I had my first surgery 10 years ago using only silicone, and as the silicone shifted to one side, my nose looked crooked, and because of the issue of my nasal tip drooping, I decided on revision surgery!
ㅈㅏㅇㅕㄴㅈㅜㅇㅡㅣ Consultation fee o From the moment I arrived to the CT scan, the staff seemed so inexperienced that I had trouble trusting them…; The director was very kind and nice, but I didn’t feel strongly drawn to the place I don’t really remember what materials they recommended either… The consultant just said things like, “The director is good, so trust him and go for it,” and that was basically it, so there’s nothing much I remember…
ㅈㅔㅇㅣㅌㅣ - Director ㄱㅈㅌ Consultation fee x I first talked with the consultant about the materials or line I wanted, waited a bit, then went in for the director’s consultation. The director was incredibly thorough with the consultation. He even drew pictures by hand erased them with an eraser, drew them again.. I had to hold back my laughter… He explained that because the previous surgical method was like this and that, the current problems probably happened, and said he would place silicone in the bridge at the same height as now, and make the nasal tip higher for the line. As for materials, since neither my ear cartilage nor septal cartilage had been used, and my septum is on the wider side, he said I could choose what I wanted, and explained in great detail about ear cartilage + septal cartilage + donated rib cartilage or autologous rib cartilage, the pros and cons of each, and possible side effects. He kept asking if I had any questions, so the consultation felt very comfortable! There was also an anesthesiologist, so I trusted them a bit more.
ㅅㅣㅁㅁㅣㅇㅏㄴ Consultation fee o When I went in for the consultation with the consultant, she first asked if I had medical indemnity insurance and whether I had rhinitis, and then asked if I wanted to take a CT if I hadn’t, so I came back out, took the CT, and waited again.. Honestly, I was also a bit turned off by the consultant’s appearance,,; The director’s consultation seemed to be over in about 5 minutes? He was kind, but it felt like a capitalism smile, like he was just dealing with me moderately and trying to send me out. I’m not even sure whether he was consulting based on the CT, and as soon as I sat down he started writing the chart, then said it would be good to use Gore-Tex for the bridge and lift the tip a bit with cartilage. He answered one or two questions and immediately told me to discuss the rest with the consultant.. I remember this place being the cheapest.
ㅁㅣㅈㅏㄱ Consultation fee o From the time I made the reservation, they said autologous rib cartilage surgery costs over 10 million won, so I went feeling bitter… Excluding the consultation itself, the waiting time alone was almost 1 hour. This was the only place that didn’t take a CT and just did palpation. As soon as the director saw me, he touched my nose once and asked what I thought was wrong with my own nose, so I said I came because these and those things were the problem, and then he started going on about issues in the plastic surgery industry, saying problems like this happen because doctors operate carelessly without technique or aesthetic sense. He said that from before surgery, he uploads the entire process to the internet in real time, and starts by posting preoperative photos first,, Most doctors are either good at surgery but can’t create a good line, or they create pretty lines but have no technique, one of the two, and there’s no doctor in Korea who does it this way except him. He does it because he has that much confidence. I think I listened to just this for about 5 minutes. His pride is seriously enormous…… Then he asked if I had consultations elsewhere and whether anyone had suggested autologous rib cartilage, so I said I was told I could choose, and he said that’s all because they lack skill and aren’t confident they can do it well, so they’re shifting the responsibility to the patient, and since it’s the firmest material with no deformation, and it’s my own, the probability of side effects is the lowest, why would anyone recommend something else when the best material exists? And then the diss battle started again…. My ears.. my ears feel like they’re going to bleed, Director…. I mean, I don’t think he’s wrong,, but there was no talk about my nose, and I wondered if he was consulting because he just wanted to brag about himself. In reality, he didn’t look at the line or height at all and just said he would take care of it Even during the consultation with the consultant, there were a few more minutes of talk about how proud the director is.. Please stop…. Then the cost went from 13 million won to, finally, an eardrum-critical hit; They explained it as a price that includes lifetime aftercare, and said that if I thought about doing it cheaply elsewhere and needing another revision, it was a reasonable price. But the director won’t live forever….. He’ll retire when he gets older too.. Anyway,, in many ways…. that was how it was..
ㅇㅐㄴㄷㅡ - Director ㅊㅇㄷ Consultation fee o Because of the director’s surgery schedule, they changed my consultation appointment time several times.. I was a bit like, hmm,, but I also thought he must be popular, so I had expectations. At the clinic too, they said the director would come out after finishing surgery, so I waited about 20-30 minutes. After looking at the CT and 3D photos and touching my nose once, he said he would first start by explaining the current problem areas, and explained everything about why my nose became like this, the previous surgical method, and the possible issues if I undergo revision surgery on my current nose. These were things I was hearing for the first time, so I was really flustered; Maybe my expression looked rotten… he comforted me, saying he had no choice but to explain while considering even the worst-case scenario. So, to do revision surgery, in order to prepare for that worst-case scenario, he said the bridge height should be lowered compared to now, and the nasal tip should be done with autologous rib cartilage. He said the septal cartilage could be used if needed, but to go safely, it would probably be better not to touch it. He also said that if the risks of revision surgery felt burdensome, there is also a method of removing all implants entirely and doing a skin graft to restore the nose like my original nose, and if I wanted to do that, he would connect me to a specialized hospital. The consultation was really long, and although the content was heavy, the director’s tone was gentle, so I trusted him. It almost felt less like a consultation and more like listening to a lecture in medical school But after the slight shock and the unexpected discussion of implant removal, my mind was wiped out, so I couldn’t ask any of the questions I had and came out Compared to the consultation content, the surgery cost wasn’t as expensive as I expected, and they said they would also support scar laser treatment. And! This was the clinic where the review discount price differed the least from the regular price. The consultation was good and I liked the line too.. but autologous rib cartilage is such a huge hurdle that I can’t decide easily.
ㅁㅣㅎㅗ - Director ㅇㅅㅎ Consultation fee o The wait was really long… Still, they let me wait inside the consultation room, so I was just comfortable, but there were also people outside complaining that they had been waiting too long After looking at the CT and palpating my nose, he first asked what I was most dissatisfied with and what I wanted to improve. Based on that, he combined it with the problems he saw and set the surgical direction. What was quite impressive was that for the line, the overall shape of the nose, and each material and surgical method, he explained the pros and cons from very diverse perspectives. He suggested the line that best fit my facial proportions and what could be made from my original nose, and said the bridge would be custom silicone, while for the nasal tip, septal cartilage plus donated rib cartilage or autologous rib cartilage were both possible. He said the criteria for choosing between ear cartilage, septal cartilage, donated rib cartilage, and autologous rib cartilage should be based on the height I wanted to raise it to. As you move toward autologous rib cartilage, it is firmer, so even if the height is raised a lot, it is easier to withstand the pulling pressure of the skin, so the more height you want to add, the more advantageous autologous rib cartilage is, he said. It was the first time someone explained it with this kind of approach, so it felt really fresh, I guess,, As I said above, all of the director’s explanations felt like he had looked at and thought about things from many different angles, so I definitely got the sense that he has a lot of experience, as expected from someone famous. During the consultation with the consultant, even without my asking, she explained everything first, including that an anesthesiologist is on-site, information about CCTV, 1 year of free aftercare, and the donated rib cartilage supplier, which could all be sensitive topics, so overall I trusted them a lot.
The more consultations I go to, the more my worries and concerns grow... Should I go to more consultations I can’t decide.....