I'm a 33-year-old man who had a nasal bone fracture when I was young. I had surgery at the ENT department of a university hospital, and I think it's been almost 15 years? maybe more. After the nasal bone fracture, I naturally got confirmed for the full 3-piece functional nose set + deviated nose (nasal valve stenosis, deviated septum, rhinitis). My cosmetic concerns are a severe hump, droopy nose, and an inward-turned nose (first heard this while going to consultations..), and because my nasal dorsum is wide, my already low bridge looks even lower. (At this point, from studying here, I had already accepted that osteotomy would be needed)
After deciding on rhinoplasty, I called all the famous places and packed all the consultations within 1 month, went to about 8 places, and went to around 5 places in Gangnam and Apgujeong. Most of these places took CT scans.
I guess my 3-piece functional nose issues were very clear lol Most of the hospitals I consulted treated me like a total VIP lol (This wasn't the case at places without an ENT specialist! They only consulted me about cosmetic rhinoplasty)
As I went around for consultations, there was even a place where I consulted with 4 people including the doctor. I was also getting functional nose surgery, but the nose shape (cosmetic) was more important to me, and with most hospitals, I strongly felt like they wanted to force the 3 functional nose procedures in no matter what.
Even the insurance-related consultant? came in and was making a strategy(?) tailored to my insurance. Because my indemnity medical insurance is a very old policy, maybe the payout is easier than with newer insurance, they even looked over the insurance terms in detail and planned it for me.. I felt like I was getting an insurance enrollment consultation lol
Anyway, my mindset was "as long as they build my nose well, that's enough," but as I went around, the consultations and surgery prices felt like they were treating me too much like an easy mark... hmm... (There was even one place that was 5.5 million for the 3 functional nose procedures + 3.2 million for cosmetic.. I thought I heard wrong hahahahahaha) No matter how much my nose is a total mess with all 3 functional issues, I went to a plastic surgery clinic because I have cosmetic ambitions too, right.. If I only wanted to fix nasal function, I would've gone to a university hospital ENT department....
In the end, after visiting everywhere, I narrowed it down to 4 places ㅂ, ㅂㄷㄴ, ㅂㄹㅋ, ㅈㅇㅈ
I do think there is a reason why famous places with lots of people are like that. I'm not saying places with no people or new clinics are bad.
1. They are systematic (to put it negatively, mechanical OR factory-style) Honestly, my nose is one and only to me, but from the plastic surgery clinic's standpoint, it's just one out of 100 noses, one out of 1,000 noses. That is the fact, but I think the difference is whether, at least during the consultation, they use the time entirely for my nose, or whether they don't invest much time because of the value of their own time.
2. They have done a lot As mentioned above, someone who has done 100 noses, 1,000 noses will probably, even if I think my nose is a very special case, definitely have overlap with noses they've done before, and they must have a concept of the expected shape or the shape that suits me, right? When you're a newbie, you're full of rebellious individuality like, why don't they do it this way? couldn't this be done too? but once you build experience, it's like you realize all these methods are more or less the same and in the end the choice closest to the right answer is already set?
First of all, maybe because ㅂ, ㅂㄷㄴ, ㅂㄹㅋ, ㅈㅇㅈ are famous clinics, all of them fit number 1. But I filtered out the systematic yet factory-style places (where several doctors mass-produce). It's not that factory-style places can't do surgery well, but I thought it would be troublesome if the doctors assigned to me changed, so I passed on ㅈㅇㅈ.
The next thing I considered was number 2. At ㅂ, I could tell they had done a lot, but the doctor who consulted me felt like they were reading from a script, like first let me finish everything I have to say, then I'll take questions, so I felt anxious, like "Will this doctor really remember my nose among all those countless noses...?" The price was also too expensive. (Thinking about it now, that was also an efficient consultation. Since if I'm doing it implant-free by only taking septal cartilage for functional rhinoplasty, the limit of how much my nose can be raised in my condition is already set. Ear cartilage +@ seems to be the variable. But at the time of consultation, osteotomy also had an extra cost +@, so I thought I should look into more.)
I had high expectations for ㅂㄹㅋ and ㅂㄷㄴ because both specialize in noses, and sure enough, I definitely felt that if you're doing a nose, you should go to a place with "nose" in the clinic name. It was a consultation where I felt the number 2 mentioned above, "the choices closest to the right answer are already set." The surgery plans suggested by the doctors at the two clinics were almost identical.
Droopy nose when smiling - this is a phenomenon controlled by facial muscles, so it is hard to solve with the nose alone Hump - if I want a straight nose, it does need to be shaved down, but only minimally Nose height - there is a limit without an implant. First use the septal cartilage, and if it's not enough, use ear cartilage too, but it doesn't seem likely to be insufficient. They will raise it as much as possible Wide nasal dorsum + deviated nose -> osteotomy
Here, the cost was a little better at ㅂㄷㄴ. So between these two, I decided without hesitation. Bringing in ear cartilage is also necessary, and if I want it, they'll use it, and the fact that there was no extra cost also tempted me.... Some other places charge extra..
After paying the deposit and scheduling, I wondered if I should look into other hospitals too, but after looking at a lot of before-and-after photos, I became more certain.
The trend in nose shape / my nose base / whether or not an implant is used
I realized there are limits within these 3 factors. At consultation, I wanted "no implant," planned to follow the "straight nose" trend, and knew "my nose base," so instead of bringing photos of a celebrity nose I wanted, I brought before-and-after photos where the before looked most similar to my nose and the after was the one I liked most, and consulted with those.
It only made me more convinced that this choice is the best. What feels a little regrettable is that both ㅂㄹㅋ and ㅂㄷㄴ are clinics with nose in the name, and their surgery plans and judgments about my nose condition overlapped a lot, so I kind of wanted to compare those two places..? If I had 2 noses, I might have wanted to entrust one nose to each of those two places.
Anyway, I paid the deposit at ㅂㄷㄴ last month, and my surgery is tomorrow. I hope I can come back soon with a surgery review/after photos. I'm nervous.