This is my first time writing a full clinic-visit review, but since I just decided on surgery, I figured I’d write one while it’s fresh.
The reason I suddenly decided to go ahead with surgery was that last summer I traveled around the U.S. for a long time and ended up taking tons of selfies and landscape photos. I had lived basically not caring about photos, but for the first time in my life I found myself taking a ridiculous number of pictures and shrinking my face and nose with a selfie app (lol)...
I had never really cared about my own face, let alone other people’s faces, but I guess instinctively I knew how to make my face look best in photos.
So I kept going back and forth about whether to do surgery, and starting from winter I began doing online research and choosing clinics to visit in person for consultations.
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1. ㅁㅇㄷ I made a consultation appointment with the director ㅇㄱㅇ. They told me to come on time, so I did exactly that, but there were so many people. Ironically, after rushing over, I ended up waiting about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Of course, I got a CT scan during that time. Around the time the wait passed one hour, staff took turns coming out and said the people ahead of me in consultation were causing a 10- to 20-minute delay. Twenty minutes later, another staff member came out and said the same thing. When the third staff member came, I said, “You’ve already told me twice to wait 20 minutes, and this is the third time, so that would mean I’d be waiting two hours now.” They apologized and asked me to wait a little longer, and the consultation started 5 minutes later.
At other clinics, they said donor rib cartilage would be good or even necessary, but after looking at the CT images, they said I probably wouldn’t need it, and that in this condition there was a very high chance the septal cartilage would be strong if they opened the nose. They recommended hump correction + cartilage suturing, using only septal cartilage + ear cartilage. They recommended 3-4 mm silicone. They roughly drew everything out in Photoshop to show what it would look like. When I brought up improving the frontal view, they said that in that case osteotomy would probably also be needed... I said I didn’t want osteotomy, and they said that was fine, and that improving the nose tip height alone would probably be enough. The consultation itself did not take very long. The manager first quoted 530. When I said my budget was around 400, they said that if I booked on the same day, they could adjust it as much as possible and bring it down to the mid-400 range. They said they probably wouldn’t use donor rib cartilage, but if it ended up being used, there would be an extra charge, and they said that would be around 70 more.
Summary - 450 for same-day booking (using septal cartilage + ear cartilage, bulbous nose improvement / hump reduction / nasal tip lift) - 530 for booking made later instead of same day - However, partial disclosure + 4 review posts required - 3-4 mm silicone recommended - CT scan fee of 10,000 KRW - 1 year aftercare, visits on days 1/7/14 after surgery, one VIP care session provided (of course swelling laser and similar care are included as standard, and they said swelling care can be received unlimitedly whenever you want to come in) - Deposit 10%
2. ㄹㅂㄹ I made a consultation appointment with director ㅇㅅㅇ. When I called for the consultation, the wait was already a month and a half, and I was thinking, “What on earth is this place...?” because it wasn’t peak season at the time, so I couldn’t help wondering why. Anyway, after waiting a month and a half, I visited for the consultation. But there wasn’t a single person waiting at the clinic. So it seemed like the consultation would happen right away, but unexpectedly there were lots of short waits. I waited 20 minutes after meeting the manager, another 20 minutes after meeting the director, then another 20 minutes before seeing the manager again, and in between I also got a CT scan.
During the consultation, the director briefly drew a sketch. He asked what kind of nose I wanted, then after looking up photos, he recommended donor rib cartilage or autologous rib cartilage; he did not recommend septal cartilage or ear cartilage. As expected, he also recommended bulbous nose improvement + hump reduction + nasal tip lift. He kept asking if I had any questions and asked what I thought were the weak points of my face. The nuance was kind of like, “You probably don’t need nose surgery...” When I said I wanted a more feminine look and thought my nose looked big, he said my nose wasn’t actually big; my eyes were just a little small, which made it seem that way. He also said he wasn’t telling me to do this at their clinic, but if I wanted the effect I was after, improving the chin would make more sense than the nose, and he drew that out for me. Then he asked if I thought my nose was low, and I honestly said I didn’t think so. The director said, of course, since my nose isn’t low, and that it would be better to use no silicone at all, or if anything, to use only a thin 1-2 mm layer. After that, I had a price consultation with the manager. They said with bulbous nose improvement + hump reduction + nasal tip lift (without ear cartilage or septal cartilage), they strongly recommended using rib cartilage. They said it would be 530 with donor rib cartilage and 630 with autologous rib cartilage. Even though I had waited a month and a half for the consultation, the surgery schedule was surprisingly flexible (...)
Summary - No pressure to book immediately, so whether same day or another day, 630 if using autologous rib cartilage, 530 if using donor rib cartilage (bulbous nose improvement + hump reduction + nasal tip lift) - However, partial disclosure + 5 review posts required - 1-2 mm silicone recommended (or no silicone if desired) - Consultation fee of 10,000 KRW - 1 year aftercare, visits on days 1/2/7/14 after surgery (swelling laser care included by default) - Deposit 10%, and it seemed they charge VAT separately; refunds on cancellation are not fully returned, only partially refunded (they explained the detailed breakdown, but because it felt like they were trying not to explain everything, I just half-listened and don’t remember it clearly)
3. ㅇㄴㅂ I made a consultation appointment with director ㅊㅁㄱ. When I visited, there were about two groups waiting, but the wait was not as long as I expected, around 15 minutes. The manager seemed to have a lot of trust in the director. It wasn’t the kind of confidence that comes from the director himself, but more like the manager was a fan of the director.
Once the consultation started, he asked what kind of nose I wanted and, unlike the previous clinics, kept touching my nose, pulling it with a cotton swab, and looking at it from different angles. He said it looked like septal cartilage alone might not be enough. To avoid the nasal tip becoming too pointy, he said ear cartilage would need to be used for the tip. He also said that to create the nose I wanted, using rib cartilage would be better for me because my skin is quite thick, and if they used only cartilage, the nose might droop later. He also said 3-3.5 mm silicone would be good. He asked if I had any questions and gave a thorough consultation, though it wasn’t very long, probably because he was busy. Afterward, when I spoke with the manager, they said the price of donor rib cartilage had gone up a bit this year, so if rib cartilage was used the price would be somewhat higher, and then gave me the estimate. They asked how the consultation with the director was, and also asked which clinics I had been to, whether this was my first consultation at this clinic, and so on. I honestly spilled everything, and the reaction was basically, “Half of them I know, half of them I don’t... haha.” This place also recommended bulbous nose improvement + hump reduction + nasal tip lift, and with donor rib cartilage the quote was in the very high 400 range, but after hearing my budget they somehow adjusted it to the mid-to-high 400 range. When they asked if there was anywhere cheaper than them, I said there was and told them the price. They were like, “Huh... that price with donor rib cartilage?” (lol) Then they said that if I booked at their clinic, they had already filtered out the cheapest options and selected what was best for me, so they would talk it through and match the price up to 440.
Summary - Donor rib cartilage used (bulbous nose improvement + hump reduction + nasal tip lift) 470, but they said they would adjust it to 440 if I booked - However, partial disclosure + 4 review posts required - 3-3.5 mm silicone used - No CT scan fee or consultation fee - 1 year aftercare, visits on days 1/2/7/14/30 after surgery (swelling laser care included by default, and they said it would be good to come back for follow-up through day 30, 60, and 90 after surgery if possible) - Deposit 10%, and they did not explain the refund policy precisely
4. ㄷㄷㅇ I made a consultation appointment with director ㅊㅅㅊ. When I was researching, there was another clinic with the same initials but a different name, so it was a bit confusing while doing my online research.. When I visited, there was one group waiting, but despite that this was the only place that did a CT scan and then a fast consultation with almost no waiting. For a quick consultation, the consultation time was actually the longest of all the clinics, both with the director and the manager, so I thought that even if something went wrong with my nose, they would probably handle aftercare well...
When the consultation started, he again asked what kind of nose I wanted and drew a simple sketch. Of all the places I consulted, he seemed to touch my nose the most. He examined it so thoroughly without any sign of discomfort that I almost wondered, “Do I have that much oil on my nose, is that okay?” He pulled it with a cotton swab too, and said that septal cartilage + ear cartilage alone might be enough, but that we would probably only know after opening the nose. I said that using donor rib cartilage was fine too if it made things sturdier. I asked whether ear cartilage could be avoided. The director said that from the surgeon’s perspective that would be easier, haha, and that ear cartilage would probably be better to use, but if I didn’t want it, they didn’t have to use it. He said it very plainly. He said 3 mm silicone would probably be good, but when I asked if silicone was absolutely necessary, he said that if the hump was shaved down, the nose might look a bit low, so at least a thin layer should be used. But if I really wanted, they could also build it with ear cartilage; however, if blood pooled a lot before it took hold or something unexpected happened, the nasal line could become distorted and there would be a risk of revision surgery. He said they could make a thin layer with ear cartilage if I wanted, but he would not recommend it. He kept asking if I had any more questions. The previous directors had all felt somewhat pressed for time, but here it strangely felt relaxed. I got the feeling that if I wanted, I could spend an hour here just talking to the director (lol). After that I spoke with the manager. In the other clinics the order was always manager -> director -> manager, but here it was just director -> manager. The manager seemed a bit more playful and good at breaking the ice. They kept asking which clinics I had visited and where I would go next, and after I told them everything, the manager knew the names of the directors just from the clinic names, mentioning the directors by name first. It turned out they had been working in this field for quite a long time. They even said they had worked with a certain director before. When I asked, “If silicone is inserted, won’t it move later?” they made various expressions while wrinkling their face, then said, “I’ve been doing this for 10 years, and it still hasn’t moved and is fine.” That left an impression... lol They gave a price estimate for bulbous nose improvement + hump reduction + nasal tip lift using donor rib cartilage, quoting a price in the mid-300 range, and said they do not intend to use ear cartilage, but if it ends up being needed, it would add 33 to the estimate.
Summary - Donor rib cartilage used (bulbous nose improvement + hump reduction + nasal tip lift) 350, but if ear cartilage is additionally used, +33 - However, partial disclosure + 4 review posts required - 3 mm silicone used - No CT scan fee / consultation fee - Visit on days 1/2/7/14 after surgery (swelling laser care included by default, and they said they would provide one botox service; I can’t remember the A/S period, so I should ask later) - Deposit 10%, and they said refunds are simply fully given back
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I was planning to visit and write about ㅈㅇㅌ, ㅁㅎ, and ㅍㄹㅁㅇ as well, but one of them apparently had controversy, and two people from this community told me via private comment + DM. They also told me why it blew up, so I excluded that one. I was going to go to the remaining two and then write a review, but before my memory evaporated I just wrote this up first. I already put down a deposit at one of the four clinics I visited... so if one of the remaining two turns out to be better, I might cancel the deposit and do it there instead.
Why did writing this take an hour......... Anyway, that’s the end of the clinic visit review. If I can after visiting the remaining two places, I’ll write about those too.