It’s been so long since I came into this community that I don’t even check the comments much anymore? I guess I dropped a level The reason I came back after such a long time is that in a few days I have to go to a plastic surgery clinic again for another consultation.
The reason I’m bothering to write this is.. I hope people who are considering full removal will definitely read this and find even a little bit of reference in it. This post is very long ^^;
First, my rhinoplasty history? 1. 11 years ago: surgery for a fractured middle bridge + Gore-Tex + septal cartilage 2. February 2018: Gore-Tex removal, closed approach (septal cartilage left in place) 3. March 2019: revision on only the nose tip with costal cartilage (this was a crazy mistake): The reason for surgery was that I had simply felt a sense of loss over the bridge being gone, went to one consultation, got strangely swept up in it, and ended up having surgery on impulse 4. That March surgery was a complete failure (I felt like, so this is how much a face can change? I wanted to die.) I had revision surgery one week later (kept the costal cartilage and just changed the shape) 5. July 2019: complete removal at a removal-specialist clinic (currently no costal cartilage or septal cartilage left) In 2019 alone, I had surgery three times, all open approach..
So it has now been 1 year and 7 months since full removal?
The reason I decided on removal was purely psychological. My original face?;; was personally pretty to me. (That’s just my personal opinion, so please don’t curse at me..^^;;) A family acquaintance was the director of a plastic surgery clinic, so I did it on impulse, and after the nose surgery I looked even prettier. But after a major heartbreak, I decided to remove it for purely psychological reasons and had it removed at the same clinic where I had the surgery. I thought that since I had been pretty to begin with, I’d become pretty again after removal too. Lying on the operating table, right up until just before anesthesia, the doctor who was doing the surgery tried to stop me. He said not to remove it, and that after removal he couldn’t guarantee the shape. At the time, I simply decided on my own that the doctor must not have much removal experience and was just worried. That was the beginning of the tragedy.. (If the doctor who performed the surgery strongly advises against removal during removal surgery, please definitely listen to the doctor!!)
After removing only the Gore-Tex and leaving the septum in place, the first year was fine. But starting from year 1, the bridge gradually began to show. Because the fracture was the cause, the bridge had no shape. People who have had the bridge shaved down will understand what I mean. The middle of the bridge is just flat. There is no bridge at all when you look from the front.
So I impulsively went to a privately run plastic surgery clinic in Apgujeong for a consultation. But somehow I was bewitched by the doctor’s words that it would be fine if we just slightly fixed the bridge, so I scheduled surgery for the very next week and went through with it.
The day I removed the splint after surgery.. I cried so much the world turned yellow. Is this my face? Can a person really change this much? How am I supposed to live now? Really.. even now, just thinking about that time is so hard that I can barely write properly. I told the hospital, and in the end I had revision surgery after only 3 days. Fortunately, the revision was somewhat better. Still, it was much better before the surgery. It was like, why did I touch it in the first place?
After that, I went to sleep every night crying from regret, and I attempted extreme acts dozens of times. I spent my days only worrying whether to hang myself or jump into the Han River to die. But then I felt too sorry for my parents to die. I barely endured for 5 months with just one hope: that I would get removed again soon. I thought that if I got removed, I would go back to how I looked before..
In the end, after just 5 months, I had it removed at a removal-specialist clinic. I was under the absurd illusion that if I just removed everything, I would go back to my old appearance..
This post is long, so I don’t even know if anyone will read it^^; The lower part is about removal side effects? and the reasons I regret it.
Two weeks after removal, the bridge rose up from the middle of the bridge down to the tip like a hump nose, and when I went to the clinic they said it was scar tissue. I believed that and got a scar tissue injection, but a few days later the areas where I got the injection became sunken. So I ran back to the clinic again. They said it was temporary. Wait a few months and it will definitely come back up. I believed that again. But in the end, it has been about 1 year and 6 months since the scar tissue injections, and it still hasn’t fully recovered. The nostril seems crushed, like someone pressed it down hard. I want to complain to the clinic, but I’m just too exhausted to argue with them. But I received a few private messages through this community, and several people had the same side effects after getting scar tissue injections at the same clinic as me. There were really many people saying the bridge became hump-like. Even now the middle of the bridge still bulges up from the middle toward the tip. From the side it looks hump-like. Like a beak-shaped nose? I think I was told by about 7 people through private messages? I don’t know if that’s a characteristic of that clinic or if we were just unlucky.. Ah, I had full removal, so this is based on people who also had full removal. If someone who kept the columella septal cartilage or ear cartilage says, "I went to the same clinic and mine is smooth~", that’s not very helpful I’d appreciate it if you only use this as a reference within the same comparison group. It seems there were also several people who had the same side effect from the scar tissue injections, judging from the messages.. It really breaks my heart..
Oh, and the right nostril got pinched and pulled upward. The pinching had already been there, but it wasn’t this severe; it got worse. The pinched part was pulled upward. This side effect also seems like it may be a characteristic of this clinic, and people with the same symptom even contacted each other. So it seems everyone either had repeat surgery to lower the alar base or is looking into it.
The columella is also still thick, not much different from when I had costal cartilage. One of the reasons I wanted to remove it was because it was so thick when the costal cartilage was in the columella, but contrary to the doctor’s words that it would get thinner after removal, the thickness is still about the same. Maybe because a very small amount of costal cartilage is still inside, or maybe because not everything was removed.. I just don’t know. (They said a very small amount of costal cartilage was left inside the columella. The doctor said it didn’t serve as a main support for the nose pillar, so it should be regarded as almost complete removal. They said it was left to help prevent the columella from collapsing inward, but in the end the columella did collapse inward a little.)
The contraction phase came twice. From 2 months after surgery to 4 months after surgery, for two months at the peak of the contraction phase, my nostrils were pulled up, so I had pig nose. I was so shocked that I cried my eyes out and went around wearing a mask. Then things seemed fine, and around month 7? the contraction phase came again. From then until now, I’ve been going back and forth between heaven and hell. I developed rhinitis-like symptoms that I had never had in my life. The inside of my nose is blocked every day so I can’t breathe properly and have to breathe through my mouth. That strange smell from inside the nose also started from that time. This is really driving me crazy When these symptoms started, I visited the removal clinic I had surgery at for a check-up, and the doctor said I should go to an ENT clinic and have it checked. At that moment I was really disappointed. At the ENT clinic, after looking at my nose, they said, "Ugh, those plastic surgeons" The reason for removal was simply that I didn’t like the shape, but after removal I lost nasal function At this point I can only define it as a nose that has barely been built up with scar tissue piled on in patches.
Anyway, I can’t look in the mirror anymore. To other people, it may look fine. But for me, it’s no longer my previous appearance, and in my eyes I look uglier. Right now, I think "living because I can’t die" would be accurate. If I only had a guarantee that I could go back to my old appearance, I think I’d get nose revision surgery immediately. I’ve turned off my concern for appearance and just worked like crazy, and somehow time has ended up like this.
I think the pinched-up part of my nose will need revision surgery to lower the alar base.. And I’m planning to go to another clinic for a consultation about revision surgery to raise the alar base so that a bit more of the nostrils show. That way I’m hoping I can at least go back somewhat to how I looked before.. But I’ve had so many surgeries that I’m worried whether a clinic will even take me on
So what I really want to say is.. Removal alone is not the answer! If it’s not because of inflammation, functional problems, or because you don’t like the shape, and if you like the shape but are considering full removal only for psychological reasons, then nine times out of ten you will regret it. Most people end up regretting it because they look uglier, just like me.
After silicone removal, the swelling becomes clear only about a year later. At first, after removal of the Gore-Tex and silicone, I looked pretty for a few months. It looked natural, and actually the nose line was so smooth that it looked even prettier. But it was all swelling. The swelling keeps going down. Steadily.. sob sob The nose shape also keeps changing for a whole year. It’s really amazing. You can literally see it changing.
I’ve had a lot of surgeries, especially last year, so my case turned out worse.. I’ve talked with many people who had removal in this community too.. I think people who are 1 year after surgery and still had their removal go well with no side effects are truly blessed. Even after removal, many people are still crying, just like me. Especially if you’re thinking of full removal, I think you should be prepared for the possibility of looking uglier, or else you’ll suffer less emotionally later.. I hope you think about it a hundred times, a thousand times. I still can’t get used to this face, so I’m enduring it while continuing psychiatric counseling.
I wrote this at length because I truly hope everyone here won’t suffer emotionally and will really be happy. Thank you for reading.
P.S. After the removal surgery, I think I went to the clinic exactly 3 times? The reason I didn’t really object to the removal clinic despite the many side effects is that during the removal consultation, they clearly told me several times that "after removal, you should not expect the shape," and in the end it was my decision to remove it and my decision to choose that clinic. I don’t resent the clinic. I only resent myself for making that choice!
+ Addition The reason the bridge looks hump-like is probably because the tip is dropping downward. I was told that because there is no support structure holding up the nose (costal cartilage / septal cartilage / ear cartilage), the tip drops (according to another clinic’s doctor) If you’re removing even the support structure, please be extremely careful!