Today, I finally got the outer stitches and splint removed on day 7. First of all, I got a lot of help from this community, so I’m writing this as advice so that people wandering around looking into nose surgery can also read a detailed review like what I experienced before deciding on surgery!
First, my rhinitis was really severe, so I had rhinitis surgery + hump correction + bulbous nose correction + short nose correction. Since my eyes are big and my forehead protrudes too, I asked them to make it not pointy, but natural and well-suited to my face, because I was worried I might look too surgically altered if it went wrong! Only septal cartilage and ear cartilage were used. No osteotomy!
Before surgery I had a 3D CT scan and a consultation. I had heard rumors that the director was very blunt, but rather than that, he felt like a perfectionist and a realistic person. He was the type who doesn’t say empty words, so I liked that he didn’t feel like a salesperson. The consultation manager was incredibly kind, and we talked a lot, so the consultation fee didn’t feel like a waste, and I trusted them, so I put down a deposit. They also emphasized that they would operate in a way that minimized swelling. (To be honest, I didn’t believe this.)
On the day of nose surgery, my surgery was on Saturday afternoon. When I arrived on the day of surgery, the person before me had low blood pressure, so there was a delay. I waited for 2 hours with a nervous heart and then went into surgery. During my consultation, I had heard that there was an anesthesiology director, but when I checked, they said the anesthesiologist only comes for general anesthesia. They said my surgery would be under sedation anesthesia and performed under the supervision of the director doing my nose, so I was a bit dumbfounded and scared, but I just thought, whatever, and lay down. Since everything had already been delayed so much, I was scared, wondering if they would do my nose surgery properly. I think I bit off all my nails in the waiting room... And when I went into the operating room and lay down, I got even more scared lol While the nurses were taping my ears and tying my hair, they said, “You’ll fall asleep now.” (I think they shaved my nose hair after I fell asleep.) I fell asleep, woke up, and it was over. I went with my mom, so I saw my mom, changed clothes, and came home, but I don’t remember it lol I was talking total nonsense.. Rather than pain, it just felt numb and I couldn’t think about anything. I took medicine right away because I was scared it would hurt, and I couldn’t sleep. My nose was packed full of cotton, so I couldn’t breathe and stayed up all night. I had surgery on Saturday, and since I did rhinitis surgery together, I had the cotton removed on Monday, day 3. On day 1 after surgery, I had some pain, so I also took Tylenol, and I still couldn’t sleep.
Day 2, the day the cotton was removed Strangely, I barely had any swelling. Just like the manager had mentioned beforehand, I really didn’t have much. I only had pain ㅠㅠ I was really nervous when I went to get the cotton removed, but it’s just similar to the pain when you go to an ENT clinic and they insert a long instrument to suction out nasal mucus. I also had a follow-up with the director, but it was over in 1 minute ㅠㅠ Even after the cotton was removed, nasal mucus filled up right away, so it kept being uncomfortable. I ate well, took my medicine well, disinfected it.. It was harder than I expected. Nose surgery is no joke ㅠㅠ
Days 3-6 Nothing much happened. As the days went by, the pain disappeared, disinfecting got easier, and I was able to breathe through my nose! I slept well too.
The long-awaited day 7, stitch and splint removal I was worried because I heard stitch removal hurts a lot, but removing the splint was the most painful thing in the world... seriously. I thought they were ripping the skin off my nose... I really screamed ㅠㅠ The stitches actually didn’t hurt at all. Kind of like plucking hair? I had bruising because of the hump on my nose, and they said that happens to everyone. There was really almost no swelling, and the bruising was only exactly on the hump!! I had a follow-up with the director, asked everything I had written down that I was curious about, and came out! I was like, wow, there was this much air in the world... And looking at the shape, I wondered why I only did this now.. lol But if I were told to do it again, ha.. I wonder if I could endure those hellish days 1-3 again!!
Anyway, I tried to shorten it, and it still ended up this long. To give some useful tips, I slept almost sitting up for all 7 days. I washed my hair at home twice, went for walks about 3 times, drank pumpkin juice and coconut water, and ate meals well! I think sleeping while sitting up is the most important!! And must-have items: humidifier (a big one), sterile cotton swabs, Tylenol, lip balm, butt cushion (for sleeping while sitting ㅠㅠ), Strepsils (my throat hurt a lot, so it helped a lot). I think that’s about it!!
I’ll post my clinic-shopping review in another category! Please check it through my ID.
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