I went for a removal consultation because I was unhappy with the shape and felt discomfort. It was a case of dorsal hump smoothing plus autologous costal cartilage.
I came in because I was unhappy with the shape, had discomfort, and could see cartilage through the skin.
1. [Clinic A] Consultation time: about 40 minutes Autologous costal cartilage removal + cartilage repositioning (non-dissolving sutures) If only removal is done, the tip of the nose can look pressed down. In most cases with a hump nose, the tip is already set lower, so my nose likely was too. They said they would improve it into a straight line while repositioning the cartilage.
It can also be done with dissolving sutures, but since they only last about 2 months and can collapse if the area gets hit before it settles, the rule is to use non-dissolving sutures.
It is uncommon, but if there is a dip because tissue at the tip has been lost, they would use ear cartilage. Any crookedness would also be corrected as the nose lowers. However, because there were no photos, they could not say for sure.
The scar was also severe, so scar revision would be done together by cutting out the incision area and stitching it again. They seemed very confident about scars, and apparently had even written papers related to scars. That was about the consultation.
2. [Clinic B] Consultation time: 10 to 15 minutes? The discussion ended when the manager came in midway. They first talked about lowering the columella with autologous costal cartilage rather than full removal. With this clinic, there would be no chance of a tip hollow after full removal. But I saw a review here where hollowing happened after surgery, so I have some doubts. If full removal were done, they would reposition the cartilage, and it could look quite spread out. On ultrasound, the autologous costal cartilage looked very thickly placed. The cartilage visibility would likely continue for at least 1 to 2 years, and it would protrude and show more over time. As for the crookedness, there is already facial asymmetry, and it probably looked more crooked because the nose tip had been raised too much. If removed, the crookedness would not stand out much.
I like option 1 better, and I like that they answered my questions in detail, but there are not many reviews, and the manager talks way too much, which is mentally exhausting .. And the fact that they might use ear cartilage makes me even more uncertain .. If anyone here has consulted with them or had surgery, please tell me whether ear cartilage was used ..!