Before <Side view on day 10! I really love it! ><Side view on day 3! Zero swelling, zero bruising...> Before <Before revision surgery (when my nose had gotten lower due to an accident...)> Hello! I’m on day 10 after revision nose surgery! It hasn’t even been 2 weeks yet, so there’s still a little swelling, but I’m so satisfied that I’m writing this post~
First, at the end of 2020 I had a fairly severe nasal fracture from a traffic accident (not only the nasal bone, but also the septum was damaged), and after surgery at a university hospital, I became dissatisfied with the appearance (nostril asymmetry, a slight saddle-nose look, a lower bridge, and a nose shape that looked flat from the front), so I started looking into cosmetic surgery to improve those issues.
I searched online for well-known hospitals, read a lot of reviews, watched YouTube, and visited clinics myself. I ended up visiting 6 places in total, in the order below!
<Clinic-hopping review>
1. ㅋㄴㅍ clinic (Dr. ㄱㅌㅇ, ENT specialist, had good reviews) - With rib cartilage, the price was almost 7 million won. At that point I was still completely new to looking into clinics, so I was nervous about rib cartilage. And since I was already unhappy with the cosmetic result from the university hospital, I thought, “Let’s go to a plastic surgery specialist!” so I kept searching. (Of course, now I think that even an ENT doctor is fine if they have a good aesthetic sense!!)
2. ㅅㅇ Plastic Surgery (Dr. ㅎㅅㅎ) - I found this clinic through the doctor’s own blog, and I visited because it gave off the feeling of a hidden expert. The consultation was satisfying. I remember being really tempted when they said they would perform the surgery with ear cartilage using cartilage rearrangement, and that they could even make a pig nose possible. I didn’t get a CT, but they did examine the inside of my nose very carefully with cotton swabs! They said they would match the shape as closely as possible if I brought photos of what I wanted. The price wasn’t bad either, but anesthesia added 1 million won (general anesthesia), bringing it to the mid-5 million range..! Actually, at first I hadn’t visited many clinics, so I was leaning strongly toward this place, but there weren’t many reviews, so I thought, let’s look a bit more!.
3. ㄱㅇㅈ Plastic Surgery (Dr. ㄱㅇㅈ)
I visited because it was known as the clinic where Dia ㅈㅊㅇ had her surgery! The interior was completely... old-fashioned, but I thought, they must be confident in their skills and not care about this kind of thing! After the consultation, they said that since this was a revision surgery, using silicone would be risky, and since it wasn’t too bad now, there was no need to operate; instead, they recommended only filler for the sunken part of the nasal bridge. If I put it nicely, it felt safety-oriented, but on the other hand, I also wondered if they only take the patients they want, or only the easy cases? I had that thought a little. Because I did definitely have issues I wanted to improve, like nostril asymmetry, etc. Anyway, I had actually visited hoping, maybe I’d become another ㅈㅊㅇ? That was a vain expectation, so I was a little disappointed! But they were definitely safety-focused and seemed very kind
4. ㄷㄷㅇ (Dr. ㄱㅌㅅ)
This place has two doctors, Dr. ㄱㅌㅅ and Dr. ㅇㅈㅎ, and I visited because I found online that it was a leading nose-specialty clinic! I prefer a natural look, so among the two doctors I chose the one who seemed to favor natural results a bit more. The clinic was in Gangnam, so the location was good and the building looked new, and I remember it being very stylish.. The clinic was large and there were a lot of people! But looking at the before-and-after photos they showed at the clinic, the curve was definitely quite pronounced and the overall vibe was very glamorous. Even the people waiting for consultations seemed to be heavily made up and into glamorous styles.. From then on I started to feel a bit distant... If you like a glamorous look, I think this would be a good place to visit! They took CT scans, took side-profile photos, and drew on the side profile, so the consultation ended quickly! The natural look seemed far from my style.. so I passed! I can’t remember the price I think it was just in the 4 to 5 million won range.
5. ㅈㅅ Plastic Surgery (Dr. ㅅㅈㅅ)
This is a private clinic opened last fall (?) by Dr. ㅅㅈㅅ, who used to be at another large hospital. Honestly, there weren’t many reviews or ads, but by chance I saw a post on a community site about surgery with donated dermis, and the shape looked good, so I visited! At that time, I still wanted to avoid implants as much as possible:)
I got a CT there, and interestingly they used a custom silicone implant called ㅇㄴㅍ!! So they carefully designed the expected result using that program, and the doctor was incredibly kind! The consultation lasted almost an hour.
They said that because I’m young and feel burdened by implants, they would do the surgery with only donated dermis + ear cartilage, and if I wanted a slightly higher bridge, they would use an implant + donated rib cartilage.
The price was in the mid-4 million range, and I think it went into the 5 million range when donated rib cartilage was used! The doctor didn’t over-treat and was meticulous, so I left after paying the deposit and getting blood tests done!
6. ㅇㅂㅈ Plastic Surgery (Dr. ㅇㄱㅁ)
Actually, I had already paid the deposit at ㅈㅅ Plastic Surgery and left, but I had seen ㅇㅂㅈ recommended a lot on the community site for nose surgery for a long time.. There were many reviews, but it was strange that they were all praise and not a single bad review, so I made a consultation appointment just because I wanted to at least go and talk to them! Among all the clinics I visited, this was the hardest consultation to book, so that made me want to go even more.. Like, how popular can they be?? I got stubborn about it… I had to book at least 3 weeks to 1 month in advance to get in…
So I finally got an appointment and visited. Before going, I watched a lot of nose-related videos on the clinic’s YouTube channel and the doctor’s personal YouTube channel! Good information aside, the doctor was also funny because of his great storytelling… I visited on a Saturday afternoon, and of course there were a lot of people. The clinic was very clean and, like ㄷㄷㅇ, it was in a new building and looked grand.. So I thought, ah, maybe this place won’t suit me either.. And although the manager was very kind, at first there was also a bit of a sales-pitch vibe, so I honestly wasn’t too invested. They initially recommended correcting a crooked nose even though mine wasn’t crooked… (Later they became super kind!!)
But after the doctor’s consultation, he carefully examined my nose by touching it this way and that, and with his confident + professional manner I thought, oh, this might actually be good. When I asked whether my nose was crooked, he flat-out said that everyone has a slight asymmetry and that it wasn’t a crooked nose, so I felt they weren’t over-treating me and my trust went up a lot. (The manager probably disliked that…)
So I decided on this place, paid the deposit, and even set the surgery date! And from what I felt through the YouTube videos, even if something went wrong, I thought this doctor would take responsibility to the end. Also, I had seen many good reviews saying he has aesthetic sense, is meticulous, and is a perfectionist, and that he was the top doctor at a previous large hospital, so that gave me even more confidence!
What worried me most, though, was that since this wasn’t a private clinic and was a medium-to-large hospital, I wondered if the aftercare would be good.. and whether the doctor, who seemed so busy, would be able to monitor my progress properly.. Even in many reviews, people say plastic surgery is best at private clinics.. But honestly, no clinic has no drawbacks, and I thought the most important thing was the doctor’s surgical skill + sense of responsibility, so that’s how I decided.
The cost felt similar to the others, maybe a little cheaper! Somewhere in the 4 to 5 million won range.
<Surgery review>
I originally scheduled the surgery for late February, but because I tested positive for COVID, had personal issues, and the doctor had scheduling issues, it got postponed three times.. and I finally had it at the end of March. Every time it was postponed, I was in intense inner conflict, thinking, “Is this a sign from heaven telling me not to get surgery…?” Not once or twice, but three times.. But each time it was postponed, the manager took such meticulous care of everything, and I trusted the doctor and went ahead with the surgery, and the result was extremely satisfying!!!!!
My surgery was originally scheduled for 6:30 p.m., but because the previous surgery ran late, I actually went into the operating room at 8:30. Before surgery, there was a quick consultation where I said what I wanted. I said I wanted a straight line without a curved half-moon shape, something natural and rounded, and correction of my nostril asymmetry! If you have specific wishes, it would definitely be best to say them clearly here!!!
Of course, some people may find this inconvenient, but when I think about it, it means they’re trying to achieve the best result for each patient, so I actually liked it. It means they would put that much effort into me too..!!!
The surgery ended after midnight, around 12:30, and honestly I was awake in my right mind for almost the entire time… It was sedation anesthesia, but the doctor’s principle is to use the sedation medication as minimally as possible, so I think I was only put to sleep briefly when they gave the nasal anesthesia injections.. At first, after sedation, I had a weird dream, woke up, and thought, “Wow, it’s already over,” and said, “It’s already finished?” but then they said it was just starting… I was shocked and asked what time it was, and they said it was 9 o’clock, so I gave up and lay there! But since I was already anesthetized, it didn’t hurt. I just felt the bone being shaved a little, the bleeding being stopped (there was a burning smell, so maybe they used a laser for hemostasis..), and some stitching sensations… We even chatted in between, so it was a pretty amusing experience.. But because my whole body was tensed up, I did feel a bit stiff all over afterward! At some point they also inserted silicone and seemed to change to something else, and I could really feel how meticulous they were!! And since my main issue was nostril asymmetry, they even asked the nurse to look at it and carefully adjusted it. For anyone worried about substitute surgery, ㅇㅂㅈ really doesn’t seem like something to worry about at all… I was awake in my right mind….
After surgery I lay in the recovery room for a bit. When I had surgery at the university hospital before, I was in so much pain that I cried asking for painkillers, and not only the surgical area but my whole face swelled up so badly that I couldn’t sleep all night because it hurt so much.. Right after this surgery, there was hardly any bleeding and almost no swelling, so I was shocked. Because there was no bleeding, they didn’t even pack my nose with cotton, so breathing was so comfortable that I slept like a baby from that day on…
I had originally been told it would be silicone + ear cartilage, septal cartilage (if usable), and donated rib cartilage (if ear cartilage and septal cartilage were insufficient), but after surgery, when I checked and my ear was completely fine, they said my septal cartilage was usable, so they did septal cartilage + donated rib cartilage!! I was so happy that my ear was fine!! Though adding the donated rib cartilage cost 990,000 won, which was a bit of a hit.. Still, I’m glad they used good donated rib cartilage!
I attached photos, but even the next day there was only the splint, and the bruising and swelling were really almost nonexistent, so I was amazed, and I just walked around outside!! Two days after surgery I went back for disinfection, and at one week they removed the splint and the stitches under my nose and did a brief follow-up with the doctor!! The aftercare I had worried about was handled so well that I felt embarrassed for having worried… They even did swelling laser treatment and skin care!!
The side line still has a little tip swelling, so it’s a bit curved, but once the swelling goes down and the slightly lifted feeling comes down, it will be exactly my style. The nostril asymmetry has been completely improved The front view is really so natural and rounded, but also nicely refined and lifted I was a little worried because there were many glamorous-looking results in the doctor’s review photos, but it seems that if you state the style you want, they reflect it exactly!!
It’s really only day 10, but when I tell friends I had nose surgery, they don’t believe me, and say the doctor has a divine hand.. I introduced him to everyone!! I’ve also heard he’s good at eyes as well as noses, so I introduced him to a male friend of mine who needed eye surgery!
I really agonized over whether to have revision surgery, worried a lot, and was under so much stress, so I’m truly happy that the result is so good!! While clinic-hopping, I got so much information from the community, and I thought that if I share everything I did up to this point and my surgery experience, it might help someone even a little, so I wrote this long post!
Honestly, there are probably many skilled doctors besides Dr. ㅇㄱㅁ at ㅇㅂㅈ whom I had surgery with!! And just because there’s a lot of promotion doesn’t mean the doctor is a quack. In fact, ㅇㅂㅈ Plastic Surgery does have quite a bit of promotion, but the doctor is genuinely skilled.. I think the best method is to go in person, get an actual consultation, and talk to them…! And it’s also good to check whether they have at least 10 years of experience!! I think the prime years for plastic surgery doctors are around 40s to 50s…
I hope everyone else also gets a consultation with a specialist + enough time to talk, finds the doctor who gives them that exact feel, and has a successful surgery or revision surgery!!!
P.S. As a person who’s had nose surgery, here’s a useful tip: before surgery, if you get a scalp scaling treatment at a hair salon, it’s great!! You probably won’t be able to wash your hair for at least 5 days, so if you get scalp scaling before surgery, you really won’t feel itchy for those 5 days at all!! And when you sleep, if you use a neck pillow and sleep sitting up, your head won’t turn, and you can at least sleep sitting up more comfortably!! You know a humidifier is essential, right!! I hope everyone has successful surgery:)