First, let me talk about my specs and what I wanted. 1. Crooked nose (rhinitis) 2. Dorsal hump 3. Tip of the nose (slightly lift it and reduce the width) I want to fix those three things!
Before the consultations, I had a few criteria for narrowing down the clinics: 1. A clinic that could do both functional and cosmetic nose surgery 2. Whether insurance reimbursement was possible 3. Whether there was an anesthesiology specialist 4. What kind of aftercare they offered 5. Whether A/S was available 6. Whether there was CCTV and whether it could be reviewed I chose the places based on those criteria, and because my nasal bridge is relatively high, I wanted them to use an implant as little as possible and pursue a natural look.
1. ㅇㄹㅂ(ㅗㄹㅣㅡ)-ㅂㅈㅅ This was the first place I went to. I had called on the day itself without a consultation reservation, and they said the director might have some time after surgery, so I went right away. Like everywhere else, the consultation went in the order of manager-director-manager, and after arriving I waited about 10 minutes before going to get a CT. After that I had a consultation with the manager, but I got a strong impression that the manager was not very professional, so I had already started to feel a bit turned off. During the director consultation, you could tell he had done a lot of surgeries. He could see immediately what the problem was and pointed out exactly the things I wanted. *Surgery* He said that if the dorsal hump were shaved down by 2 mm, the nasal bone would become too thin and a hole could form, so he would correct it together with osteotomy for the crooked nose and fill it in that way. He also said the septal deviation was severe and the bone had grown out in a strange way, so we should do rhinitis surgery at the same time. He said he would use the septum for the tip. *Cost* I don’t remember exactly, but with insurance reimbursement it was around 4 million won. *Other* Honestly, I don’t remember this one very well. It was the first place I went, and in the manager consultation my trust level dropped too much, plus shaving down the hump that much felt excessive to me by my standards. Also, there was no anesthesiology specialist... (and there weren’t many people either). So I couldn’t really hear the explanation well... haha. I’ll stop here.
2. ㅈㅇㅈ(ㅣㅐㄴㅣ)-ㄱㅎㅇ This was the only large hospital among the three, so it felt a bit factory-like. But it is famous for functional nose surgery. The wait here was pretty long too, more than 30 minutes maybe? The CT and photos were also not great because the staff weren’t very considerate. My eyesight is really bad, so without glasses I’m basically blind, but even when taking photos I felt they weren’t kind in telling me where to look, and after the CT, while waiting outside, they were singing and chatting among themselves inside... it didn’t look good. After that, I had the consultation with the manager first, but there wasn’t anything special there, and I think the consultation with the director went quite long! *Surgery* He said he would shave only 1 to 1.2 mm off the hump and raise the tip. He explained everything in detail while looking at the CT and photos. What I first learned here was that as soon as he saw the CT, he asked if I had ever broken my nose as a child! When I said I had been hit by a ball when I was 7 or 8, he said I must have broken it then. I had lived all this time without knowing... haha. Anyway, he explained my bone and cartilage deviation and said he would use donated rib cartilage. Honestly, that was where I immediately cooled off. The explanation was all good and I liked it, but he said he would use donated rib cartilage to raise the tip, and for the lower support he would use PVC or something... I’m not exactly sure, but it was a foreign material. The moment I heard that, it was an instant no. It seems they don’t use ear cartilage here. *Cost* If using donated rib cartilage, it was around 2.5 million won including insurance reimbursement. If using autologous rib cartilage, it was about 7.5 million? Wow. With insurance reimbursement it seemed to come down by about 2.5 million. *Other* I don’t really remember this one either, because I had already made up my mind during the director consultation, so I wasn’t really listening well during the manager consultation after that. Sorry haha. But the manager had a very strong personal opinion. She said things like, “Ear cartilage won’t work, the septum isn’t enough, you absolutely have to use rib cartilage,” and I was listening like, hmm... I almost got a little annoyed;; Since it’s a big hospital and somewhat factory-like, it felt like they wanted me to follow the style they pursue there rather than what I prefer.
Finally, the last one!! 3. ㅋㅂㅈ(ㅗㅣㅠ)-ㅎㅅㅁ To get straight to the point, I decided to do it here~!! It was already my No. 1 choice before I even went, and after the consultation it matched exactly what I wanted, so I immediately set a surgery date and came back!! First of all, the hospital felt very clean and there was no waiting. Almost right after I arrived I went to get a CT, then had the manager consultation, and right after that the director consultation. He explained exactly what I had wanted, using the surgery method I had imagined. He was the first director to actually palpate my nose to check it. And he drew diagrams and explained them while showing photos of other patients. I also saw a patient case that was exactly like mine, with a crooked nose, dorsal hump, and arrow nose (drooping tip), which made me feel even better. *Surgery* He said he would shave down the hump a little, and while also doing septal deviation and rhinitis surgery, he would use the septum to correct the arrow nose, and if that wasn’t enough, he would lift it with ear cartilage. He also said he would remove a little fat layer inside to address the bluntness of the tip. Because it was no-implant surgery, he said side effects would be almost nonexistent, and it was a consultation that satisfied 100% of my needs. *Cost* It was 4.8 million won, with -500,000 for same-day reservation and about -1,000,000 with insurance reimbursement. So it came to 3.3 million won!! *Other* I don’t live in Seoul, so I got my blood test done that same day, and before the blood test the director came in and checked the inferior turbinate and septum once more with a nasal endoscope. Also, the staff, director, and manager were all very gentle and kind. During the final manager consultation, they explained very well that CCTV could be viewed live, and also explained aftercare, swelling injections, and costs in detail. I paid a 100,000 won deposit and left, so there was no consultation fee, and they said they would deduct everything on the surgery day when I make the final payment!
Anyway, ㅋㅂㅈ was the hospital that satisfied all the conditions I wrote above and all the things I wanted, so I hope it goes well. ㅇㄹㅂ and ㅈㅇㅈ just weren’t the right fit for my needs, but that doesn’t mean they were bad or anything, so I hope you all look carefully and go for consultations!!! I’ll come back with another review after the nose surgery ends. I hope this helps!!