I'm posting a review about 2 weeks after removing the silicone.
For my first surgery, I had silicone + septal cartilage inserted, and I was really satisfied with the shape. But it gradually started lifting, and then contracture developed. I didn't have acute inflammation or anything, so I really had no symptoms, but one day an older classmate told me my nostrils were very visible, and that's how I found out. It had just slowly lifted over 2 and a half years.
So at the same hospital, about 2 and a half years later, they did revision surgery for me, charging only the anesthesia fee + ear cartilage harvesting fee. They placed a thin silicone implant of about 2 mm, and used ear cartilage + septal cartilage. It came down a lot and my nostrils weren't very visible, so I was somewhat satisfied, but I guess silicone really didn't suit me. It lifted again, and from around month 8, the tenderness and headaches became really severe. Also, as the nasal bridge seemed to get a bit lower? the nasal tip looked too high. And one side started looking pinched, and the asymmetry looked quite bad.
So while looking into total removal, I went to consultations at about 4 hospitals. ㅊㅁ ㄱㄹㅇㅅㅇㅇㅇ ㅋㅂㅈ ㅍㄹㅁ But the things each hospital said were all different. Two places recommended total removal, and two places recommended revision surgery. Even worse, the three places that took CT scans told me my nasal bone had been shaved away, and I really felt like the sky was falling. Even as I'm writing this now, I'm tearing up a bit. They said there is that kind of surgical method, so I thought that if I removed it, my nasal bridge would really collapse. But at the hospital that didn't take a CT, the doctor examined it by touch and said that CT doesn't show everything, and that the nasal bone can be hidden by the shadow of the silicone. They said that by palpation, my nasal bone had not been shaved away. And after looking at the shape of my nose, they said my nasal structure was probably one where inserting silicone would inevitably cause inflammation, and told me never to put silicone in again. I think I felt really relieved then. So I was thinking of doing total removal at the place that told me that, but my mom said, instead of opening up and disturbing the nose for now, how about removing only the silicone with a closed approach, and then after it stabilizes later, we can do revision surgery or total removal. I agreed with that idea too, so I decided to first remove the urgent silicone, and the place where I had the surgery removed it for free. The introduction got too long. First of all, I only removed the silicone. When they opened it, the inflammation wasn't very severe and the capsule was thin, so they left it in place. If I have revision surgery later, I think they may remove it then. And I asked if they could lower the nasal tip a bit to match it, and I think they shaved it down quite a lot within what was possible. There wasn't much of a step-off either. They said they would take a lot of care with it.
For now, I don't have tenderness or headaches. What's interesting is that as the swelling went down, the pinched look also improved a lot. I think I had less cheek skin on the right side, and it got pinched when the height was raised. As the nasal tip was lowered, there was more room again, so the pinching became less noticeable. I still occasionally feel something strange, but seeing that it's gradually going away, I think it will probably disappear completely. After I finished the one-week course of painkillers and antibiotics, the pain came back, so I thought, oh, is there inflammation left? But it gradually went away. On the other hand, when the splint first came off, my nostrils were barely visible and the nose had come down, but as the swelling in the nasal bridge went down a lot, it lifted a little again. It may be the contraction phase, or the lowered look may have just been swelling. Still, the lifting isn't that severe, but I am worried, so I decided to visit the hospital on Monday. Oh, one thing that was kind of interesting was around day 10? I could vividly feel a headache moving along the blood vessels in my head. It was a strange experience. It was gone after I slept and woke up. However, because of chronic inflammation, it seems my septal cartilage melted a bit. The beginning of the columella? has curled inward. This gradually curled after the revision surgery, so I don't think it's solely because of the removal. Maybe after it stabilizes in half a year or a year, I'm planning to have only the nasal tip lowered again and have the columella brought out at another hospital. Not many hospitals do columella work, so I think I need to go somewhere more specialized. I didn't have a problem with the nasal tip, so this much? I am willing to do again.
What I want to say is that not everything every hospital says is correct, and I don't think CT is always accurate either. And although the surgery I had caused a lot of trouble, this was due to my congenital? constitution + structural issue, so I don't really want to blame the hospital. At first I resented them a lot, but then I thought, what's the point of blaming someone? It was an issue with my own nose. I think you need to have a high level of understanding of your own nose. That made me feel a bit more reassured. Please go to a looooot of consultations, really. Listen to all the explanations about your nose, see what makes sense, and remember the points that are mentioned in common. Regarding the pinched look, even the hospital that explained my nasal structure was wrong. Worrying too hastily just seems to increase neuralgia for no reason. Caution is good, but I recommend putting worry aside for a while. If you ask about the hospitals where I had consultations, I'll answer. But I don't think I'll give information about the hospital where I had surgery. I still don't know the prognosis, and I don't think it's a nose-specialty hospital, so I feel it's also hard to recommend. I hope everyone looks into things thoroughly, chooses a good hospital, and gets good results. I'll probably leave another review when I feel things have stabilized or if there are changes. Thank you for reading this long post :)
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