Before<side profile right before surgery><week 3 avatar period><1-month side profile><2-month side profile><2 months><2 months><photo taken at 2 months><nostrils at 2 months>Before<front view right before surgery (nostrils visible)>It has been 2 months since I had revision surgery for a contracted nose using autologous dermis! After my first surgery, severe contraction developed almost 2 years later, so I had the silicone removed. But anyone who has had contraction knows that just removing the silicone does not make your nose go back to its original shape. It was a nose where a bulbous nose had been reduced and then contraction happened, so should I call it a pinched nose? Anyway, it was a nose where the side effects were obvious. After my first surgery, I think I lived for more than 2 years with distrust and fear about revision surgery because of the side effects. I just lived somehow with the contracted nose, and then I saw a photo someone took of me from the side... That was when I decided I needed surgery. Because my nose looked ugly, my confidence in my appearance also droppedㅠㅠ I hated my upturned nose, so I absolutely never took photos from the side and always only took them from the front, but now that I have had surgery, I like taking both side and front photos. After surgery I ate a lot and could not exercise, so I did gain weight, but since I feel confident about my nose, I like taking photos now.
First of all, at Bomnal Plastic Surgery where I went, Director Joo Young-chun personally did every consultation one by one. He had a lot of experience with revision surgery for contracted noses, and when I went for the consultation, he explained autologous dermis, my nose shape, and so on in great detail. Hearing that he operates on only one person a day increased my trust.
I had surgery on July 27. It started at 10 a.m. and I think it ended around 6 p.m. It took almost 8 hours, and because my contraction was severe, he released every part of it one by one. I could hear all the sounds, but rather than being scared, I felt a sense of relief that the contraction was finally being released. In my case, the silicone was protruding toward one nostril and contraction developed, so one nostril was long and the other was round, making them uneven. I regret not leaving photos because I hated taking photos of my nose. He also used cartilage from my right ear to correct the asymmetry and remake the pinched nose.
My glabella is not on the low side, and I wanted a natural-looking nose, so although autologous dermis is usually done in 3 layers, I had 2 layers. Once the contracted nose was released, the nose collapsed, so there was no choice but to insert autologous dermis. Still, before surgery, the doctor kindly told me that after seeing the released nose, if I felt that degree was okay, I could choose whether to use autologous dermis myself, which I liked. It felt like he listened to my opinions a lot instead of forcing surgery on me. That is how the surgery was completed well.
But! With autologous dermis, the real part starts after surgery. That is because the nose is shaped higher than the intended final shape, considering the time it takes for the autologous dermis to be absorbed into the skin, so there is an avatar period for a while. I also have a job where I meet people, so I was worried about this, but since I had already had the surgery, I decided to be confident, openly told people to look because I had surgery, and endured it while imagining myself gradually getting prettier.
Even up to week 3, it did not look very obvious from the front, but from the side I was the avatar character itself. But when it reached 1 month, I looked in the mirror and it had suddenly gone down a lot. Autologous dermis is something you worry about when it does not go down, and when it does go down, you worry, 'Is my nose going to disappear like this?'... Absorption differs from person to person, so I cannot say for sure when it will settle, but for me, I felt it looked natural from the 1-month mark. At that time I took a lot of selfies too. I also took many side-profile photos that I had not taken before!
I almost forgot, but another difficult thing about autologous dermis is the surgical site on the buttock. I was able to do exercises like squats from about 1 month and 2 weeks after surgery, but before that, I had to be careful sleeping and walking, and it was uncomfortable because of pain. But now at 2 months, I am walking around very comfortably. Of course, because I have keloids, I do need to go to a dermatologist separately, but the wound healed very well.
I do not know why I worried unnecessarily and did not have revision surgery earlier. If I had done it sooner, I could have been more confident when meeting people... The time I spent shrinking back because I thought I was ugly feels like such a waste. For those who developed contraction from silicone, I strongly recommend revision surgery with autologous dermis. Seriously, even if you think you might be fooled, at least get a consultationㅠㅠ
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