I first thought about rhinoplasty 4-5 years ago, but I was so scared of side effects that I kept putting it off. Then about 6 months ago, I started thinking, “I really want to do it,” so I began looking into it. Since I’m based in Busan, I first looked around Seomyeon, but eventually decided to have surgery in Seoul, so this is a new in-person consultation review.
Before going for consultations, I narrowed down a few places through online research, and I planned to decide within two days.
I’m very much the planning type, and I felt like if I had surgery without researching properly and it went wrong, I’d blame myself a lot, so I really looked into it thoroughly. This is that review.
This is how I did my online research:
1. I saved all the nose designs I liked from review photos on Babitalk and Gangnam Unni. Among them, I captured a few lines I really liked and saved them in a separate folder on my phone. 2. I checked the names of doctors frequently mentioned in this community regarding rhinoplasty. (I searched mainly by doctor, not by hospital.) 3. I took the doctors frequently mentioned in step 2 and checked their nose design photos again in step 1. Even if they were famous, I excluded them if they didn’t seem to create the design I wanted well. (My goal was cosmetic rhinoplasty, so I excluded ENT doctors... Of course, there may be ENT doctors who are good aesthetically too, but since this is surgery to become prettier, I personally didn’t find their results very pretty.) 4. I also filtered out factory-style hospitals even if they had lots of reviews. (I had facial contouring done at a large hospital, and after surgery it was hard to get in touch with them. I think for the nose, being able to communicate well after surgery is important.) 5. I checked premium reputation reviews.
So I visited about 4 places, had consultations at 3, and among those 3, I’ve now scheduled surgery at one clinic.
I ended up not having the consultation at 1 place. I’ll explain why below.
Also, I think things like CCTV, whether there is an anesthesiologist, and basic hospital information should be known before meeting the doctor. (Most of it comes up with just a little searching, and since doctor consultation time is short, I felt it was a waste to ask about that.) With the doctor, I mainly talked about the design. (Question list, surgical method, design, expected postoperative shape, and which procedures they recommended or did not recommend.)
Before the consultations, I gathered the nose shape I wanted, my question list, and the points I wanted to improve all in one place, and showed them to both the consultant and the doctor.
@ My nose condition before surgery -Small nostrils -My nose is not short (my midface is on the long side) -My alar rims droop like puppy ears -My nasal bridge is not low, so I wanted to focus mainly on the nasal tip
@ Direction of the nose shape I want -I don’t want my impression to become stronger -I don’t want the nasal tip to come down and look like a straight-line nose -I want my nostrils to show slightly from the side -The thing I hate most is a rounded, downward nasal tip (I absolutely dislike a round look and prefer a slim, refined look) -I want the tip-defining point to feel lifted rather than positioned low
@ Question list
1. Do you recommend alar rim lifting? : My complex was that my alar rims droop like puppy ears. But since my nostrils are small, I was very cautious about any surgery related to the alar rims.
2. If the alar rims are lifted, it may make the nose look longer like an arrow nose, so what about making the nasal tip stand up to make it look shorter? -Is it possible to have a slight step like a Disney nose? (Min Hyo-rin’s nose)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. HT
-No consultation fee / CT scan available -No pressure to pay a deposit -The staff kept laughing among themselves about who knows what -The consultant and doctor were on the kind side -Long wait time (waited 1 hour in the consultation room) -Postoperative care once on day 2 and once after 7 days
*Consultant: nasolabial angle correction, lowering the columella, tying the bulky nasal tip, said the nostril shape cannot be changed, If I want the nostrils to show from the side, I’d need nostril rim elevation. (If an incision is made, the nostrils might become even smaller?)
*Doctor consultation -Nasolabial angle correction is the top priority -Nasal tip fat removal, nasal tip -Smooth the hump and use silicone -Use septal cartilage and ear cartilage
This was the place where I liked the doctor consultation the most, and it was a hospital specializing in the alar rim issue that was my biggest complex. I liked that they said alar rim surgery can be done later, so I should proceed with rhinoplasty first. They understood exactly what my complex was, and the direction for rhinoplasty matched mine completely, so the consultation was really, really good. The surgery date was also fine.
But the reviews in this community were extremely divided, the premium reputation reviews were bad, and it seemed like they used a lot of brokers. (When I checked the posts of people who wrote surgery reviews, they had written several surgery reviews on the same day.)
(I don’t think I should disclose the review details here, so I won’t write them. If you’re curious, send me a private message.)
2. PRMY (did not go as far as the consultation)
-Consultation fee 10,000 won / CT scan available -I left without seeing the doctor
Reason I canceled the consultation: I had the highest expectations for this clinic, so I arranged my schedule around it, and it was the second clinic I visited for consultation. But: 1. I had a 5 p.m. appointment, but they kept telling me to wait because I could only see the doctor at 6:20 p.m. (I couldn’t understand this part.) 2. There were many revision rhinoplasty reviews, and a famous YouTuber also had surgery here, so I had high expectations. When I visited, I understood why there were many reviews and why it was famous. The doctor seemed very busy, and it looked like a place that schedules a lot of surgeries. So I felt that after rhinoplasty, it would probably be hard to see the doctor’s face. 3. I had the consultation with the consultant first, and I didn’t like how she acted as if she were a doctor, saying this absolutely couldn’t be done and that absolutely couldn’t be done. 4. The surgery schedule also didn’t match mine. 5. Because there was a 10,000 won consultation fee, I was debating whether I should at least have the doctor consultation. Then I checked premium reviews in this community and saw quite a few bad ones, so I just said I wouldn’t do the consultation and left.
3. DDU -
-There was a discount condition for same-day booking, but the provisional deposit of 100,000 won was 100% refundable -To designate a date, you had to pay 10% as a deposit, but that deposit was fully refundable until one week before -Front desk and consultant were kind (they were young and all naturally pretty) -Postoperative care is unlimited as long as you visit (swelling laser), and AS is 1 year, with only material costs charged, they said -There are 2 chief directors: one is glamorous / the other is refined-natural --> I consulted with the refined-style doctor
*Consultant -We talked about the hospital, and the consultant said she had surgery with donated rib cartilage 4 years ago
*Doctor consultation -3 mm silicone -Whether to do osteotomy would be decided in the operating room (they said they would not charge for osteotomy) -Would proceed with septal cartilage, but if needed, would add donated rib cartilage (additional 1 million won if added) -Shave the hump and correct bulbous nose -Nasolabial angle correction (not insertion, but tying muscle and tissue - ear cartilage only if insufficient) -Specializes in eyes and nose, and had the same direction as me regarding nose design -There weren’t any particularly bothersome premium reviews -The doctor consultation was kind, and the wait wasn’t long (maybe because I visited at 10 a.m.) -They took a CT and photos, then printed them out and drew on them while explaining that this level of shape would be possible -They clearly said what could not be done (nostril size, alar reduction, etc.), but instead suggested several alternative options
4. PRYB -New building -No consultation fee, no CT scan -Some pressure for same-day booking (same-day booking discount) -The surgery models’ noses were quite glamorous
*Doctor consultation -The doctor was confident about surgery, and I got the feeling they would do the surgery well -The nose design and surgical direction were almost the same as mine, but the doctor had firm opinions (strongly said what could not be done) : This part was a double-edged sword. On one hand, I liked that the doctor seemed trustworthy, but if I don’t like my nose after surgery, that’s my own subjective feeling, so even if the doctor thinks it’s a pretty nose, if I don’t, then it isn’t. I wanted someone I could communicate with a little better. Because of that, the consultation didn’t feel completely smooth. (I couldn’t estimate what my nose would look like after surgery.) -I was praised for having studied a lot lol -A hospital specializing in eyes and nose -The reviews were good too -The only place that said they would not use ear cartilage and would use donated rib cartilage -The price was the most expensive (I struggled a lot because of this part)
+Other places that were on my online research list, but I couldn’t go because the surgery schedule and consultation times didn’t match
Pleasure - Son Yu-seok Hibom - Hibom Kowon Last Honesty
I tried to write as much detail as possible, so I feel like I wrote a lot and included unnecessary details too, but thank you for reading this long post. When I was looking into it, I remember how desperate I was for every single piece of information, so as I wrote out the entire pre-surgery process, the post became really long.
If there’s anything potentially problematic in this post, I’d be really grateful if you let me know!
I hope everyone’s consultations and surgeries go well and turn out well (including mine, of course).