Rhinoplasty (Nose Job) for Gold Coast Patients

Your journey, step by step

Coming from the Gold Coast changes very little about how rhinoplasty works with me. A first consultation in person is ideal, because that is when I examine your nose. If the trip is difficult we can begin by video and do the examination at your second visit.

1. See your GP for a referral. Ask for it to be addressed to Dr Chris Oosthuizen for “assessment for rhinoplasty”. You can send it to my rooms yourself, or your GP can send it for you.
2. Your first consultation: a full examination. Ideally in person at my Springfield rooms. I take your history, hear what you would like to change, and examine your nose inside and out, including a look at your airway with a small camera (video endoscopy). I will tell you honestly what I think can be achieved. If travel is difficult, this first conversation can be by video.
3. Your second consultation: seeing the possibilities. We focus on photo morphing, where I edit your own photographs to show what a change might look like, and I answer your questions. If your first consultation was by video, this is also when I examine your nose.
4. Take time to decide. After the second consultation and signed consent there is a cooling-off period of at least seven days, required by the Medical Board of Australia, before surgery can be booked or a deposit paid.
5. Have your surgery at Mater Private Hospital Springfield.
6. Come back once, seven to ten days later, when I remove the splint and check how you are healing.
7. Keep in touch by video for routine follow-up at six to eight weeks, six months and twelve months, using photographs you send beforehand.

If your first consultation is by video, that means three trips: the second consultation, the operation and the splint review. Meeting in person from the start adds one more.

Getting to Springfield

Springfield Central is about an hour by car from the Gold Coast, and my rooms and the hospital are in the same health precinct.

• My rooms: Greater Springfield Specialist Suites, Suite 505, Level 5, 2 Wellness Way, Springfield Central. Parking and public transport details are on the Springfield rooms page.
• The hospital: Mater Private Hospital Springfield, 30 Health Care Drive, Springfield Central.
• If you would like to stay nearby: Quest Springfield Central is at 4 Wellness Way, in the same precinct. I mention it because it is close, not as a recommendation.

If another location suits you better, I also consult at Indooroopilly and Ipswich, and operate at Westside Private Hospital in Taringa and Herston Private Hospital in Bowen Hills. I do not consult on the Gold Coast itself. If anything worries you once you are home after surgery, call my rooms on (07) 3202 4636 and we will arrange to see you if needed.

What it costs

A rhinoplasty involves three separate accounts: my fee, the anaesthetist’s fee and the hospital’s fee. After your consultation you receive an itemised written quote covering all three, so you know exactly where you stand before you decide anything. The cost of rhinoplasty explains how each is set and what is included.

If your breathing is part of the problem

Rhinoplasty done purely to change how the nose looks is not covered by Medicare or private health funds. Where there is also a breathing problem, a Medicare rebate may apply if the criteria are met: a NOSE Scale score above 45, or a significant acquired, congenital or developmental deformity. Your health fund may then pay part, if your cover is adequate. I check your airway at every consultation, so a breathing problem is picked up even if it is not why you came. You can read more about functional rhinoplasty and septoplasty.

If you have had rhinoplasty before

If an earlier operation did not give you the result you hoped for, or your breathing has been worse since, the same steps apply. Revision rhinoplasty explains how a second operation is assessed and planned.

About me

I am a Specialist Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon and a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. My adult practice is devoted to surgery of the nose, for both function and appearance, including revision surgery.

Qualifications: MBChB, MSc, MRCSI, DOHNS, FRCSI (ORL-HNS), FRACS (ORL-HNS)

AHPRA registration: MED0002054579, Specialist registration in Surgery, Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery.

You can read more about my training on the about page, and see photographs of my own patients, each labelled with the time since surgery, in the gallery. When you are ready, send an enquiry or call my rooms on (07) 3202 4636.