I currently have aloderm in my nasal bridge, and autologous rib cartilage underneath the aloderm.
Previously, the doctor raised the nasal tip too aggressively, so the empty space in the nasal bridge was filled with autologous rib cartilage. (At first my bridge had become as high as Tom Cruise’s, and I said I definitely wanted it made naturally lower. It used to be a low, small nose like IU’s, but they made it into a Western man’s nose.)
So my goal was to remove the aloderm and the autologous rib cartilage in the nasal bridge, and leave a small amount of autologous rib cartilage as support for the nasal tip. (I’d like to remove everything, but I’m worried it might rise. I had silicone contracture after the first surgery, so this was a removal + revision surgery.) The hospitals seemed skeptical about removing the aloderm.
D.R.: They’ve never removed aloderm from the nasal bridge before. It would be safer to wait until a full year has passed before surgery. 431: Our hospital does not remove aloderm from the nasal bridge. P.r.m.: Don’t remove the aloderm from the nasal bridge; just leave it and lower only the tip. S.S.Y.: Removal is possible, but complete removal is not possible. K.Y.S.: Remove it and refine the tip while leaving it behind (recommended early removal), but they wouldn’t reassure me and said they couldn’t promise the shape.. G.S.: If we remove it, they’d have to take your own dermis and put that in, so would that be okay? Let’s just leave it. Aloderm is safer than people think. Let’s just trim the autologous rib cartilage in the nasal bridge a bit and lower it, and lower the tip too. Surgery is possible now too (I went for consultation at 6 months). Because autologous rib cartilage in the nasal bridge weakens your own septum, if you dislike that, it would be better to have surgery sooner. Y.Y.: Let’s just refine the tip and lower it. Right now the tip is pointed, but if it becomes rounded it will look pretty. (When I said I want to lower the nasal tip a lot, but if the bridge stays high won’t it become a straight nose? I also want the bridge lower, too.) Then remove both the aloderm and the autologous rib cartilage in the bridge, and refine the autologous rib cartilage at the tip and lower it. It may become lower than my original nose because of septal weakening.
That was the consultation I received. I put down a deposit for the last hospital. But I keep thinking about what G.S., who is famous for reconstruction, said about having to insert my own dermis if aloderm is removed, and I’m worried If they scrape it out, the skin will become thinner and there will be damage, so I kept wondering whether complete removal is even possible. I made another consultation appointment to ask again... Everyone around me keeps worrying that my bridge might become too low, and it’s making me anxious. It was a low nose to begin with, lol. I still can’t tell whether it would be better to leave the bridge alone... Because of my nose, my social life hasn’t been smooth for years, and money is tight too, so it’s been hard