I had surgery 6 weeks ago, and this was my first one. I hope this helps people with the same concerns.
#Concerns before surgery: hollowness beside the nose, uneven eyes One eye had a very clear double eyelid, but the other was monolid + a kind of folded crease. After watching a lot of videos on YouTube, I found out that for eyes like mine, with a protruding eye shape and an existing double eyelid, the surgery difficulty is not very high, so I honestly didn’t worry much about which hospital to choose for the double eyelid surgery.
The problem was the hollow area beside my nose. The side of my nose looked sunken in as if there were an empty space there, which made me look really older. Please refer to the photo below. Anyway, I wanted to fill that area, so I looked into fat grafting, but it seemed even doctors can’t predict the shape, so I skipped it. I skipped filler too because I was worried there could be problems when dissolving or removing it. Even if the surgery went wrong, the most important thing to me was being able to reverse it easily. So I decided on silicone. Silicone can be removed if inflammation occurs.
When you search YouTube for “nobility implant,” most places use a pre-made triangular type, but I hated that. Every face is different, so a stock shape? Seriously. Apparently it’s inserted as two separate pieces too, so it can move around more easily.
Then I saw that Dr. D.T.J. carves silicone into shape and inserts it, so I chose this clinic. Since the silicone pieces are connected to each other, I thought they probably wouldn’t shift too much, and because it was custom-made, I had a feeling it would work out. Also, it seemed like this was the only place that carves silicone, so I didn’t really have much choice.
#Consultation Still, I was told that going to only one place for consultation would make me look gullible, so I also went to a clinic in Gangnam that’s famous for correcting the nasolabial angle. There, the consultation manager decided everything about the surgery and explained what needed correction on my face while looking at the CT images. They also used a stock implant for the nobility area, recommended full-face fat grafting, and the estimate came out to 7 million won... Then the doctor came in and said I could do eye muscle correction or not, in that kind of vague way, so I passed without hesitation. If I don’t need it, I don’t need it, but I don’t understand why they would recommend surgery related to the eye muscles so easily without explaining the basis.
At this clinic, the consultation staff explained only the cost, what would be needed for surgery, and aftercare, while all surgery-related matters were discussed by Dr. D.T.J. The doctor answered everything I asked kindly. I had seen a few reviews saying the doctor looked a bit tired, so I was worried, but maybe that’s because their tone and expression were so gentle and sleepy-looking haha. I understood immediately what people meant. Anyway, I decided on buried sutures for the eyes, ear cartilage + cartilage binding for the nose, and a nobility implant. I booked the date right away, and there was no pressure to reserve on the day or anything like that. Clean and straightforward.
#Surgery process On the day of surgery, everything moved very quickly. When you go into the operating room, they cover you with a blanket and the nurses take care of everything really efficiently. It was my first surgery, so I was extremely nervous, but seeing how well coordinated they were, I thought they must be experienced and relaxed a bit. Local anesthesia was done while I was under sedation, so there wasn’t any part that was especially painful. If I woke up in the middle of surgery, the doctor would ask me to open my eyes from time to time to check the shape, and explained what procedure would be done next, so I felt reassured and even found it interesting. At the end, they even showed me a mirror. I was staring blankly so I don’t really remember, but everyone should look carefully. After surgery, you can rest in a private recovery room. The blanket was so soft that even while I was half-conscious, I flipped it over to see what brand it was lol
#After surgery ~ 2 weeks The eyes only hurt on the day of surgery, and from the next day there was almost no pain. Maybe because it was buried sutures? After 2 weeks, the crease became thin like the original line. It was the eye shape I wanted, so I was very satisfied. Still, because the crease is defined, it does look like I had eye surgery. I was told the scar would need two or three months to fade.
The nose and nobility area were taped and splinted, so it was hard to eat and I couldn’t shower. Brushing my teeth was difficult too. They gave me a gargle rinse, so I used that diligently to disinfect my mouth and rinse. Five days later, when the tape was removed, I could wash my face. (Photo 1)
But when I bent my head down, blood rushed in and it hurt, and the nose tip hurt from the impact when walking. For 2 weeks, honestly, it was easier to just give up outside life. And my ear hurt where they took the cartilage, so I had to be careful not to lie on that side when sleeping. I even stuck a hair clip horizontally beside my ear so I couldn’t turn my head and slept like that. (Photo 2)
At first, the nose looked like a high triangle higher than I expected, and I was shocked. It was my first surgery, so I didn’t even know that all of this was swelling. Every day I looked in the mirror and worried, thinking it looked like a snub nose or that my nose was way too highㅠㅠ. Because my nose was so puffy, it felt like I had a triangular rice ball sitting on it. (Photo 3)
#2 weeks to 1 month From 2 weeks onward, the swelling and bruising went down a lot. The nose also felt less unstable. But because of the nobility surgery, even if I smiled a little, it felt like my face would split open. The doctor also told me to be careful about smiling for a month. But how can a person not smile? Once or twice a day, something would happen that made me smile, and I’d grin a little, then my face would hurt, I’d grab my face, press my nose, then my nose would hurt again, it was total chaos. I thought maybe I’d never be able to smile again, but by 4 weeks it didn’t really hurt unless I smiled a lot. I could also open my mouth quite a bit and the swelling was almost gone, so meeting people was totally possible. But my upper lip still didn’t move, so it felt awkward. (+ By week 7-8, it moved normally again.) But the nobility area really doesn’t show on the outside at all, and I’m genuinely, genuinely satisfied. I realized how much hollowness beside the nose affects how young a person looks. Since this is something you can’t even tell was done, I’m even more satisfied. The consultation managers at the clinic also said they all had the nobility procedure done more than ten years ago, and you can’t tell. If you’re considering the nobility procedure, don’t overthink it and just go consult at that clinic.
The nose settled a lot after 2-3 weeks and turned into the shape I wanted haha. The nostrils were less visible, and it was exactly the slight nose-tip lift I had imagined, so I was very satisfied. Around then, when washing my face or walking, there was almost no pain even if I touched the nose tip. And from about one month onward, scar tissue started forming a bit, so it became slightly puffy. I think this will settle more after a few months when the scar tissue loosens.
The long-awaited before-and-after photos! The left is after, the right is before! The side of my nose had definitely looked like a Hahoe mask, but that’s gone, and the nose tip that had drooped has been lifted slightly. Personally I’m so, so satisfied, and I’ve heard a lot of people say I look younger, which makes me happy haha. At the one-month mark, I went back to the hospital once more to check the results, and they said the surgery went well and everything had settled nicely, so I felt good. I hope the remaining swelling goes down quickly. The nobility procedure is really great because people around you don’t even know you had it, but your face becomes noticeably more refined. There’s no stress from obvious surgery signs, so I’m very satisfied and happyㅠㅠ I’m the worrying type, so I watched 100 YouTube videos and initially searched through about 30 hospitals, but I’m glad the results turned out well haha. Since I got a lot of help here too, I hope this helps people with the same concerns as me!!
+) But after actually having surgery, I realized that for us it’s something we might do once or twice in a lifetime, so it’s scary, but from the hospital’s perspective it’s something they do several times a day. So I think the person getting surgery should be more strict and ask more questions... For example, the hospital instructions said makeup would be possible after one week, but absolutely not, there’s no way you can do makeup after just one week. It took 2 weeks until washing my face didn’t hurt. And even though they talk as if all scar tissue and swelling disappear after one month, it really takes about 6 months. Anyway, they don’t care for the process and recovery as delicately as we’d hope, so we have to study on our own before going haha... And before surgery, make sure to clearly state the shape you want. Doctors usually forget.