I went to a total of 7 places for nose consultations, but I still couldn’t decide.... The nose is really difficult...
Still, there were things that became clear while going to consultations. I ended up setting my surgical criteria based on the methods that more than half of the doctors recommended.
Main materials among the 7 places: 5 places (CT taken): costal cartilage + silicone (also including dermis) 1 place (CT taken): ear cartilage + septal cartilage 1 place (no CT): septal cartilage + silicone (they said the materials could completely change after going into surgery and opening the nose)
At 6 out of the 7 places, they opposed alar base reduction and so on, so I feel like the criteria that fit my nose are getting organized.
During the nose consultations, because I have rhinitis, I also had them look at the functional nose aspect. For the surgical method, 5 out of 7 places said inferior turbinate + deviated septum / 1 place said inferior turbinate only / 1 place said inferior turbinate + deviated septum + nasal valve. They said it was a nose that needed surgery, so private insurance would be possible.
But I became curious about what condition my rhinitis nose was actually in, so I went to the ENT department at a university hospital near my home. There too, they took both a CT and X-rays.
But the ENT doctor said my rhinitis nose is not severe enough to need surgery. They said I do have a deviated septum where the nose is bent, but it isn’t severe, and more than 70% of the population has some deviation, so this level is okay.
They asked if my daily life wasn’t difficult enough to need surgery. Come to think of it, I do have rhinitis, but it only gets bad during seasonal changes, and when the time comes, I get medication prescribed by an ENT and then it gets better, so I had been living like that.
After hearing that, I decided not to have functional nose surgery. When I searched posts in this community, I also saw posts saying that even after functional nose surgery, the insurance company doesn’t process it right away and people are struggling with it for months.
It made me think cosmetic surgery should just be done as cosmetic surgery. But among the 7 plastic surgery clinics, not a single place said I didn’t need rhinitis/functional nose surgery... Is it in the plastic surgery clinics’ interest to do it...
I should not rush and keep looking until I find a hospital that fits me I wish someone would just decide for me like, “Get surgery here!” the way celebrities do