Before before before before after after after after I had been living fairly satisfied with my nose, but at some point I started to be bothered by my wide alar base and large nostrils when seen from the side. So I searched YouTube and the internet for a plastic surgery clinic that was good at alar reduction, and ended up having a consultation at Unimedi.
To be honest, I live outside Seoul, so it would have been nice to go to a famous plastic surgery clinic in my own region if possible, but the more I searched, the stronger the impression became that alar reduction = Unimedi. Since there were also many reviews, I thought it would be fine to at least get a consultation, made up my mind, and decided to travel for surgery. hehe
The consultation was done by the consultant. I had previously had double eyelid surgery, so I had been to consultations at several plastic surgery clinics before, but Unimedi in particular was kind and detailed. They spent a long time explaining in detail and kindly what was causing the dissatisfaction I felt about my nose and what solutions were available.
I was offered a total of three surgical options. The first was horizontal alar reduction (minimal intranasal incision alar reduction + improvement of alar drooping). The second was horizontal alar reduction (minimal intranasal incision alar reduction + improvement of alar drooping) + columellar graft as part of nasal tip surgery (artificial dermis). I don’t remember the third one in detail, but it was horizontal alar reduction (minimal intranasal incision alar reduction + improvement of alar drooping) + columellar graft as part of nasal tip surgery (artificial dermis) + improvement of nostril asymmetry.
As you can see if you look at the preoperative photos, my columella had collapsed to one side, so my nostril asymmetry was especially severe. Of course, when doing the first or second surgery, they would balance the nostrils to some extent, but because the nostrils themselves were already asymmetrical, they said asymmetry would inevitably remain after surgery. So they recommended improving the nostril asymmetry at the same time as the alar reduction and nasal tip surgery.
But honestly, is there any body part that is perfectly symmetrical? Even my breasts are uneven. hehe I don’t know about people who considered alar reduction because this part bothered them, but I was okay with the asymmetry, so I chose the second surgery, excluding nostril asymmetry improvement (horizontal alar reduction + columellar graft as part of nasal tip surgery).
And since it was rhinoplasty, they also explained inflammation and contracture, but the chance of developing inflammation due to rhinoplasty was lower than I had worried. They said that if inflammation were to occur and the artificial dermis had to be removed, they would also perform revision surgery.
After the consultation with the consultant, I consulted with the director. The consultation was very short, but he spoke very bluntly and realistically, which actually made me trust him more. hehe He told me that the alar reduction method I chose involved incision, so it could not be reversed (the columellar graft can be reversed! You just remove the artificial dermis! And because it is artificial dermis, it can also be reused!), that certain areas would be difficult to improve, and that I should not expect an extremely dramatic change. Rather than a dramatic change, my mindset was that even if only I noticed it, I would be happy if just this much improved, so I actually liked that. hehe With style or fashion too, what matters more is that I like it, right? That was the kind of mindset I had.
I had the surgery right away on the day of the consultation. hehe Since I live outside Seoul and also work, it was hard for me to visit multiple times time-wise.
The surgery took about 30 minutes and was performed after local anesthesia. First, he operated on the right alar area, then showed it to me and asked if it was okay and whether I wanted it reduced more.
And because there was a possibility that the nostril could become distorted if the right alar area was reduced too much, the director said it would be better to reduce it only up to an appropriate point, and I agreed. Then he reduced the left alar area to match the right.
He also explained that if the nostril asymmetry looked more noticeable after surgery, it was because the degree of incision differed between the right and left sides, so the swelling would differ from each other.
After that, I received explanations about the prescription and postoperative care, then left the hospital.
The day when the swelling was the worst was the second day, but honestly, I didn’t even know I had swelling. hehe At that time, the swollen state looked the same as my original alar area. So I thought that if it looked the same even with swelling, the surgery was a success, and from then on I felt good.
Now, one month after surgery, I’m very satisfied. Whether I look at or touch my alar area, I can feel that it has become smaller, so I feel really good every day. And alar reduction is alar reduction, but I think getting the columellar graft was a really good decision. If I hadn’t done it, my nose would have looked shorter, but with the columellar graft, my nose looks longer in proportion to the reduced alar area.
That was my one-month review of alar reduction at Unimedi. I was so satisfied myself that even writing the review was really enjoyable. They say rhinoplasty can keep changing up to 6 months, so I’ll wait with a happy heart.
Then I’ll come back with a 3-month review. (I need to get the review discount, hehe) Thank you for reading this long post.
This review is for a surgery review pursuing natural beauty.