I had a complete removal! I had a hump nose, but there really weren’t any reviews about removing only the septal strut + nasal tip cartilage from the nasal tip without silicone, so when I was looking into removal I felt very troubled too, and I wanted to share the surgery details. Those looking at the photos may think there isn’t a big difference.. The swelling is severe because the hump was rasped down, but I think there will be a difference after some time passes.
-Surgery history <All surgeries were done open> 1. My original hump nose was severe, so I had osteotomy + hump rasping + nasal tip septal strut surgery, 2. My nose started drooping later, so I placed auricular cartilage at the nasal tip, but perhaps because too much was inserted, the cartilage showed through very roundly, 3. The auricular cartilage was trimmed slightly and only a little was left, 4. After about 2 years, even the remaining auricular cartilage started showing through, so I removed the existing septal strut + nasal tip cartilage and slightly rasped the hump. And I felt my nose was too pointy.. Thinking this really had to be the last surgery, I had a complete removal.
It has only been a few days since surgery. From the moment I went into the recovery room with the taping on and the stitches still in place, even without knowing the surgical result, my mind suddenly became calm. Since I have an extremely sensitive personality, I had been under a lot of stress because of nasal tip cartilage that seemed visible only to me. I actually uploaded photos to a community and asked about cartilage show-through, but not many people said it was showing. However, the show-through gradually worsened, and when I specifically asked, even my family said it seemed to be showing, and that became a major stressor. I also disliked that my nasal tip got too cold and red in winter, and they said that this part would improve with complete removal, so I’m diligently doing cold compresses.
In the end, I had a complete removal, but my original nose was such a severe hump nose that I absolutely did not want to go back to it, and when I only had septal cartilage in the nasal tip, the shape was fairly decent, so while considering complete removal this time, I wondered whether to leave the septal cartilage. But they told me that since my nose was originally somewhat droopy, there was no risk of upturning, and about 90% it would come out as a slight mix of the first-surgery nose and my original nose, so I had everything removed, including the septal cartilage. Even if the nasal tip drooped a little and looked like an arrow nose, I thought I would be satisfied as long as there was no autologous tissue or implant. However, they said the shape was very hard to predict. There could be variables and they didn’t know how it would turn out.. I was so nervous and trembling before surgery, but now that the surgery is over, even though my face looks like Avatar because of swelling, my mind is very calm.
Also, during this removal, they smoothed the slightly protruding hump too.. As for the external result, I’ll have to wait at least one or two months to know, but so far I’m satisfied.
All surgeries from beginning to end were done at the same hospital. The doctor who operated recommended leaving the septal strut in place (because of columella or nasal drooping), but said that if I wanted, the septal strut could also be removed, so I removed the septal strut too.
-Day of surgery During the final consultation with the doctor before entering surgery, I talked about what I wanted, and the part inside my nose that they had called scar tissue somehow seemed to me like a protruding part of the alar cartilage, so I asked them to check it, but they said that when they opened it, there was nothing there. They said that among people who had complete removal, some still feel stressed saying it seems like something is still in the nose, while others feel completely relieved and live forgetting about it. Of course, if the person doesn’t like it, revision surgery is what rhinoplasty can lead to, but since I wanted complete removal, they said that regardless of the shape now, I should feel unburdened and relieved and let go of my lingering attachment to nose surgery. I also said I hoped this would definitely become my last surgery, and went into the operating room. I had sedation anesthesia. I did wake up in the middle of surgery, but strangely, even before that, I have fleeting memories from when they opened my nose. When I woke up in the middle, something like a towel had slid down to my waist very uncomfortably, so I wanted to ask them to remove it, but because I was under the anesthetic, all I could say was “mm, mm.” What I remember clearly is that after removing the cartilage, I could even feel them cutting? the tied sutures inside in order to remove the septal cartilage. It seemed like they untied the cartilage fixation and removed the septal cartilage.
-After surgery In my previous surgeries, there had always been either septal cartilage or septal cartilage + cartilage in the nasal tip, so even though it was autologous, I always had increased foreign-body sensation right after surgery, and I felt the sutured area had a fairly deep wound. But strangely, after complete removal, my mind became so comfortable, and at the same time, there is no pulling in the columella area when I smile. I went for disinfection yesterday, and it feels like there isn’t even a wound, to the point that it doesn’t feel like they opened inside my nose and operated. After surgery, the doctor also said recovery would be fast because they hardly manipulated anything. On the first day there was a little nosebleed, but they said it was blood that had slightly pooled during surgery coming out, and after that I caught a cold, so I’m only having a huge amount of runny nose ..; Also, even when I cough, I don’t feel any pulling in my nose. Of course I’m being careful, but the feeling is so different from my previous surgeries. I don’t know whether others who had removal feel the same.
I had also made consultation appointments at places people in the community call removal hospitals, and I even went to a consultation at one of them.. Honestly, at first I was considering one of the top three, but for my nose.. since the doctor who has been with me from the beginning until now knows it best, and said there would be no problem removing the autologous implant from the nasal tip, I had the removal done at the hospital where I originally had surgery.
Because I suffered for a long time because of my nose and I’m sensitive by personality, I probably won’t come into this community often while watching the surgical progress.. Some people have removal and then revision surgery, and some people live forgetting the hardship they went through because of their nose, but I really need to escape nose hell now.. :)
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