Before<before eye surgery >> My eyeballs were small, my eyes were droopy and short, and they were sunken eyes that looked hollow, so I looked very tired and had a lot of wrinkles, making me look much older>Before<before nose surgery>> Cartilage was showing inside my nose, and my nostrils were asymmetric >Before<before surgery, the nasal bridge was crooked, the columella was crooked, the columellar incision suture line did not match, and the nostrils were uneven>Before<The nose was short, the nasal tip was blunt, there was no columellar angle, and I had a protruding mouth. >After<immediately after surgery>>I still didn’t look human. Since I did the nose and eyes at the same time, the swelling and bruising were no joke, and because I’m older, recovery was slow too. Still, since I was going to suffer anyway, I think doing it all at once was the right choice.>After<1 week after surgery, the day I got the external stitches removed. My nose was too pointy and upturned, so it was serious, but they said it would come back down, so it was bearable.>After<2 weeks after surgery, I got the stitches inside the nose removed. A lot of swelling went down, but I was still in a bulbous-nose state, and it was the period when the bruises were turning yellow.>After<3 weeks after surgery>After<1 month after surgery >> It became much more natural. I think after another 2-3 months, once more swelling goes down and I remove my orthodontic braces, the philtrum that looks unnatural and long will also become natural. >After< I came in today for my 1-month follow-up visit, and they showed me the photos on the monitor. I was so shocked when I saw the before-and-after photos. Seeing them compared so directly, I really look like a different person. >I’m in my late 40s. As you can tell from the pre-op photos, I had my first surgery in Incheon using ear cartilage and septal cartilage, and it failed. After the first surgery, my complex was so severe that for years I never took even a single selfie, family photo, or travel photo. But after one failed surgery, I became even more anxious and couldn’t bring myself to have a revision. Especially after seeing photos of contracted noses, inflammation, and side effects, I just couldn’t find the courage to do it again. But now that I’m approaching 50, I need to help my children get married, and as I started looking back on my life, I wanted to fix my complex.
Since I live outside Seoul, researching clinics was really hard, but with the thought that I would never do it locally again, I looked around many sites such as Yeowooya, Gangnam Unni, and Babitalk. Still, I couldn’t tell who was a broker, and there were too many clinics, so it was hard to find a truly skilled, genuine clinic. So I changed my method. I decided to look only for famous one-doctor clinics specializing in revision rhinoplasty and separately search only for reviews of those directors. I didn’t even know what a flashy-natural style or a straight-with-slight-curve line meant; I just made up my mind to get rid of my nose complex and went for consultations.
But thanks to the director, I found out why my first surgery failed, and he explained in detail with Photoshop what method he would use, how much he would raise it, and how he would handle each part. I had silicone for the nasal bridge, autologous costal cartilage for the nasal tip, raising of the columellar angle, nostril lowering so the nostrils would not show from the front, and even alar reduction. For both my nose and eyes, he carefully drew the lines over and over, more than 100 times, until right before surgery. He said the fine wrinkles under my eyes would not disappear completely, so I might need to redo lower blepharoplasty later, and I fully took that into account. The result is slightly uneven, but I think I’ll only know the exact line after all the swelling goes down, and since I originally had facial asymmetry and uneven eyes, I don’t think it’s a major issue.
For my nose, considering my sunken eyes, I wanted the glabella not to be too high and for it to connect to the nasal tip in a natural curve, and I really like the line. After the first week, I saw scar tissue in the nostril and mentioned it. They said it would mostly disappear as the swelling went down, and if it didn’t disappear, it could be removed with an injection, so I waited half worried and half relieved, and it really did disappear. Recovery was really slow, maybe because of my age. The bruising didn’t go away easily either, and even now, at one month, I still have the kind of swelling that people in their 20s might have at around 2 weeks. Still, it’s going down little by little, so I see hope. Now, one month later, the tip of my nose sometimes feels prickly and tight, but when I gently touch the tip while washing my face or applying lotion, it is still hard, but I can feel sensation now. My nose pulls a lot when I smile, and yawning is uncomfortable too, but when I think of my face before surgery, I even smile in my sleep.
First of all, communication with the director was very good, and it felt like he really understood the direction I wanted. Also, he gave off such a professional vibe, and his confidence made him seem like someone who puts his soul into rhinoplasty. He gives a 1-year warranty certificate for autologous costal cartilage. They said if the nasal tip droops within 1 year, they give a 100% refund. Because I have facial asymmetry, my nose looked crooked, but he said if the nasal tip was aligned with the position of my philtrum, the nose would not look crooked. We did that, and the nasal bridge that had really looked crooked no longer looked crooked. They said the tip will become rounder and more natural as it gradually deswells more, so I’m going to wait. I had sleep anesthesia for the eyes and general anesthesia for the nose. After the eye surgery ended, before general anesthesia, the director told me, “Thanks to you enduring it well, the eye surgery finished well,” and I was so grateful. The nurses were also so kind, and while removing my stitches, one of them said that because she herself had never had nose surgery, she didn’t know what it felt like when patients said their nose felt stuffy, so she was very sorry, and she kept apologizing. Seeing someone young enough to be my daughter trying hard to understand patients looked really beautiful to me.
I came thinking this would be the last time, and I think it really will be the last. I hope everyone here succeeds and gets good results too.
This is a surgery review for a procedure pursuing natural beauty.