For those curious about the nose shape and sense of loss, to just give the conclusion: My glabella/nasal bridge area was low, and the alar area was a severe bulbous nose. Every clinic I went to told me my nasal bridge was low. I removed the silicone, left the nasal tip low, only like a septal support strut, and filled the middle step-off from removing the silicone with ear cartilage. When I decided on removal, I was already worried because my bridge was low, and I thought, what if it had become much lower because it was pressed by the silicone plus the bridge had been shaved a lot. Still, either way, it seems unavoidable for heavy silicone to press into the bone The conclusion is that the nose without silicone is way better, and there’s no sense of loss, only satisfaction.. My original nose was not pretty, so I was okay with not going back to my original nose, and it became a third kind of nose shape. The nose I wanted. A neat, delicate nose. I think people who had thick silicone put in don’t need to be too scared either.. When I was going around for removal consultations, doctors at other clinics besides my surgery clinic felt sorry for me because the silicone in my nose was thick and they were worried about the shape after removal lol. But what do you know, I was scared for nothing.
From here on, I’ll write out my nose chronology in detail.. First surgery.. I did it without knowing anything. No one was chasing me, but I booked it in a huge rush. Because I had spent what felt like forever considering nose surgery while living unable to breathe due to deviated septum, inferior turbinate, and rhinitis, I think I just booked it really quickly and hastily.. It was a clinic in Busan, and I think I stupidly trusted it because of the interior that appeals to women, aftercare items, services, hair washing, and the director’s gentle standard Korean. Everyone, please don’t do what I did.. Hospital aftercare services are important, but they’re not everything..
Anyway, my symptoms were that at 9 months after surgery, the nasal bridge became hard and stuck out a bit like bone, and it was red and itchy. The symptoms would flare up every 1-2 months. There wasn’t any pain. Once this happened, I kept thinking that the first-surgery clinic had intentionally dragged things out until the 1-year aftercare period passed,, lol. Even though antibiotics didn’t calm it down, they made me take antibiotics for a long time.. They also ruined my alar reduction scars. (It was a flesh-cut type. The clinic had a concept of being super sensitive about scars, so I hadn’t worried about scarring at all..) I just lost trust, and without looking back, while blaming myself, I looked into clinics in Seoul. When I went to Seoul and went around consultations alone, it was so, so hard, and I cried alone lolol. The conclusion is that I really think I chose the clinic well, and when they opened my nose, thankfully it wasn’t inflammation. It seems it was because the silicone was too high for me and I had a foreign-body reaction. (Like an allergy.) Every place I consulted in Seoul said it was different from typical inflammation symptoms… they would need to open it to know, but for now it was still true that the silicone had to be removed. The clinic where I had surgery now was the only one that mentioned allergy.
After having surgery here in Seoul, it really compared so differently with my first-surgery clinic. At the removal clinic, even though I was half-asleep after surgery, the director came and explained the surgery details, and every time I went for follow-up, the director personally treated my nose and explained things directly while showing photos. They told me that when they actually opened my nose, the right side of the nasal bridge was sunken, so they additionally overlaid ear fascia, and there would be no extra cost. Right after surgery, while I was out of it from the medication, the first thing I said while looking at the director was, “Why can I breathe…?” Since there was no cotton in my nose, breathing was so comfortable that even the week with the splint and taping was really easy mode. Since the first surgery, I had rhinitis surgery plus cosmetic surgery together, and from not being able to breathe at all, my right nostril was still a bit stuffy, but it was much better than before surgery!! But now after removal, I breathe much, much better than after the first surgery, so that also makes me happy.. The columellar scar actually disappeared too.
What I’m really grateful for is that when they opened it, the nasal bridge was lower than the director expected because the right side was sunken. The nasal tip was also something that maybe should originally have been completely removed, but because there were things we had agreed on before surgery, they didn’t do anything on their own without my consent, and judged as safely as possible, so I was so grateful.. (Because I hadn’t even mentioned complete removal of the nasal tip to the director, and I had asked them not to put in other foreign materials different from what we discussed, no matter how low the bridge was.)
For Seoul consultations, I went around famous places: ㅊㅁ, ㄷㄹ, ㅁㅅㅇ, ㅇㅇㅇ (person’s name).
Because I also went through so much emotional distress, I hope this helps anyone like me..!