I had nose consultations at 10 clinics over the course of 2 months... Rather than because I have a sensitive personality, it’s because, as part of my job, I’m fixated on accurate information, so I booked consultations at 3 places... This is a review after switching, at the same hospital, to a different surgeon for the first time.
I originally thought I’d be satisfied if it scored above 70 points, and it feels like it’s right around 70. All the flaws in my nose were addressed, and I don’t look like a completely different person... Exactly that much... the swelling will probably go down another 20% or so, so that should be enough...
As for the diagnosis I got for my nose...
I was told I had a low nose, a bulbous nose tip, an upturned nose, and a beak-like nose, all with their own traits, though none of them at 100%, and the common issue was that thick skin and firm tissue made things difficult... (Overall assessment from 10 hospitals)
1. Silicone?
The plan was already set: I had no nasal bridge between the eyebrows, so I had 6 mm inserted there. A lot of clinics recommend InnoX... But I actually have acquaintances who are consultation managers, and... most of them say it’s just a sales tactic. They say you have to shave it down anyway even if you use that material... Of course... it’s better than not using anything, but apparently it’s not good enough that you really need to use it.
2. Donor rib cartilage
I’d written about donor rib cartilage before, but... in the end I used U.S.-sourced chilled whole donor rib cartilage, and I heard elsewhere that the original cost was around 1.5 million won. I paid 2 million won, so they definitely used it...
They said they use only the dense, non-calcified center portion on me and throw away the rest, but whatever... whether they throw it away or give it to someone else... As long as they didn’t use slice rib or leftover rib on me, I’m fine. The quality of rib cartilage has improved a lot... (You can see it if you watch Director Ohm’s donor rib cartilage video on YouTube) They say it can reach about 90% quality...
Of course autologous rib cartilage is better... but looking at the scar marks and the pain, I didn’t want to deal with it. Even though donor rib cartilage was used, I think I chose it after doing my best to research it.
3. Nostril reduction
I had my nostrils reduced, and the surgeon said the part they paid a lot of attention to was keeping the nostrils natural. That way it doesn’t look obviously surgical and doesn’t look strange... They were especially attentive to that area... They said they could have trimmed more while lifting the alar base, but apparently they didn’t because the nostrils would have collapsed...
I thought about it, and if the alar base were lifted, the nose would look shorter and the philtrum would look longer... And because my alar rim is thick, it might actually make the bulbous-nose feeling more noticeable... So, as disappointing as it is, that’s as far as it went. Ah... there’s almost no scar...
4. Bulbous nose surgery
Bulbous nose surgery includes soft-tissue removal and cartilage binding. There’s no need to pay separately for cartilage binding, so the bulbous nose surgery itself had an extra charge... I don’t know how much thinner it will get... They said the tip will go down more. I see why bulbous nose surgery is done more than once... You can’t get rid of the bulbous-nose feeling as much as you want in just one surgery... it really is difficult...
5. Other things
I asked why donor rib cartilage was used together with the septum... They said that when doing lengthening surgery, for subtle bending and the like, they use the septum... and for the thick support column they used rib cartilage. My septum had been slightly bent to the right... They said once the nose settles into place, the rib support won’t be the only thing holding it up, so resorption probably won’t be that significant...
Lastly, because the surgeon answered exactly as thoroughly as I wanted during the consultation, that was part of why I chose this hospital, and also why I changed surgeons. They have a lot of experience with bulbous noses too... and they were sincere... I did want to reduce the alar base, but I’ll accept the limits...
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