techniques he uses to change lives.
To learn more about Dr. Richard Reish
Follow Dr. Reish on Instagram
ABOUT MEET THE DOCTOR
The purpose of the Meet the Doctor podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you’re making a life changing decision and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be.
When you head into an important appointment more informed and better educated, you are able to have a richer, more specific conversation about the procedures and treatments you’re interested in. There’s no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close.
Meet The Doctor is a production of The Axis.
Made with love in Austin, Texas.
Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who’d like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book a free 30 minute recording session at meetthedoctorpodcast.com.
People from all over the world visit Dr. Richard Reish in New York City each year for rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty because of the life-changing results he delivers.
Every patient has Dr. Reish’s personal cell phone number and he takes the...
People from all over the world visit Dr. Richard Reish in New York City each year for rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty because of the life-changing results he delivers.
Every patient has Dr. Reish’s personal cell phone number and he takes the time to text every patient night of their surgery, the morning after, and the weekend after. He maintains a constant stream of communication 365 days a year, including holidays and weekends, because it gives his patients an extra level of reassurance.
Understanding that rhinoplasty is followed by a very individualized recovery, Dr. Reish maintains contact with his patients long after surgery and even delivers extra modalities such as steroid injections during their recovery to ensure they get their dream results.
With a passion for constantly evolving and improving rhinoplasty, Dr. Reish is always developing new techniques and loves teaching residents and fellows the techniques he uses to change lives.
To learn more about Dr. Richard Reish
Follow Dr. Reish on Instagram
ABOUT MEET THE DOCTOR
The purpose of the Meet the Doctor podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you’re making a life changing decision and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be.
When you head into an important appointment more informed and better educated, you are able to have a richer, more specific conversation about the procedures and treatments you’re interested in. There’s no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close.
Meet The Doctor is a production of The Axis.
Made with love in Austin, Texas.
Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who’d like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book a free 30 minute recording session at meetthedoctorpodcast.com.
People from all over the world visit Dr. Richard Reish in New York City each year for rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty because of the life-changing results he delivers.
Every patient has Dr. Reish’s personal cell phone number and he takes the...
People from all over the world visit Dr. Richard Reish in New York City each year for rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty because of the life-changing results he delivers.
Every patient has Dr. Reish’s personal cell phone number and he takes the time to text every patient night of their surgery, the morning after, and the weekend after. He maintains a constant stream of communication 365 days a year, including holidays and weekends, because it gives his patients an extra level of reassurance.
Understanding that rhinoplasty is followed by a very individualized recovery, Dr. Reish maintains contact with his patients long after surgery and even delivers extra modalities such as steroid injections during their recovery to ensure they get their dream results.
With a passion for constantly evolving and improving rhinoplasty, Dr. Reish is always developing new techniques and loves teaching residents and fellows the techniques he uses to change lives.
To learn more about Dr. Richard Reish
Follow Dr. Reish on Instagram
ABOUT MEET THE DOCTOR
The purpose of the Meet the Doctor podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you’re making a life changing decision and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be.
When you head into an important appointment more informed and better educated, you are able to have a richer, more specific conversation about the procedures and treatments you’re interested in. There’s no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close.
Meet The Doctor is a production of The Axis.
Made with love in Austin, Texas.
Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who’d like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book a free 30 minute recording session at meetthedoctorpodcast.com.
People from all over the world visit Dr. Richard Reish in New York City each year for rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty because of the life-changing results he delivers.
Every patient has Dr. Reish’s personal cell phone number and he takes the...
People from all over the world visit Dr. Richard Reish in New York City each year for rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty because of the life-changing results he delivers.
Every patient has Dr. Reish’s personal cell phone number and he takes the time to text every patient night of their surgery, the morning after, and the weekend after. He maintains a constant stream of communication 365 days a year, including holidays and weekends, because it gives his patients an extra level of reassurance.
Understanding that rhinoplasty is followed by a very individualized recovery, Dr. Reish maintains contact with his patients long after surgery and even delivers extra modalities such as steroid injections during their recovery to ensure they get their dream results.
With a passion for constantly evolving and improving rhinoplasty, Dr. Reish is always developing new techniques and loves teaching residents and fellows the techniques he uses to change lives.
To learn more about Dr. Richard Reish
Follow Dr. Reish on Instagram
ABOUT MEET THE DOCTOR
The purpose of the Meet the Doctor podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you’re making a life changing decision and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be.
When you head into an important appointment more informed and better educated, you are able to have a richer, more specific conversation about the procedures and treatments you’re interested in. There’s no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close.
Meet The Doctor is a production of The Axis.
Made with love in Austin, Texas.
Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who’d like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book a free 30 minute recording session at meetthedoctorpodcast.com.
People from all over the world visit Dr. Richard Reish in New York City each year for rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty because of the life-changing results he delivers.
Every patient has Dr. Reish’s personal cell phone number and he takes the...
People from all over the world visit Dr. Richard Reish in New York City each year for rhinoplasty and revision rhinoplasty because of the life-changing results he delivers.
Every patient has Dr. Reish’s personal cell phone number and he takes the time to text every patient night of their surgery, the morning after, and the weekend after. He maintains a constant stream of communication 365 days a year, including holidays and weekends, because it gives his patients an extra level of reassurance.
Understanding that rhinoplasty is followed by a very individualized recovery, Dr. Reish maintains contact with his patients long after surgery and even delivers extra modalities such as steroid injections during their recovery to ensure they get their dream results.
With a passion for constantly evolving and improving rhinoplasty, Dr. Reish is always developing new techniques and loves teaching residents and fellows the techniques he uses to change lives.
To learn more about Dr. Richard Reish
Follow Dr. Reish on Instagram
ABOUT MEET THE DOCTOR
The purpose of the Meet the Doctor podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person because you’re making a life changing decision and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be.
When you head into an important appointment more informed and better educated, you are able to have a richer, more specific conversation about the procedures and treatments you’re interested in. There’s no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close.
Meet The Doctor is a production of The Axis.
Made with love in Austin, Texas.
Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who’d like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book a free 30 minute recording session at meetthedoctorpodcast.com.
Eva Sheie (00:03):
The purpose of this podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person, because you're making a life-changing decision, and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be. There's no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close. I'm your host, Eva Sheie, and you're listening to Meet the Doctor. Welcome back to Meet the Doctor. My guest is someone who I've spoken to before, but not on this podcast, is Richard Reish. He's a plastic surgeon in New York. Welcome to the podcast.
Dr. Reish (00:44):
Eva. Thank you so much for having me. It's great to see you again.
Eva Sheie (00:47):
Good to see you again too. You were one of my very first guests when I was experimenting with podcasting and I think probably one of the reasons why I thought it was gonna be a success because the conversation we had back then was so vibrant and I really, it really stood out. So I'm glad to have you back.
Dr. Reish (01:05):
Well, thank you so much.
Eva Sheie (01:06):
You're gonna have to try to top yourself, <laugh>. It's early on Saturday morning. They warned me Dr. Reish is gonna be early. You're a master of your schedule and of efficiency really in making the most of your time, so I really appreciate you being here.
Dr. Reish (01:22):
Well, thank you so much. Yeah, I, I've, I get up super early on the weekends, usually 4:00 AM, go down, get a workout in, get some work done, and then by seven up with the kids. And, uh, but that's, it's all about efficiency, getting stuff done before they wake up.
Eva Sheie (01:37):
And you did that this morning?
Dr. Reish (01:39):
Oh yeah. <laugh>.
Eva Sheie (01:40):
What's your favorite workout?
Dr. Reish (01:41):
I, well, I do two actually. So I, I will go down downstairs in my building and, and do some weights and I walk up the stairs. I live on the 30th floor and then I run all the time as well. So I, uh, two nights a week I will run home from my office. It takes about an hour and 20 minutes.
Eva Sheie (01:56):
How far is that?
Dr. Reish (01:57):
Uh, I don't know, but it's about an hour and 20 minutes worth, worth of <laugh> worth of running. And I talk on the phone. I get all my teleconferences done at the same time.
Eva Sheie (02:05):
While running?
Dr. Reish (02:06):
While running. Transportation, exercise and conferences.
Eva Sheie (02:11):
Are you doing this all on your own or is there like a podcast or someone you listen to to pick up these tips?
Dr. Reish (02:17):
No, I just, over the years, just come up with ideas. You know, for me, it was a few years ago in my practice, things got very busy and I just needed an extra hour and 15 minutes to an hour and a half a day. And that was my major issue. I was coming home, just tons of work to do and I just said, I need to buy back time somehow in my life. I need to just get an extra hour and 15 minutes a day. And so I stopped driving a car and that was, that was the brilliant part. And it just really, really opened up the time for me. I said, how can I get this time back, stop driving a car. I work in the car and, uh, just changed everything about my practice and enabled me to be more free at home and, uh, just life a little bit more.
Eva Sheie (03:00):
It's a very smart way of thinking. There is a show I love called All the Hacks, and I, I actually, I think I thought of you when I heard this one, that there was a CEO on the show who said, anyone who wants to talk to me or come have a meeting with me, he said, I hike up a mountain every week on Friday morning, the same time every Friday, and if you wanna talk to me, come hike the mountain with me. And so people come from all over the place and they do the hike with him and go back down and they get, if they're the only one there, they get like an hour and a half with him or something like that. So
Dr. Reish (03:35):
I love that story. That's so interesting. Yeah. Very similar in, in when I speak to, for instance, my former residents and fellows, you know, we get, we go over cases, get advice for their upcoming cases. I'll schedule it times for when I'm, I'm on a run and uh, they all know this and it's fun though. It just opens up your entire schedule to do so many things that you couldn't do if you just think, how can you do things more efficiently.
Eva Sheie (04:01):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>, I remember giving up television for this exact reason, <laugh> because there wasn't any more time. And I, I had to look really carefully at my schedule and say, where am I losing time? Yeah. Part of this, I think what I don't wanna lose sight of is that you're making more time so that you can focus on what's important. And I don't want to put words in your mouth. Why don't you tell me what those things are, <laugh>?
Dr. Reish (04:29):
Well, the most important thing in my life is family of course. And so I have a two and a half year old boy and a two month old baby girl. And so that is really the reason, you know, why I, number one work so hard, but number two, work so hard to be more efficient so that then when I get home, I can spend time with them on the weekends. I get all my work done before they wake up, just so I can spend the whole weekend with them. And it's, it's really nice. I used to operate on Saturdays, uh, before my son was born. So I operated, I used to operate six full days a week. And after my son was born, I stopped doing Saturdays just so I, I could, I could be free on the weekends with them.
Eva Sheie (05:03):
So you're operating five days a week now?
Dr. Reish (05:05):
Five full days a week, yeah.
Eva Sheie (05:06):
And what level of attention do your patients get from you?
Dr. Reish (05:10):
A hundred percent. So that's the nice part about my job is it doesn't feel like work, it really doesn't. So I love what I do. I focus pretty much on one singular surgery, uh, which is rhinoplasty. I'm just, that's where all my passion is. It's why I think about all the time. I love, I just love this surgery so much. I love my patients. And so it's really nice. One of the major factors in my practice is that level of personal attention. And so every single patient has my personal cell phone number. I text them all the time. Uh, I, as you and I were just discussing, I turned off my phone right, right before we started this, just cuz that phone will never stop vibrating. Because right before I get here, I, I text all my patients Saturday morning. So every single patient I operate on, I text the night of the surgery, the, the morning after, and then all the patients from the week I text, uh, Saturday morning.
(06:04)
And so it's just a constant stream of communication. And it's holidays, it's weekends, it's 365 days a year. But patients really, really appreciate it. I find, and it doesn't, it's not that, you know, as long as, once again it comes down to doing things efficiently. It doesn't feel like it's a, it's a nuisance to me. When I was first in practice and just starting off, all the, all the older surgeons I knew said, don't do that. Don't ever give a patient your your cell phone number. It's gonna ruin your life. Always have the nurses take the call or someone else, or the on-call person. And that just didn't feel right to me. And so I never did that. I, from day one, I always gave everyone my personal cell phone number. Everyone said, oh no, this is such a bad decision. I just love it. I love it on a weekend or a holiday, patient's worried about something, especially in rhinoplasty, it's a very anxiety ridden recovery sometimes for patients and you, it really helps. It can, it can help a patient so much if they can just text you. They text me a little screenshot of how they're doing and I say, oh no, everything's okay. Or Why don't you come on in Monday and we'll, we'll take a look in person. And it just gives that extra level of reassurance to the patient, which I find invaluable.
Eva Sheie (07:13):
I'm sure they appreciate it. So if you're operating five days a week, when are you doing the other stuff? You can't be in surgery all the time.
Dr. Reish (07:21):
Yeah, so it's a great question. So efficiency and scheduling, that's what it all comes down to. So I see all of my follow-ups in between cases and after cases when I'm operating in a hospital, for instance, I'll do virtual consultations before, in between and after cases. Every other Saturday, I do virtual consults as well, uh, from home. We also do in-person consults in the evenings in the office. Just really being efficient with my time. Now the reason that I'm able to do that is because I do pretty much one procedure. Rhinoplasty is all I'm doing. And it's really interesting in that I have such a, a great team around me that we are able to do these cases in a very reliable time sequence. So if you schedule a two hour case and it takes you six hours, you can't run a practice like that. So all of my cases take about the exact same time within about five minutes. And, um, not that we're rushing, we just do it every single day and then having a great team around, you know, just makes a world of difference. So my team is just amazing. They, they help me with everything and it's taken a long time to build up to this point, but it's really a nice setup.
Eva Sheie (08:33):
You started doing these virtual consultations really well during the pandemic. So you did a ton of them, right?
Dr. Reish (08:39):
Yeah, so I, I was doing virtual consultations way before covid, just in general cause we have so many patients on the West coast or overseas who come see us for surgery. But then once covid happened, we really got in the habit of doing the virtual consultations as our primary form of consultation. And patients love it. They're able to do this from home, do it from work. They don't have to take out time from their busy schedules and it's not a burden for them to come into the office, but if they want to come in the office, they always can. But most people just like it more, to be quite honest.
Eva Sheie (09:10):
You've trained a lot of other doctors now and you have a fellowship, people come to spend time a year. Is it a year that they spend with you?
Dr. Reish (09:18):
It's interesting. So we have a residency program. I'm involved in several different forms of teaching. Our group, New York Plastic Surgery Group has our own residency program, which is six years. I also teach the Northwell residents when I operate at Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital. And then we have our meet fellows at Manhattan Eye and Ear and that, that's a year long, uh, fellowship. And so I, I get these three different training programs I'm involved in, which I love, I love to teach. I constantly have students come in the office as well for surgery. So we have always, we have a PA student, we have medical students that come in. I have visiting residents and fellows from other institutions. And then it's really fun as well. I have a lot of visiting surgeons that come see us for surgery. People from different parts of New York City, different parts of the country overseas who I just had a wonderful surgeon from Portugal spend a week with me. It's just really fun to show people our techniques in rhinoplasty and then also exchange knowledge. And plastic surgery is such a small community and it's really fun to get to see other surgeons and sort of teach them the techniques that I do and also learn from them as well.
Eva Sheie (10:25):
The surgery part I'm sure is the most important and that your expertise is being shared with others, but also this patient focused approach that you have that's so different. Do you have any sense of how many other doctors have sort of adopted that way from seeing how you do that?
Dr. Reish (10:43):
Well, it's very interesting. One of the things I'm most proud of is that I think I can say almost every single resident and fellow that I've trained gives people their personal cell phone number. And that just makes me so happy because it just goes to show that what we're doing resonates with the trainees and they see the personal aspect to care and how important it is. They see me in between cases. I'm constantly checking my phone, constantly texting patients, and it's done. So in a way it's not distracting at all. It just, it feels like just part of my day, part of my routine. And you just get a sense when it's just so nice when I see others starting to do that and I get to see sort of the winds change a little bit in that when I was first starting, it was a big no-no.
(11:31)
And now it's becoming a little bit more commonplace to have that personal connection with your patients. And, uh, it just, I can't tell you how many times it's been a weekend and someone else's patient reaches out to me on Instagram and says, oh, I'm, I'm really worried about my nose. It's the weekend. I can't get in touch with my surgeon. And you know, I, I don't want to get involved in any anyone else's care. But I say, well, why can't you know, just contact your surgeon. They say, well, no, I, I don't have, I don't have ability to contact them. And it's really distressing for patients. And you just, once you see the other side of it, then you realize, oh gosh, you know, I'm really, really happy that I do this.
Eva Sheie (12:10):
Are there other things in that same way of doing things that set you apart besides the cell phone? What other kinds of things does your practice do for the patients?
Dr. Reish (12:23):
Well, number one, I'm very lucky in that I have two wonderful PAs. My patients just love them and they're really good at what they do. And so they're very caring towards their patients and they even give their cell phones to, to the patients, which I love. I don't even ask them to do it. They just start doing that.
Eva Sheie (12:37):
You'll just start group messages and <laugh> send memes back and forth. Jokes.
Dr. Reish (12:42):
Well that's, well it's one of the things I'm most proud of is that my PA Rachel Rubin, who's just this incredible injector. So I don't do any Botox or fillers or any injectables myself. I focus solely on surgery and Rachel does all of our injectables and just on her own for her own patients, she gives all of them her cell phone number as well, constantly text them. It's really nice on a Saturday morning for instance, just to have your physician or provider just text you and say, good morning, just checking in to see how you're doing. And it's just, it really has a nice touch to it. I, I feel like sometimes I'm shocked, Eva, that other people just don't do this reflexively in their practices.
Eva Sheie (13:22):
I work with practices all the time who don't even think texts are as important as phone calls or emails. Yeah, they prioritize the other two.
Dr. Reish (13:31):
Well that's,
Eva Sheie (13:32):
It's kind of backwards.
Dr. Reish (13:33):
Yeah. In our practice, one thing we have found is that our front desk, for instance, will call patients. They don't pick up. Yeah, they leave a message, they don't listen to the message. They will come to me and they will say, I'm trying to get in touch with this and this patient about their appointment. They're not getting back to me. And I just say, oh, just text them. I text them immediately, they get back to me. It's just a much more efficient way to do things.
Eva Sheie (13:55):
It's really how we communicate most of the time now. And a, a lot of practices are just behind and, and haven't switched over to that new mindset.
Dr. Reish (14:04):
Well the, the one interesting aspect that I see another side of it in that weekend calls, for instance, some of our trainees take calls our residents. So a patient will call the call center and their call will get transferred to a resident who's on call. The resident doesn't know, the patient doesn't know anything about 'em, the patient doesn't know the resident. So there's just, they're basically playing a middleman for the other surgeon. Then they hang up the phone, call the surgeon, the surgeon doesn't get back to them for hours. Surgeon finally gets back to them and they don't want to talk to the patient, but they want the resident then to talk to the patient. So it's just this archaic game of, of phone tag that just doesn't make any sense to me.
Eva Sheie (14:43):
No, it doesn't.
Dr. Reish (14:44):
It's horrible patient care. And it just would be, everything would be so much easier if you just took a little extra effort and just contacted the patient directly. I think everyone would be so much happier.
Eva Sheie (14:56):
Rhinoplasty is really your passion. You've said that a couple of times. It's not an easy surgery and it's, it's often fraught with a lot of emotion for the patient who's about to do it. They've thought about it, they have to look at their face every day. And it takes a special kind of surgeon to focus on that surgery specifically. And it's sort of like either doctors do it or don't do it. You're either all in or you're all out. So what's happening in the world of rhinoplasty?
Dr. Reish (15:26):
Well, first I love your description. All in or all out. I say, I always say this, there's a saying that I love in plastic surgery, which is jack of all trades, master of none. Means if you have, if you're a surgeon, you say, oh, I do everything head to toe. It means, yeah, you do, but you're not good at anything probably. You're not really a master at anything.
Eva Sheie (15:46):
It's backe up with data too.
Dr. Reish (15:47):
Yeah. And so my first advice, uh, for patients is always find a surgeon who focuses solely on rhinoplasty. This is a very complicated procedure. I believe it's the most difficult procedure in all of plastic surgery. Fraught with the most complications, most revisions, many of which can be avoided by going to someone who's truly an expert in this surgery. So I do a thousand rhinoplasties a year. It's all I do in my practice. It's what I think about. It's what I think about in the morning. It's what I dream about at night. It's just a passion of mine and I love to talk about it, love to teach it. I just to get excited every single day when I'm doing the surgery. It doesn't get boring. It doesn't, I don't go in and say, oh, I'm doing four today and I'm just gonna rush through this.
(16:29)
Want to get to the next one? No, it's every single patient is a challenge in their own way. Patients always ask me and say, oh, well, was my surgery gonna be easy? Is mine gonna be hard? I tell them every single patient's hard for me. Whether it's a primary that seemingly looks easy or it's a person flying from all over the world for their ninth revision. They're all a challenge in their own way. And every nose must be respected. And so for me, the way that I've really developed a niche practice is to just solely focus on this surgery and think about it all the time. Every single patient who comes in for their evaluation after surgery, I am hypercritical on myself and hypercritical on my own results and constantly thinking of ways I can do things better and constantly developing new techniques. And it's really interesting for surgeons who come to visit me.
(17:21)
Even I had someone yesterday visiting from Boston who saw me two years ago and now seeing me today and everything I'm doing has evolved in some type of way from when he was visiting last time. And it's sort of unique in that if you do 20 surgeries a year of rhinoplasty, you're getting your follow-ups very periodically. You're not seeing if what you're doing is truly working. You're probably not changing your technique from the way you were doing it 30 years ago by doing something and seeing it constantly. It's just coming in my office, these patients, I'm constantly, every day I'm seeing 40 patients in follow up and seeing their results and seeing what I can do differently. And doing these little tiny techniques that you just do something slightly different, a little millimeter of change can totally change someone's life essentially with their happiness and their appearance of their nose.
(18:11)
And so one thing that I do, which has really dramatically changed my entire outlook of rhinoplasty is I used to many years ago do cartilage graphs in the tip. And that's a, just a very antiquated way of doing it, in my opinion. Cartilage in the tip. When you do cartilage graphs in the tip, it looks really nice at first. First six months looks great. A year, two years later, total disaster just looks terrible. They're all shriveled up. They look too pointy, they're too over scooped out, too much of a dramatic super tip break. They just look done in my opinion. And so one thing I've changed is I no longer do cartilage graphs in the tip. I only do soft fascial tip graphs. What that means is it's just soft in the tip. It looks so beautiful, so natural, and they look really swollen at first, but later they look amazing. And it's just giving someone that lifelong result that we want. And that's just one of many examples of how I've changed based on ideas I have in the operating room and and how I can implement those ideas and then teach them to other people too.
Eva Sheie (19:19):
You mentioned swelling. I think that's one of the things patients don't expect to last as long as it does with rhinoplasty. And I've heard it takes a year really.
Dr. Reish (19:30):
That's an interesting statement that you said. So here's what I'll tell you. So I totally agree. Swelling is the number one thing I counsel patients on before surgery, after surgery, every single time they text me, every single conversation we have in person or on virtuals, I'm just constantly warning them about the swelling. And traditionally what we're taught in training in textbooks on the internet is that it takes a year to get to the final result. I actually find that just not to be true at all. I tell my patients at least a year and a half, and that's at least longer, usually two years, even longer. If you ask me the real final result, I'd say like five years. The swelling can really last a long time. But it's not a horrible, horrible thing for most patients. But for some patients it's, it's pretty significant.
(20:14)
And that is really truly probably the number one reason why having contact with your surgeon is so beneficial. This can be a very circuitous route on the recovery for rhinoplasty. Every patient's different. I never give charts and say, oh, by this month this percent will be down. I just say, look, everyone's different. It's a very individualized recovery, but you must maintain contact with your surgeon and maintain follow up. So I do steroid injections, I do a lot of things for patients down the road after the surgery to really ensure that they get the result that they're looking for.
Eva Sheie (20:49):
That is really interesting. Are there other things that you think patients don't know about rhinoplasty? What other surprises come up?
Dr. Reish (20:56):
One big thing that I deal with every single day is patients ask me, well, can I get a 3D image of my nose? Can I get a computer generate image of what it's gonna look like before the surgery? I say absolutely not <laugh>. Now there are some good, before I get into this, there are some good surgeons who are good friends of mine who do 3D imaging and I still respect them and think they're wonderful surgeons. What I'm about to say is not in reference to good surgeons doing this stuff. My statements are gonna be in reference to surgeons using 3D imaging as a marketing gimmick to sell surgery. So I tell my patients, unfortunately I hear the same thing in my practice every single day in that I have patients flying in from all over the world for revision rhinoplasty. And sadly that is the number one statement I get told every single day is they felt like they got misled by their previous surgeon into doing the surgery based on 3D imaging.
(21:45)
So what I tell my patients these days, you have to be so much smarter than that. Go on your surgeon's actual website, look at their real before and after gallery. If they only have a few patients in there, do not do surgery with someone like that. It means they don't do this surgery enough. No matter what they may be claiming, doesn't matter how long they've been in practice and who cares if they can hit a button on a 3D image in your nose looks great. It's completely meaningless. What you really want to do is go on your surgeon's website, look at their real before and after gallery. They should have hundreds and hundreds of real non edited, non Photoshop before and after pictures. And if you like, the vast majority of those results, odds are in favor of you being happy with your results as well.
(22:24)
But once again, there are some very good surgeons who I know who do have significant experience and, and great galleries and great results. And they, they, some of them do 3D imaging, but it's not with the intent to sell surgery, it's with the intent of communication education. I'm a purist in this regard in that I don't ever want to think that I'm selling surgery to a patient based on a 3D image. So patients ask me for 3D images, I say, no, I don't do it. I explain why. And then I say, go on my website, find some pictures you like. There's over 600 patients on my website. Find some you like. There's bound to be noses that look very similar to yours. You can screenshot those, send those to me, use those as your examples. I also don't do celebrity photos at all. So a lot of patients will say, well I want my nose to look like this celebrity. And I don't do that all because those photos were all photoshopped and filtered. The celebrities or their, their goal pictures, those people don't even look like they're pictures themselves. So it's not a realistic goal for any patient to present a celebrity filtered photo. I only want patients to use pictures from my own website, which are all real.
Eva Sheie (23:31):
This is the way <laugh> on the other
Dr. Reish (23:34):
Very nice reference.
Eva Sheie (23:35):
Oh yes. Well I still watch a little TV <laugh>. My kids love the Mandalorian.
Dr. Reish (23:40):
I love it too.
Eva Sheie (23:41):
On the flip side of, you know, the side effects, the swelling and the the recovery, there's also tremendous benefits. So what are maybe the top two or three things that patients love about having rhinoplasty that they tell you afterward?
Dr. Reish (23:56):
I mean, Eva, it's just so fun to see these results on the patients. I mean, I just love it. It is so amazing. When I have 16 year old patient come into me and they first come in for consultation, they're not making eye contact, they're shy. And then I see them years later and they're just like a totally different person. They're just gained all this self-confidence and it just puts a smile on my face. It's just incredible. I love that aspect of my job. And then the other thing I I enjoy the most is revision rhinoplasty. When I see patients who've come in and they just, quite frankly, some of them have really, really bad problems. They can't breathe. Their nose is twisted, it's just horrible. I have a patient who underwent three very unfortunate rhinoplasties and she is just the nicest person, but her surgeries really disfigured her in a horrible way, in a life altering manner in which she would wake up every morning and hour and a half would have to apply clay on her nose and then apply makeup on top of the clay just to get outside.
(25:02)
And it just destroyed her life. And this is not one of these situations where, you know, some people say, oh, the patient's over exaggerating. No, this woman had just, she no nose left at all. I mean it was a really, really unfortunately done series of surgeries. And the surgeon had taken her back three times within the same month. It was just, everything about the way it was done was not done appropriately, unfortunately. And left her very disfigured and one of the best things that this woman ever told me. So I did. I actually, when I met her, I, I knew this was gonna be a journey, number one, it was a very difficult surgery. And I told her, we're gonna have to do several surgeries. We now, this is not the standard, you know, this is a very abnormal case. I told her upfront we'd probably end up doing two or three surgeries to her.
(25:46)
We did three over the course of three years. And it's a really neat story in that she told me that one of her biggest regrets in life was that she missed her first son's graduation because she couldn't attend it when he graduated high school. She couldn't attend it cuz she was too embarrassed to be seen in public. And just this year, in fact, she came in my office so proud and had all these beautiful family photos from her second son's high school graduation. And it just, she was in tears. It was just such a beautiful moment. And it's just so incredible to be able to impact someone's life in such a positive way and in the revisions oftentimes it had such a bad toll on these patients' wellbeing. And to be able to help them is really, really rewarding.
Eva Sheie (26:36):
They blame themselves sometimes.
Dr. Reish (26:38):
Sometimes they do, unfortunately.
Eva Sheie (26:39):
For making bad decisions.
Dr. Reish (26:40):
Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes they do. And, and that's one of the aspects of, of our job is some of these surgeries, they're very complicated and we have to also set expectations for patients. I can't ever promise someone perfection. And it's very important as a surgeon before you operate on someone to try to weed out who's gonna be a reasonable patient with appropriate expectations versus some of the patients who have completely inappropriate expectations and will basically never be happy with any result ever. And it's so important to say no to the wrong patient.
Eva Sheie (27:18):
Are the photos of this patient you're talking about, are those on your website or not? No, they're on on Instagram. We can see 'em on Instagram.
Dr. Reish (27:24):
Oh yeah, I'll show it to you. It's, it's actually quite incredible to see.
Eva Sheie (27:28):
What's your Instagram handle?
Dr. Reish (27:30):
It's Dr dot Richard dot Reish.
Eva Sheie (27:33):
Dr dot Richard. Dot Reish. Yeah. For anyone who's listening who wants to go look. Okay, I'll link it in the show notes. You wanna see I, I can't wait to see what you looks like to reference another podcast that I listen to. It's called Founders and it this guy reads, he's a little bit hyper. He reads all the autobiographies and biographies of the most famous business people you can think of like Steve Jobs. He's read every biography of Steve Jobs and then he sums it up for you on the podcast so you don't have to read it. But what he does really well is he starts connecting dots between these people to see what they all had in common. And one of the things is that these very successful people are obsessed with doing one thing and they can't not do the thing that they're obsessed with. And that's you with rhinoplasty. I suspect that if you could not do rhinoplasty, you would be a very, very unhappy person.
Dr. Reish (28:35):
I think that's so interesting that you bring up, I feel the exact same way.
Eva Sheie (28:40):
<laugh>, Someone needs to write a biography of you and then we'll send it to that podcast and he can read it and talk about how you're obsessed with rhinoplasty.
Dr. Reish (28:48):
I love it. <laugh>,
Eva Sheie (28:49):
I'm on it. Before we go, I know you mentioned your kids and they, they take a lot of time in your workouts. What's something about you that we don't know yet, just about you that you do away from work or you know, let us in on one little secret about Dr. Reish.
Dr. Reish (29:09):
Well, it's not a secret. Well I can tell you a couple things I do. Number one, one of the best things in my life is, is my wife, uh, my wife Emily. She's just amazing. She's so supportive and she is the reason why I am able to be so available to my patients. She gets it and it's so important to have a partner in life that gets it for you and is there for you. There's never been a single time ever that she hasn't understood that my work is a priority. It doesn't take priority over my family, but it is a certainly a very important priority. And we've been out to dinner, for instance, in the past or we've been on our way to dinner. I've just suddenly had to cancel the dinner and and go do something for a patient emergency. And so I think it's just so important to in life, have the right partner for whatever it is that you're doing, who's going to support you.
Eva Sheie (30:02):
Well said. If uh, someone wants to reach out, we already gave your Instagram handle. I don't necessarily think you should put your cell phone number on this podcast, but other than that, what is the best way to find out more about you?
Dr. Reish (30:17):
Yeah, really Instagram is is my number one always. Anyone can go on Instagram. It's sort of neat. I try to share a little bit of family life on Instagram as well. You'll get to see on the weekends some nice videos of of my son, me taking him out on the boat or things like that. And then my email, I'm always very available via email. My email address is R R E I S H @ L I P S G.com. Um, I'm very good about emailing as well.
Eva Sheie (30:43):
That stands for Long Island Plastic Surgery Group, which just went through an, a huge celebration and turned 75. So yeah, you're one of the oldest. I know I saw
Dr. Reish (30:53):
That We changed our name to New York Plastic Surgery Group.
Eva Sheie (30:55):
It's apt, it's a good name.
Dr. Reish (30:57):
<laugh>. Yes. Yes. Cuz I don't even, I haven't been to our Long Island office in years. I only practice in our, uh, Park Avenue office on, on the Upper East Side.
Eva Sheie (31:05):
Thank you again for, for being here today and for sharing so much. It's always a privilege.
Dr. Reish (31:09):
Well, thank you so much. I always love everything you do. You're just amazing and it's, uh, so much fun to see you again.
Eva Sheie (31:15):
Thanks, you too. If you are considering making an appointment or are on your way to meet this doctor, be sure to let them know you heard them on the Meet the Doctor podcast. Check the show notes for links including the doctor's website and Instagram to learn more. Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who'd like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book your free recording session at Meet the Doctor podcast.com. Meet the Doctor is Made with Love in Austin, Texas and is a production of The Axis, t h e a x i s.io.