I was looking for simple cosmetic surgery and called around November 2020 to make a consultation appointment, but then... April 2021, boom.. They told me to call if there was a gap in between, so I visited in January.
After reading the reviews, I figured out the director’s style and came in after doing some heart massage in advance. The wait was about 1 to 1 hour 30 minutes.
I was nervous, but the director was much gentler than I expected.. soft-spoken.. They took photos, put a finger inside my nostril and took more photos.. (to estimate how much to raise it) They printed out the photos, had me draw the nose I wanted, then looked at the drawing, pointed out the problems with my nose, and revised the virtual surgery image together with me. After editing the image, they proudly said not many people can make it look exactly like this.
Then they looked inside my nostrils and said my septum was extremely crooked, asked if I had ever had a nasal endoscopy, and whether I had ever injured my nose as a child (I had not), then said it looked like it would tear just from touching it.. and told me to go get septum deviation surgery. (They could do it here too, but it wouldn’t be covered by insurance, so they said I should have the surgery at an ENT clinic and come back)
They said they would do the surgery after seeing how the mucous membrane healed later. (Usually after 6 months, sooner if it heals faster, later if it heals slower) When I left and talked with the consultation manager, I was told the director also does alar reduction separately.
I went there to get a pretty surgery, but unexpectedly discovered a functional problem and was shocked.. The very next day I went to an ENT clinic, and they said it wasn’t just the septum but that I also had severe sinusitis..;;;;; Postnasal drip, constant right-side nasal congestion, headaches, runny nose triggered by temperature changes, and so on.. I had been living like this since childhood, getting colds often, and just thought everyone was like that.. but that wasn’t the case.
I got a CT and all sorts of tests.. and in the end I had surgery at a university hospital in early March.. After the surgery, the professor said my septum was much thinner than average. (If the person who does this surgery all the time says it’s thin, then it’s really thin! They warned me that the septum would tear easily, discouraged me from surgery, and told me that if I really wanted surgery, I should find a director who handles it delicately and have it done there)
Right now I’m a bit mentally overwhelmed and my desire for cosmetic surgery has faded.. But thanks to that, I found out about all kinds of issues, so I’m grateful.