Nichkova Olga Yurievna
Department: plastic surgery Plastic surgeon, head of department, clinic on Kuibysheva St., 10 Experience in plastic surgery for more than 16 years Since 2004 - full member of the Society of Plastic Reconstructive Aesthetic Surgeons of Russia (OPREH). Since 2011 - full member of ISAPS. Professional activity: From 1997 to 2002 - surgeon at the Regional Oncology Center in the department of general oncology (department of pathology of the mammary glands, skin, soft tissues, musculoskeletal system, etc.) in Yekaterinburg. From 2002 to 2004, clinical residency in the specialty “Plastic Surgery” at the Department of Plastic Surgery of the Medical Academy of Postgraduate Training in St. Petersburg. From 2005 to 2008 - plastic surgeon at City Hospital No. 41 LLC in the department of plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery and the department of mammology. From 2008 to the present - plastic surgeon, since 2022 - head of the plastic surgery department of Medical
Internships: 2004 -Intensive course in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Rhinoplasty, augmentation mammoplasty, liposuction, breast reconstruction, surgical facial rejuvenation. Moscow 2004 - Intensive course on plastic and aesthetic surgery at the International Symposium on Current Issues of Aesthetic Surgery. Ekaterinburg 2006 — Ninth intensive course in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Ligature surgery of the face and mammary glands. Surgery of involutional changes in the face and mammary glands. Moscow city. 2006 - Fourth international course in plastic surgery. Rejuvenating operations of the face and neck. Mammoplasty. Ekaterinburg 2008 - Fifth international conference "Problems of diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer", St. Petersburg 2008 - First international conference "Plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery of the breast", St. Petersburg 2008 - Fifth international course on plastic surgery . Anti-aging facial surgery. Body contouring: reduction mammoplasty, abdominoplasty, liposuction, lipofilling, Yekaterinburg 2011 - “ISAPS-St.Petersburg Course”, St. Petersburg 2011 - Intensive course on reconstructive surgery for breast cancer, Russian Cancer Research Center named after. Blokhina, Moscow 2011 Master class “Training in the technique of face lift using SILHOUETTE LIFT threads”, Moscow 2012 Training course on the use of the drug “AQUALYX”, Yekaterinburg 2012 Master class “Training in the technique of face lift using threads SILHOUETTE SOFT", Yekaterinburg 2012 - Seventh international course in plastic surgery. Anti-aging facial surgery. Body contouring Ekaterinburg 2013 - Third International ISAPS training course on plastic surgery. St. Petersburg 2013 - Sixth Master Class on transaxillary video-assisted augmentation mammoplasty, Kazan 2014 - Eighth International Course by S.V. Nudelman in plastic surgery. Ekaterinburg 2015 - Master class Endotine lift in the practice of a plastic surgeon. Cadaver course. Alicante. Spain. 2015 - Minimally invasive and non-invasive technologies in facial rejuvenation (practical course with anatomical part), St. Petersburg State Medical University named after. Pavlova, St. Petersburg 2015 - Learning by Doing after Masters of Plastic Surgery, Hands on Dissection Course, cadaver course, Medical University of Vienna. Vienna, Austria 2015 - Third International School of Mammoplasty in Kazan 2016 - Latest advances in nasal reconstruction, EMC, Moscow 2016 - Training course "Innovative methods of facial rejuvenation" Bryan Mendelson, Australia 2016 - Intensive training course “Liposculpture: from autoaugmentation to fat grafting of the buttocks.” Clinic "Abriel" with the support of the Department of Plastic Surgery of the Faculty of Professional Education of St. Petersburg State Medical University named after. Pavlova, St. Petersburg 2016 - Brussels University Hospital, Brussels University Hospital, on-the-job training with Professor M. Hamdi, Belgium 2016 - The 23rd Biennial Congress of ISAPS, Kyoto, Japan. 2016 - Master class by Professor Gagarina S.V. "Torsoplasty - surgical correction of body contours after weight loss." Moscow, Institute of Plastic Surgery and Cosmetology, Moscow 2022 - Seminar “Complex Rhinoplasty” led by Enrico Robotti, Italy 2022 - International Conference “Moden Rhinoplasty: Effective Techniques and Innovations”, St. Petersburg 2022 - Training course “Endoscopic facial rejuvenation. Aesthetic rhinoplasty. Correction of body contours." Professor Oscar M. Ramirez, USA
Higher education. Graduated from the Ural State Medical Academy in 1996 with a degree in General Medicine, with the qualification “Doctor”
Additional education: 1996-1997 - internship in the specialty "Surgery" at the USMA 2000 - advanced training course "Oncology" at the USMA 2002-2004 - clinical residency in the specialty "Surgery (plastic surgery)" at the SPMA of postgraduate education 2003 - advanced training course " Surgery and Combustiology" in SPMA postgraduate education 2007 - professional retraining in the specialty "Maxillofacial Surgery" in the USMA 2010 - advanced training course "Oncology and Clinical Radiology" in the USMA 2012 - professional retraining in the specialty "Plastic Surgery" in the ChelSMA 2016 - course advanced training “Plastic surgery” at South Ural State Medical University 2022 – advanced training course “Plastic surgery” at the ANO DPO “Academy of Medical Education”
Why do Americans go to Yekaterinburg for plastic surgery?
American implants are considered the highest quality among doctors Photo: Anna Mayorova © URA.RU
Plastic surgeries in Yekaterinburg remain popular even during the crisis. Patients from the USA and Europe come here to change their appearance; clients begin to understand the terms as well as doctors and no longer persuade doctors to make lips “like a duck’s.” Medical plastic surgeon Olga Nichkova, in an interview with URA, RU, told what Urals people like to change about themselves and in what cases she dissuades them from this.
Medical plastic surgeon Olga Nichkova has been in medicine since 1997. She worked in a cancer center for five years. But then she went into plastic surgery to, as she says, “not just remove, but restore.”
-How has plastic surgery changed recently?
-Plastic surgery is becoming more gentle. Now, through a small incision in the temple area, you can lift almost the entire face up to the chin using special fiber optics - very small instruments on long knitting needles. And there are almost no scars left.
Olga Nichkova is a plastic surgeon with 20 years of experience in medicine.
Photo: Anna Mayorova © URA.RU
-Have you felt the economic crisis?
-No, the flow of clients does not seem to have decreased. I do almost all plastic surgery. Most people seek facelifts, reduction or enlargement of the mammary gland with the help of implants, facial lipofilling, installation of a chin implant, plastic surgery of the ears, and plastic surgery of the nose. We are engaged in buttock enlargement.
-Do many clients enlarge their buttocks? Are these young or older patients?
-There are many operations, today there was one. It varies by age. The oldest patient to date was 53 or 54 years old. One man once came for a consultation. But he went to think and hasn’t returned yet. But he was a little unconventional.
-Do you offer intimate surgery?
-I only work with women. This includes plastic surgery of the labia, recovery after childbirth, and so on. There are a number of patients who are interested in restoring their virginity. Basically, these are patients of eastern nationalities, where this is somehow checked before the wedding.
-And how often do they restore virginity?
-I can't say that often. Because starting life with some kind of deception is probably not very good. Although all sorts of situations happen. At least they can be helped.
According to Nichkova, it is important for a plastic surgeon to constantly communicate with foreign colleagues
Photo: Anna Mayorova © URA.RU
-One of the most popular memes on the Internet is “Duckface” - when a girl has very pumped up lips. Has the fashion for strange transformations passed? What's popular today?
-This fashion is already going away. As for the face, now everyone is trying to look natural. Fresh, rested. After such operations, people are approached with the question: “Did you go on vacation?” Breast augmentation is still popular. If previously a second size was enough, now they often ask for a fourth. Even if the girl’s body is completely fragile.
-Describe a modern portrait of your patient?
-Self-sufficient woman 34-60 years old, often managers, often young mothers. With the advent of new technologies, younger customers began to turn. Previously, people came for facelifts at, say, 60 years old. Now - at 35-40 years old, as soon as small age-related changes begin.
Of the total number of patients, 15 percent are men. The most common problem is breast enlargement - gynecomastia. There are also athletes who take anabolic steroids or after testosterone injections, after which their breasts grow, if they do not take special drugs.
Patients have also become literate and knowledgeable. They usually know about different surgical techniques. They look on the Internet to see how operations are performed. They come and dictate what to do. There was once a Russian patient living in the USA who recommended that I perform a breast lift using an inferolateral pedicle, and she wrote me its name in Latin. This was unexpected for me.
Foreigners began to use the services of Russian medicine
Photo: Anna Mayorova © URA.RU
-Do people come to you from the States for treatment? But what about the stereotype that America is the pinnacle of medicine, and Russia is much lower?
-We have many Russian patients living in other countries. Firstly, they trust us more. Secondly, we offer prices much lower than in the same States.
Russia is at a good level. We constantly go to international conferences. For example, I was at a congress in Japan in October 2016. The Russian speakers had very worthy reports, and we did not look like the younger brothers and sisters of the civilized world.
-Do you undergo gender reassignment operations?
-I can’t say that there were a lot, but there were a few people. We are only doing part of the transformation. When transforming from a woman to a man, we remove the mammary glands, and gynecologists then remove the uterus and ovaries. But such patients always come after a psychiatric examination with a diagnosis of transsexualism.
-I wonder if we have a “black market” for plastic surgery in Yekaterinburg? Doctors work illegally, supply cheap products for their patients...
-I know that sometimes doctors who do not work as plastic surgeons install implants. But I can’t judge how big this market is. Probably not very much. After all, our city is not such a big one, and patients are now very literate.
There are no low-quality products in our center. For many years we have been cooperating only with manufacturers from the USA. Such implants will last for many years. Nobody wants to come in and change implants every two years.
-Is there room for your center to expand?
-If in terms of professional qualities, then you can expand endlessly. Because there are always surgeons who are higher level than you. So I will continue to study rhinoplasty. For now, I only perform operations on the tip of the nose, and then I will be able to correct it completely - change its shape. There you need to break bones and redo the partition.
Olga Nichkova is able to refuse surgery to some patients
Photo: Anna Mayorova © URA.RU
-What is the main difference between the medical center and similar centers?
-The center is small, and this has its advantage. We don’t have such a large flow, we have time for each person. There is one nurse per 8-10 patients, and not per 30, as in a large hospital. Plus, I do all the dressings myself, I re-examine clients myself, and not a nurse, as in large centers. It is possible to have full contact with the patient before, during, and after the operation. We also adapt to the patient’s diet. It turns out to be quite a homely atmosphere. Moreover, we have the same equipment as in a large hospital.
-Before gender reassignment surgeries and before other surgeries, do you try to somehow dissuade clients from undergoing surgery and in what cases?
-If a person comes with a diagnosis of “transgender”, it is not my job to dissuade him. Psychiatrists worked with him for a month or longer. If a patient comes and surgery is not indicated for him, of course, I don’t take him. For example, I have a girl who, at 32 years old, asked for a full facelift because she wanted to look 18. Well, I didn’t take her. You can't operate endlessly. In 10 years she will want to do it again, then again. And there are scars left in the tissues, there may be displacement of the nerves, which can be dangerous with several repeated operations.
-Do the problems that clients come to you with cause them a lot of problems in their lives? Can they be resolved after surgery?
-Well, they change a lot even after such a small operation as otoplasty. That is, the elimination of protruding ears. I remember a situation back in 2005, a boy - his ears stuck out very much. They stuck out, and the face looked stupid. I couldn’t get a job anywhere, they only hired me as a water delivery driver. And after the operation he came back in a suit a month later. He said he got a job as a manager somewhere. I think I just gained self-confidence.
