After <after the first surgery> After <contracted state 8 years later> After <contracted state 8 years later><nasal tip implant protrusion + inflammation> After <7 days after revision surgery, left> After <7 days after revision surgery, right> After <7 days after revision surgery, front> I had my first surgery about 8 years ago using autologous costal cartilage. I knew nothing.. and I did it in such a rush that I didn’t even know it was unusual to use autologous costal cartilage for a first surgery ㅠ My nose was small (it wasn’t actually small though) and my ears were small, so if I wanted it raised as much as I wanted, they said it had to be done with autologous costal cartilage, so I just accepted that and had the surgery. But what’s funny is that the nasal bridge was silicone (a whopping 6 mm..) and only the nasal tip was done with autologous costal cartilage.
My original nose was short and slightly upturned, and my nasal bridge was really low. On top of that, I had a bulbous nose. So I was fairly satisfied with the result of the first surgery. My nose was a bit.. big, and it emphasized only my nose too much, so I looked like someone with a huge nose ㅠㅠ But anyway, it was better than before.
Then, 2 years after the surgery, I felt that the implant was protruding at the nasal tip, and when I went to the clinic, they said it could be fixed with a simple procedure. They performed a surgery to shave down the silicone, but it turns out the contracture had already started from then. Because contracture had occurred, my nose shortened and the silicone protruded.
If the clinic had diagnosed it properly at that time, I don’t think it would have progressed to the condition shown in the 4th photo. The silicone was protruding enough to be clearly felt at the nasal tip, and there was even round, water-pouch-like inflammation.
I hadn’t noticed because I was dull about it, but when I came to my senses and looked again, the shape had changed grotesquely too. It was lifted, shortened, and completely.. the very shape of a contracted nose ㅠ Maybe I didn’t notice well because it didn’t look severe from the front.
After realizing how serious the condition was, I went to consultations at about three clinics. Two of them were two of the three major clinics often mentioned in this community, and the other one was also a place that gets mentioned a lot. Every clinic said the implant was about to break through, so it would be best to operate as soon as possible. They also said that the moment it broke through, recovery would be impossible from then on. Maybe because I had both inflammation and contracture, the revision surgery estimate was really.. about as much as the first surgery.
At clinic A, they said autologous dermis should be placed where the implant was showing through to prevent the skin from rolling inward. At clinic B, rather than saying exactly how they would operate, they explained in detail why my condition had become like this. At clinic C, they explained that they would do nasal tip repositioning, using the septum, but depending on the situation they might use ear cartilage too; for the nasal bridge, it was up to me whether to put something in or not, but if I wanted to preserve even a little of the aesthetic aspect, MegaDerm would be okay.
Anyway, all three clinics told me absolutely never to put silicone in again for the rest of my life. Among them, the clinic where I had surgery was C. The consultation with the director was the shortest of the three, and I don’t think we talked for even 10 minutes total including after surgery, but he showed confidence that he could make it much prettier than my current state. Also, at clinics A and B, they sighed or seemed flustered when they saw my nose, but only the director at clinic C consulted with me with a vibe like, “Okay, so this is this kind of nose.”
On my way home after the consultation at clinic C, I called and booked the surgery right away. They said it would be okay to tell them on the day of surgery whether or not I wanted MegaDerm in the nasal bridge, but in the end I decided not to put it in. I’d heard that MegaDerm can become bumpy as it gets absorbed.. so I just didn’t put it in.
Before going into surgery, I had one more consultation with the director. I was worried because my original nose was a little upturned, but he agreed to lower it as much as possible, and for the nasal bridge, we decided to only remove everything. Fortunately, they didn’t use ear cartilage and used only septal cartilage, and it was done with an open approach. They cleaned the silicone that had been inside and gave it to me, and it was really blunt and high ㅠ
Anyway.. it’s already been 8 days since the surgery. There’s still a lot of swelling, so I think the nasal bridge will get lower, but that should also make the nostril wings a bit smaller and the nasal tip come down more. The inflammation at the nasal tip is gone and the color has come back a lot, but for now only that area of skin is still rough, like it has a scab.
It was a surgery done for treatment purposes, not because of the shape, so I didn’t have high expectations, but I’m relieved the director shaped it nicely. But I don’t know what will happen from now on. Contracture could come back 5 or 10 years later, or another problem could occur. Still, the fact that I removed the time-bomb-like silicone brings me a tremendous sense of liberation and comfort.
For the nose, the best thing is not to do surgery if possible, and even if you do, don’t put in silicone. I’m leaving a somewhat detailed review in case there are people suffering from the same problem as me. When the swelling goes down more in about 6 months, I’ll come back and write another review. I got a lot of information and comfort from this community, so I wrote this as a way of giving back. If you have questions, please leave a private comment or send me a message.
+ This post was not written for the purpose of recommending a clinic. As many others have said, it’s important to choose a place where the consultation feels right and where you get a good feeling. Because I was also deceived by a broker for my first surgery, I won’t say things like you must do it here.
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