I was looking up reviews on two plastic surgery apps, and I liked the nose shapes by Dr. Lee Kang-woo at Mind, so I went in for a consultation.
To explain my condition first, about 10 years ago I had surgery using septal cartilage + silicone. The shape was too high (my nasal bridge was not originally low), and it made my face look masculine. The nose shape itself was okay, but it didn’t suit me, so about 2 years after the surgery, I had everything removed, including the silicone + septal cartilage at the nasal tip. It has been about 8 years since the total removal. After the total removal, my nose shape didn’t completely return to how it was before surgery. It became slightly shorter, and my nose became slightly more upturned than before, which is my complex, so I’m looking into revision surgery. Before the consultation, what worried me was that since my septal cartilage had already been used, I thought costal cartilage would be unavoidable. But I dislike the sharp look characteristic of costal cartilage, so I wanted to have the surgery with ear cartilage if possible.
When I went to the plastic surgery clinic, the noses of the consultants and waiting patients were very flashy (pointed, slim), so I thought this clinic probably wasn’t a good match for me. But since I was already there, I waited thinking I should at least get the consultation.
Before seeing the doctor, I had a consultation with the consultant. I told her what I wanted: no silicone, I wanted to use only ear cartilage if possible, but if absolutely necessary, I would use autologous costal cartilage. The consultant said it probably wouldn’t be possible with ear cartilage alone, that cases where only the nasal tip is operated on are rare, and that I would probably need silicone too. But she said we would know only after the director’s consultation. I had a CT scan (cost: 10,000 won) and then went in for the director’s consultation.
I said I wanted a natural, rounded nasal tip, and the director drew on my photo with Photoshop, almost like coloring on it? (not super high quality), and roughly explained the before-and-after and surgical plan.
The director said my nasal bridge is not low even now, so silicone isn’t really necessary. He said my nasal tip is short, but not extremely short. After checking the CT, he said my septum is in good condition, so it would be fully possible with ear cartilage alone. Since my nostrils show a little, he recommended nostril lowering, alar lifting, and because my alar walls are on the thicker side, he recommended an external alar base incision. When I asked about lengthening the nose, he said that given my facial proportions, lowering the nose length too much could make me look older (this was exactly what I was most worried about, and he caught that point precisely, so my trust went way up). So we decided to only raise the nasal tip slightly.
What was interesting was that before I even mentioned the exact things I was concerned about, the director recommended surgical methods for each detail one by one, which made me trust him a lot. But I know that external alar base incisions can leave noticeable scars, so I was worried and asked about scarring. He said it would not be severe enough to stand out badly. But he said it would probably be better to do the external alar base incision if possible, so I do think it might be better to do it.. but I’m still really torn, so I haven’t booked surgery yet!
Since it was revision surgery, I went in expecting a certain cost, and he said the surgery itself would be fairly simple. The price was also around what I had expected, so I didn’t think it was too expensive.