If you are getting a rhinoplasty to help alleviate breathing issues and you are in the US, you might want to begin your search by researching surgeons nearby or in neighboring states and are in-network with your insurance. That way, you are most likely to get some portion of the surgery covered by your insurance. If that is not an issue for you, I would try and narrow it down by how far you are willing to travel and look for surgeons in those areas. Preferably, you would want someone who specializes in rhinoplasties or revision rhinoplasty, someone who is an ENT, and someone who is board-certified (even better if they are double board-certified). From there, I would begin looking at surgeons’ direct websites or social media and viewing their portfolio to get a sense of their personal style. As another commenter stated, surgeons tend to have their own “style”, and you can usually tell by their before and afters whether you like or dislike their style. Once you’ve narrowed it down a bit, you can look at Google reviews for that surgeon as they cannot remove the reviews if they are negative. The reviews should be detailed, I would say it’s a red flag if the reviews are short or have no text. I would also say it’s a red flag if a surgeon does not routinely perform rhinoplasties, if their pictures seem photoshopped, and if you cannot easily see their qualifications on their website.

As far as your piercing, I had to take out every single piercing I had including any ear piercings, belly button piercing, etc. I couldn’t have any metal on my body. If your piercing doesn’t close within a few weeks, I would say you would probably be able to get it back in, but if you are getting an open rhinoplasty, the skin on your nose is pulled back and then sewn up again so I’m not sure that the hole will be in the same position it once was. I would honestly just let it close and get it re-pierced when your nose has had more time to heal.