3-week review of natural no-implant rhinoplasty

I got a lot of help from this community when I was deliberating about rhinoplasty, so I’m posting a review! My nose had been a complex for me since middle school. I had no money and surgery was scary, so I thought I’d just live with it as it was, but after entering college I became more and more interested in appearance and my mental stress got worse and worse, so I eventually decided to get cosmetic surgery Since I live in a provincial area, it was hard to visit a lot of hospitals, so I worked hard online through this community and café searches. Every day I spent hours searching things like rhinoplasty methods, differences by cartilage type, and causes of contracture or inflammation, and I think I studied rhinoplasty harder than for exams In the end, I chose the hospital after considering two things: 1. A result that doesn’t look obviously operated on and suits my face naturally 2. No revision surgery, minimal risk of side effects I especially cared about number 2. You’re getting surgery in a big effort to fix a complex, so if contracture happens and it turns out worse than before, that would be a disaster, right?? In fact, my parents were against cosmetic surgery, but because of the stress I gave up trying to persuade them and pushed ahead on my own, so I felt even more strongly that this had to be finished properly in one go. I booked consultations at about three places, and the first place I went to was Mint. My stress was really, really bad.. But from the manager on, everyone felt kind and thorough in their explanations, so my first impression was good, and above all the director was extremely honest, which gave me confidence. My original nose had a noticeably sunken columella, and although it’s difficult to get an ideal nose shape even with surgery, they said that by lowering the columella as much as possible and combining it with alar retraction correction, they could improve the drooping shape into a more typical nose shape. They also said alar reduction would look much better aesthetically, but because my nostrils are narrow, reducing them too would make breathing harder, so they did not recommend it. It was exactly the same as the reviews I had found while researching! People say the director pursues naturalness and safety rather than just a flashy result, and that seemed to fit the direction I wanted, so I canceled my other consultations and set a surgery date. I had surgery using ear cartilage and septal cartilage with no implant, and the next day they removed the tube that had been left in to drain blood and the compression gauze on my ear, and on day 2 they removed the packing! The first two days were so hard that I seriously regretted having surgery.. Breathing was difficult, my mouth was completely dry, and even drinking water was uncomfortable On top of that, because I had to travel from the provinces to Seoul every day, I was exhausted. Since it’s important to rest well after surgery, if you live outside the city, make sure to book accommodation and stay nearby until day 2 🥺🥺 Once the packing came out, I felt so much better that from then on I kept waiting nervously, hoping the results would turn out well~ The top two pictures are my nose before surgery, and the ones below are from the day the splint and stitches were removed after one week, and a recent photo from three weeks later. Before, when seen from the side, the alar base drooped so much that the columella was basically not visible at all, right? The shape has improved so much, hasn’t it? I’m completely satisfied because it seems to have come out naturally and well!! The scar has already faded enough that makeup can cover it sufficiently, and I met a friend who had no idea I’d had surgery. They only said my facial features look sharper or that I seem to have lost a lot of weight Although it’s not a flashy celebrity-style nose, my face is round and gentle-looking, and if I had added silicone and raised it too much, I don’t think it would have suited me. Just enough to fix the complex without being excessive makes me happy… I still have no side effects, and they say swelling takes a long time to go down completely, so I’m going to keep taking good care of it until the end! I already like the shape, and once all the swelling goes down, it’ll probably look even better, right?! If you have any questions, leave a comment and I’ll answer as much as I can! I hope everyone chooses their hospital well, succeeds with surgery on the first try, and becomes prettier ❤️