(Photos deleted)
On Tuesday, I finally removed the L-shaped silicone I had carried around for a full 10 years.
Honestly, I debated whether to write a review, but I thought it might bring even a little comfort? help? to everyone who is worrying together about whether or not to remove theirs, so I’m leaving this post. It looks like this will end up being a long post in many ways.. (Since 10 years is a long time, my venting? complaining is also going to be long lol)
First, in my early 20s, I was led by my mother and got nose surgery without much searching (almost none, basically zero). My natural nose was wide, and my nasal bridge was not high either. So I don’t remember exactly, but I think I had alar reduction and about 4 mm placed in the bridge.
The implant was L-shaped silicone + either ear cartilage or ear dermis layered on top. Honestly, at the time of surgery, I had no idea what kind of silicone was being used... what materials were good... none of that. I just went in with celebrity photos without thiiinking at all and said, “Please make it like this.” That was all.. So I only found out later that L-shaped silicone had been inserted... when a foreign-body reaction appeared ^.^;;
After surgery at the time, when I visited the hospital to have the splint removed, the area near the glabella of my nose was bulging out, and they said blood had collected? So they drained the blood with a needle, and even after that, after monitoring it at home for a few days and going back once more, they drained blood again. They drained it twice in total.
Then, after surgery, I lived like that for a few months.. I don’t know if it was an early foreign-body reaction, but my nose felt a bit tingling, and beside the glabella, like I had been bitten by a huge bug, something really big and raised would appear? It would subside over time.. but whenever I got even a little tired, something kept swelling up like a bug bite and then going down repeatedly.
At first it was only the glabella area, but sometimes the nasal dorsum also started to swell.
So I went to the hospital, and at first they said let’s monitor it.. but because I was so anxious, and because it seemed like an inflammatory reaction, they said we should remove it. And then they brought up filler.... At the time, it felt like a bolt from the blue. I had poured in my money, my pain.. my wounds + time that money can’t buy, and the answer I got back was filler
So I was anxious, but it also felt like such a waste, so for the time being I said I would just take medicine and watch it.
And somehow, somehow, nearly 10 years passed like that.
In the early period after surgery, there was a somewhat unpleasant smell from my nose, my nose would swell... there was a tingling feeling.. and my nose was extremely hard, so I was sad.. but still, people are creatures of adaptation.. I adjusted in my own way, telling myself that since it wasn’t too sharp and the tip was blunt, it actually looked less obvious and was okay.. and lived like that.
Even so, I always had anxiety about living with a foreign material in my nose, and if I bumped into something, my heart would drop.. Every time I saw my side profile, I felt like my nostrils kept showing, and when people said it was pretty, pretty~ it somehow felt like they were talking about an artificial kind of beauty. Anyway, I decided to remove the silicone because I just wanted to return to a natural look now.
I had the surgery at the hospital where I originally had it done. (I hoped the director who operated on me wouldn’t do it, and fortunately that director wasn’t there ^^) That also made it somewhat cheaper. (But at first I thought it would be around 500,000-600,000 won..) Since I was removing the capsule too and had no intention of ever having revision nose surgery again.. I proceeded with an open approach and this and that... so the cost went up a bit.
I marked the pre-op and post-op photos above.
As you can see, from the side, it looks somewhat slightly upturned. So I searched through all the early photos from when I had surgery.. and although it depends on the photo angle, it was somewhat of a semi-upturned nose back then too..? Anyway, it feels a bit like it is lifting? and I was getting anxious by myself for no reason.
The surgery was done under sedation anesthesia. (This was really nice) You just gently fall asleep, and when you wake up, it’s over. Fortunately, although they removed the capsule, they said there were no inflammatory findings....
As you can see in the photos, there still isn’t much swelling or bruising. When I first had nose surgery, I had very severe bruising around my eyes and nearby areas, so I was worried it might happen again,
but maybe because this was silicone removal surgery, and they just opened it with an open approach, took it out, removed scar tissue/capsule, and sutured it again, it seems like there was less stress on the nose than before, so it doesn’t feel like it was irritated that much.
So far, when viewed from the side, the bridge height and the nasal tip all seem the same.. There isn’t a big change. I think I need to keep watching it.
Of course, I know my natural nose was low, so even if the nasal dorsum gets lower and the nasal tip too.. I just hope it doesn’t lift and instead comes down naturally.
Anyway, this is the situation right now!
The reason I’m posting such a long post with photos is.. because I wanted to give words of courage through this post and through my review to many people who are still looking at this while debating whether or not to remove silicone, that it’s better than you might think! Please don’t worry too much!
Rather than living with silicone while worrying about contracture + worrying something might go wrong if you bump it, I wonder if it’s better to just remove the silicone and worry about contracture? (I hope contracture doesn’t happen..)
Everyone, hang in there!! Whether you are getting nose surgery, revision surgery, or completely removing silicone like me, I hope you all have a pretty and beautiful day:)
If you have questions, I’ll share what I can and reply in the comments~