After finally being under huge stress for a year and a half, I had my nose implants/materials removed and came home. My surgery was at 10 today! I also got information from this community, and because I had such a really, really hard time, I’m posting this because I want to help. Because of the swelling, I still can’t know the exact shape of my nose, but I’ll gradually post about that.
Previous rhinoplasty (2019.07) details - rhinitis surgery, spreader graft, deviated septum surgery, nasal bridge - costal cartilage particles, hump rasping and osteotomy, nasal tip - septal cartilage That was what I knew, but in reality, for the nasal tip they only used a tiny bit of septal cartilage about the size of a pinky fingernail, and placed a long, large piece of donated costal cartilage. Together with the spreader graft and support strut, in an L-shape. Since they used so little septal cartilage, should I actually be grateful for this instead...
My original nose / reason for surgery - My nasal bridge was not on the low side, but I disliked that my nasal tip drooped compared with my bridge, and because I had a hump and crooked nose, people around me often said things like, “Were you in a car accident?”, “Did you get hit by a ball?”, “You’d be pretty if you just fixed your nose,” which annoyed me, so I had it done.
Reason for removal - First of all, my nose was too hard, and because the nasal tip was raised high, it felt pulled and uncomfortable. Very, very much. Having rhinoplasty is not something to feel guilty about, but for some reason after having it done, I felt even less able to be confident. I thought rhinoplasty would raise my self-esteem.. but I don’t think self-esteem is something you fill with things like that. And above all, functionally, after rhinitis and deviated septum surgery, the airflow through my nose became extremely strong and the inside of my nose became so wide, as if a big cave had formed, but actually the difference between breathing on the left and right sides was so large that it was uncomfortable. I think this is because my original nose also had one side smaller, and that was the side where the support strut and extension were placed. Until a few weeks ago, I was debating whether not to remove it, but the nasal tip also started to show through more and more, so I decided to take it out.
Hospital choice - I went to 3 plastic surgery clinics and a university hospital. Besides those, I also went to several local and Gangnam ENT clinics. I went to the university hospital and ENT clinics to find the cause of my uncomfortable nasal breathing. Every doctor said they did not know the cause. However, if they had to point to a reason, they said the support strut may have been placed toward one side, narrowing the airway. 1 - Revision surgery? I went after seeing it mentioned here, and when I brought my chart, I liked that they explained it in detail using it. I was able to know exactly what surgery had been done at that time. The doctor discouraged removal. At this place! They said that if the part from the rhinitis surgery was removed, it would collapse. They also said my nose shape was not bad, so it would be better not to remove it. But since I had seen a lot here about collapse and hadn’t seen anyone whose nose collapsed, I knew it probably wouldn’t collapse even if I removed it, so I just let that pass. 2 - I debated a lot between here and this place. It was about 500,000 won cheaper, and they said they would make it better aesthetically, so I was tempted. They were also very confident. They said they would also remove the columella part and slightly shave the septal cartilage and place it on the nasal dorsum. But when I was already removing things, I didn’t want to shave something and put it in again. Also, they explained that the spreader graft from the rhinitis surgery absolutely should not be removed, so since I wanted full removal, I chose 3. 3 - Maybe because I had heard so many times in this community that they were extremely kind, when I had two consultations, I didn’t really feel they were that kind. The consultant too. I was also a little concerned that they said they could not predict the shape with certainty. However, they did not rush me, answered all my questions, and explained things well so I could understand. (Is that what kindness is?) Ah, they also replied by email. Also, I felt they would definitely remove everything, and they seemed to have a lot of removal experience related to costal cartilage particles and rhinitis surgery, so I decided on them.
Surgery process - I was so nervous the day before that I stayed up all night haha. I took the bus while sleepy. As soon as I arrived, I changed clothes, washed my face, and had a long consultation with the doctor. I asked everything I was curious about, including whether to remove the spreader graft and whether to leave it beside the septal cartilage. And the doctor personally took a lot of photos. Somehow this was funny. After that I waited a little and went into the operating room. There was a radio playing in the operating room, so I was less nervous. It felt cozy! And above all, with the anesthesia injection part (at the place where I had surgery last time, my veins were hard to see, so they kept poking here and there and eventually did it on the back of my hand_.), I liked that they did it so it really did not hurt at all. The doctor came in, and before I even knew when I fell asleep, I slept deeply and woke up and it was over haha As soon as I woke up, I was half-asleep and urgently asked the doctor, “Was my nose shaved a lot? Did it collapse?” hahaha Fortunately, they said it wasn’t shaved much. After that I rested a bit, and then the doctor explained again using the removed parts and photos taken during surgery.
On the way home, I even went to the mart with my mom, and I was surprised because I had no pain at all and felt completely fine. Since I don’t have a splint or cotton packing, I can breathe well too! It’s fascinating that there’s almost no bleeding. Last time, for 3 days the blood soaked all the gauze, and I think I changed it around ten times because the bleeding would not stop, but now there’s none at all. Right after nose removal, it didn’t look different from a surgically done nose, so I wondered, “Did they remove everything?” but it’s gradually swelling up like Avatar hahaha Still, I feel so relieved and happy. The fact that there’s nothing in my nose now. I still don’t know the nose shape, but I’m very satisfied! I’m also so grateful to the doctor. I’ll post the result once more in 2 weeks! Please don’t worry too much. Even a nose that had as much work done as mine is fine.
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