After<after (today)>After<after (today)>Before<before>Before<before>Before<photo I brought> I had surgery at ㅂㅇㅇ near Gangnam Station: diced ear cartilage for the nasal tip + silicone for the nasal bridge. Originally, I was planning to do everything from the bridge to the tip with costal cartilage, but the doctor was confident about the safety of silicone, so I ended up having surgery with silicone.
I read a lot of posts on the director’s personal blog before going, and it seemed like he had accumulated many cases while working at several clinics and kept steady records of his research. The blog felt like a rhinoplasty wiki.. Both in terms of theory and technique, he seemed quite confident. He also wrote his thoughts on surgery using the septal cartilage, so I think people considering rhinoplasty would find it interesting to read.
He said that if long-term implant-grade silicone is used and it is placed so that there is not much friction inside, it can even last a lifetime without complications.
When using costal cartilage, to eliminate the risk of warping, they put a pouch made by wrapping diced costal cartilage in fascia into the nasal bridge. But with that method, the shape cannot be refined delicately, and it feels harder to the touch later than silicone or ear cartilage + the surgery becomes bigger, so he seemed not to prefer it. (It seems he uses rib cartilage for cases where silicone caused inflammation or for people who are very afraid of silicone.)
Since I wanted a lot of height, he used all the cartilage from both ears, and because he is an ENT specialist, I felt reassured that he would harvest it safely. (My ear cartilage is less developed than other people’s, so I was worried that my ear shape might collapse while harvesting the cartilage) And since he doesn’t carve a whole block of cartilage but minces it and uses it, it somehow feels like he uses it more efficiently without wasting any,,? I think there’s that kind of feeling..
It’s now week 2, and since the incision was only on one side, the side without the incision has already lost all the major swelling around the alar area. The incised side is less resolved, but from the front, the difference is not noticeable to a major degree. After surgery, the bleeding was only about the amount that forms on a scratch, and they didn’t even put cotton in, so I was really comfortable. I had surgery on Saturday and took Monday and Tuesday off, but I just went to work on Tuesday lol. It was that manageable. Now the pulling sensation and foreign-body sensation are almost gone too. My nostrils were originally small, but as my nose stretched, it actually feels like I can breathe better after surgery??! And when I read other rhinoplasty reviews, people said the bridge swells a lot and becomes like an Avatar nose, but maybe because the surgery was done with minimal incision and dissection, the bridge barely swelled, and the front cheeks and eyes around the nose swelled more..! Looking with the naked eye, my nose looked so low that I was worried whether the surgery had been done properly, but fortunately, once the facial swelling went down, the clearly heightened nose became visible. From the side, I had been worried that my chin looked protrusive, but after raising my nose, the balance improved, so I’m happy☺️
My complex was that my face looked too young, so I wanted my nose to look longer, and that was also achieved. The side line doesn’t look like a completely different person compared with my natural nose, but more like a naturally curved line was created. People who want a delicate “I definitely had plastic surgery!” look might not like it. I didn’t dislike the curved feeling in my own nose line, so I didn’t specifically ask for it to be shaved down. The director is not the type to explain the surgical details very thoroughly, so I think it’s best to clearly emphasize the parts you need. (I guess he writes the blog because it’s hard to explain.)
Since it was diced particles rather than a lump of cartilage, I was worried the shape might become distorted after surgery, but that is not the case at all, and it seems to have hardened quickly according to the taping that was done with the splint. It’s more expensive than factory-style clinics, but I’m satisfied with the safety and result. I hope I can remove the stitches soon and that the swelling on the incision side goes down completely
Up to here was the event review, and this community is not on the review event list, so I’ll add a little more..
1. You can’t have an in-depth discussion about the design with the director I’m not sure if he has an impatient personality, if he’s busy because it’s a private clinic, or if it was because my surgery was simple and I had prepared my desired photos? I had the surgery without much consultation The consultant told me to discuss the details with the director, but when I went in, the director was like, “Okay, let’s do the surgery this way!!” and it felt a bit like he was pushing me along…… He said he would Photoshop it onto my before photo to check, and at first he had prepared a natural-looking after photo, but after seeing the photo I showed him, maybe he thought in the direction of raising it as much as possible? He didn’t really help me gauge it with a Photoshop photo and just said okay, let’s do it like that As far as I know, closed surgery can’t raise the nose as much as open surgery, so I did think it would be somewhat lower than the photo I brought? But I think it would have been good if the director had explained in advance things like how much it could be raised based on my skin condition and nose condition…. (I didn’t hear how many mm of silicone would be inserted until two days after surgery.)
2. It seems an extremely flashy and pointed feeling isn’t possible This is in the same context as what I wrote in number 1 It may be that he doesn’t like an unnatural look to begin with, or it may be impossible because of the surgical method It feels like making a pocket like with filler and filling it with something like clay, so in cases like mine, where the nose is low and a lot of cartilage goes in, I think maybe it’s difficult to get a detailed, pointed feeling Looking at other people’s reviews, those who only had the tip placed into a narrow pocket ended up with a pointed shape! So once the swelling settles to some degree, I plan to look at the final shape and height and consult about whether I can have an additional surgery only on the nasal tip? (If there is ear cartilage left..)
Despite the drawbacks above, because of the trust I felt from the blog + the surgical method + the fast return to daily life after surgery, even if I went back to the past, I think I would have surgery at the same place If it’s choosing between risking revision surgery and contracture from a nose that is too high for my face vs pursuing safety, I’m more on the latter side.. Then everyone.. I hope you make a good choice…