A year later, I developed complications in my nose + the surgery left me with a nose that doesn't suit me. It was my first surgery, and I had silicone + donor rib cartilage + osteotomy for a bulbous nose. Starting around 6 months after surgery, whenever I overworked myself or got tired, the bridge between my eyes would swell and feel throbbing. After that, I took medication too. It seemed to be getting better, but for some reason when I wore glasses, the silicone part of my nose felt itchy and uncomfortable. Then one day, the area with the autologous rib cartilage, the inside of my nostril, started bleeding and pus kept building up.
1) ㅇㅈ Plastic Surgery I went at the scheduled time, and there wasn't much waiting. Doctor-director consultation format. The doctor wasn't especially warm, but answered my questions well. The consultation itself wasn't very long. I remember the price being 4.4 million won (VAT separate). I didn't feel strongly drawn to it during the consultation, but I also didn't get the feeling that I should avoid this clinic. It was just average.
They also explained my current nose condition like this. They said the surgery would be done by opening it up and removing the capsule. They said the bridge between my eyes had swollen a few months ago, and the reason it now looked normal is that the bad foreign material in that area was coming out through the nostril that is currently bleeding. They said if it was left alone for too long, it would be dangerous and contracture would occur. I almost cried when I left the clinic after hearing that.
2) ㄷㄹ Plastic Surgery There was some waiting. The consultation went in the order of staff member - doctor - staff member. Compared with the staff at large hospitals, the female staff member here felt genuinely sincere. The doctor here wasn't especially warm either, but answered questions well. Personally, I prefer that. For the open approach + capsule removal, they said they would open it first and then decide whether to remove it completely or partially depending on the situation. I also had a CT scan. I was shocked to see that the clinic that did my first surgery had stacked silicone in two layers. They said CT alone can't accurately judge my condition. They said they need to open the nose to know for sure. The warranty period is 1 year, but even if someone calls after 3 years since surgery, they said they would still just arrange a consultation.
At the end, the female staff member said that I didn't necessarily have to come to their clinic, so if the first clinic would do it for free, I should think about going there. She was so warm I almost cried
3) ㅅㅅㅇ Plastic Surgery Despite its reputation, it was easy to book a consultation. When I went, I was seen right away without waiting. Here, the bleeding and pus in the nasal area near the donor rib cartilage was called a pus sac. Then, while touching my hardened nose, they said I had developed contracture. They said it had to be removed as soon as possible and showed me photos of people with cases like mine. Among those people, there were some whose nostril shape was crooked and strange after complete removal. The doctor said that was the best possible outcome, and that at least 6 months later, a reoperation would be needed to correct the shape. Anyway, the consultation with the doctor went well. It felt more like an otolaryngology clinic than a plastic surgery clinic. But because of the consultation staff member here, I decided to take this clinic off my list. After the consultation with the doctor ended, I talked with the staff member. They said something strange. It was completely different from what the doctor had told me. I felt like the message hadn't been conveyed at all in the first place, and I lost trust there. They also kept telling me with certainty that my nose condition would lead not only to revision surgery but to multiple repeat surgeries. Maybe because they scared me so much by saying that even if the whole thing were removed, my nose would definitely collapse and contracture would come, I wasn't really drawn to them. Because of that, I can't even remember what the doctor said about the capsule and the other details.
After going to these 3 clinics, each doctor had different opinions on whether to remove the entire capsule or only part of it, but all of them said, first of all, don't even think about correction for my nose; even if the shape looks strange after complete removal, think about the stabilization period (6 months). And they all spoke as if the situation was quite serious.
4) ㅇㄷㅇㅇㅇ I went without much expectation. I got there early, but when they said there would be a one-hour wait, I felt dejected. The consultation proceeded in the order of staff member - doctor - staff member. While I was explaining my condition to the doctor, as soon as I mentioned a little bit, he immediately said he saw inflammation, had me lie down in the otolaryngology chair behind him, looked inside my nose with a cotton swab, and removed the pus. I found it very positive that he spoke confidently about the questions I asked and the information he knew. He said it should be done with an open approach, but the capsule should not be removed in its entirety. He said part of it would be removed and the rest would be neatly cleaned up. Unlike the previous clinics that said it was a major issue, he spoke as if it was not a big deal at all, which made me like him a lot. And after showing before-and-after photos of other patients, I felt sure this was the place to do it. In my case, the silicone had been in for 1 year, and while the nose becoming hard was indeed contracture, the shape-related contracture had not started yet, so it was okay. He said my original nose had a long columella, so even after removal the shape would be fine. However, he said there might be some sinking of the bridge. Here, they only do noses, and unlike other places, they use sleep anesthesia plus local anesthesia. They were also the only clinic that did not use a splint, and the doctor only schedules two surgeries a day, he said. I liked it so much, but I think the price was 5 million won. VAT separate. I felt a bit stunned after hearing the price.
5) ㅅㅇ Plastic Surgery It was a clean clinic. The order was staff member - doctor - staff member. The female staff member was really kind. I had a CT scan and then met the doctor for consultation. They said an open approach / capsule removal was necessary. I felt that he had a lot of confidence in his own surgery. Rather than explaining the direction of the surgery by first saying something, he asked me if I had any questions. Then I asked whether what one of the staff members at a clinic I had visited earlier said was true: that after removing the whole nose capsule, contracture would come, so I should expect multiple repeat surgeries. He snorted when he heard that. He said that rather, contracture could happen if the capsule were not removed in full. After the consultation, while talking with the female staff member, she gave me a final tip for choosing a plastic surgery clinic. She said it's good to look at communities like cafes or this community, but to make sure to check the before-and-after photos on the clinic website too. And she told me to decide carefully because this wasn't such a serious case, which I appreciated a lot. The price was 4.5 million won.
6) ㄱㅇㅅ Plastic Surgery I arrived late, but there wasn't much waiting. They gave me a paper with the problem written in 3 descriptive sentences. They told me to write down everything I was curious about there. So I wrote down all my questions there, such as why the doctors had different views on capsule removal, why they said my nose would look strange after surgery, and so on.
Before meeting the doctor, while I was talking with the staff member (more like a nurse), since it seemed better to show than to just explain my nose condition, she took me to the room with the otolaryngology chair next to it and disinfected my nose first. While she was disinfecting it, the doctor suddenly came in halfway through. He came in, looked at my nose, and took pictures inside my nose. Here I heard shocking things that I had not heard at other clinics. He said there was something called a granuloma inside my nose.
Then I went into the room to consult with the doctor. It felt less like discussing what surgery I should have and more like Q&A about the things I was curious about. When I asked about capsule removal, he showed me his paper He explained why it absolutely had to be removed. Based on that, I decided to remove clinics that said only part of the capsule would be removed from my list. And he kept asking whether I understood, and then got angry, perhaps because I, who didn't understand well, was frustrating him. I thought this kind of consultation could divide patients' opinions. But I was fine with a doctor getting angry at me as long as he was genuinely capable, rather than just being superficially nice. I was fed up with incompetent doctors from my first surgery. In the consultation, I just felt the doctor's confidence and thought, yes, I could leave it here. He was at the top of my mind. After the doctor's consultation ended, I talked with the female staff member and heard details and the price. She told me about mucosal grafting, which the doctor hadn't mentioned during the consultation. They said mucosal grafting could be done if needed while treating the granuloma. The base price was around 5 million won (an extra 200,000 won for sleep anesthesia). If the mucosa is grafted from the mouth, +880,000 won; if grafted from the head, maybe +1.57 million won.
I had visited a few well-known clinics, but this was the first time I heard about mucosal grafting, and the price was also impossible to ignore. And I was bothered that they hadn't explained such a major point about mucosal grafting well during the consultation, so I put this clinic on hold for now.
In the end, I decided to go for complete capsule removal here and have the procedure done at the private clinic ㅅㅇ. It's been about 6 days since the surgery, and I'm going to get the splint removed tomorrow, but my nose is still so swollen that I don't know whether I made a good choice. Anyway, I hope everyone goes to several clinics for consultations!