* Time since surgery: about 3 months * Surgeon: Kim Jun * Criteria for each item - Doctor friendliness: whether they tried to answer the customer’s questions, tone, attitude - Consultation expertise: whether they identified my needs and suggested a suitable method with convincing reasons - Facility: whether it is clean - Staff friendliness: tone, facial expression, attitude - Surgical expectation: whether what I wanted was reflected, and whether it matched what was explained during the consultation
Pre-op condition and needs : Left nasal obstruction due to a deviated septum, externally crooked nasal tip, a hump, and a drooping nasal tip There was no major difficulty breathing, but if the crooked nose could be corrected, I wanted to achieve two goals at once. I wanted alar reduction. First of all, I wanted it to look extremely natural without being noticeable. So I rejected everything that was suggested, such as hump shaving and tip elevation, and decided to proceed with the non-incisional alar reduction that this hospital promotes.
<Before surgery> Q. During surgery for a deviated septum, can the functional aspect improve and can a slightly crooked nose be straightened? A. Yes. It can improve a little. Current: The area directly below the right nasal bone, which had been straight from the front, became indented, making the crookedness stand out even more. Doctor response: Consultation scheduled
Q. I want something natural, so will alar reduction look natural? A. Alar reduction is like the appetizer of nose surgery. Trust the doctor and don’t worry. Current: Smiling feels unnatural, and the start of the columella was not visible from the front, but lifting this area made it become like an upturned nose. Doctor response: I intentionally raised the starting point of the columella. That is prettier aesthetically. It looking a bit lifted will come down over time. Subjective view: There was no prior notice, so the patient wasn’t even given a chance to judge, and they just raised the columella because they personally thought it looked prettier?
Q. Why choose non-incisional alar reduction? A. Because it leaves no scar, but the philtrum area may wrinkle slightly.
* Second consultation immediately before surgery request Q. You said earlier that the philtrum area may wrinkle, but wouldn’t that be unnatural? A. That’s why during surgery I’ll pull it a bit with thread, and if the philtrum seems to protrude too much and wrinkle, I’ll make an internal incision to balance it. (I heard for the first time during the second consultation, which happened because of the patient’s unexpected request, that an internal incision would be performed. This had not been disclosed before.) Current: They said they were doing non-incisional alar reduction because it wouldn’t leave a scar, but then an internal incision was made and a scar like a cut appeared on the right side. It remains to this day. Doctor response: It will disappear with time. There is a knot from the thread on the right side, so that could happen. Personal thought: Why didn’t they say that could happen in advance? The patient’s need was scar-free naturalness, and the doctor also said the reason for doing non-incisional alar reduction was that it leaves no scar, so why wasn’t the possibility of scarring mentioned?
<After surgery> Q. The nostrils became asymmetrical. Even if they had been that way originally, the difference became very noticeable. A. No, they’re not. Q. Please look carefully, that is the case. A. Hmm. That can happen. Let’s watch it over time. Current: As the nose has settled, the asymmetry is less noticeable. Subjective view: I already knew the left and right nostrils were different, and if they knew that alar reduction would make it stand out, wouldn’t it have been fine to tell the patient? For someone who wants natural results, not telling them even though they knew... makes me think cosmetic surgery is inevitably part of commerce.
Q. You said the crookedness would be corrected, but rather than being corrected, it became even more noticeable. A. Since you had a functional surgery, if you wanted even the cosmetic part addressed, I have nothing to say. Current: Even the right nasal bridge became indented, making it stand out even more. Doctor response: A consultation about the sunken nasal bridge is scheduled Subjective view: In the first consultation they said some correction would be possible, but after surgery the story changed. Thinking back, they seemed to mean only a possibility. But because they didn’t phrase it as a possibility, I think the doctor’s wording was problematic because it prevented me from considering the negative side. Again, I wonder if this is just commerce... maybe they were saying what the patient wanted to hear.
Q. Was the distal end of the septum also corrected? A. No, it was not touched. Current: Looking at the chart, correction of the distal end had been done. Hospital response: Ah, the doctor sees so many patients... maybe they misspoke. Subjective view: They can’t even understand the patient’s condition, yet they answer questions based on what progress they are seeing.. They seem very good at improvising and defending themselves on the spot. When you point this out, they say, “I don’t record everything I say to every patient. So I can’t remember every single thing I said,” and make that seem normal. I think that is wrong and is gaslighting by the doctor.
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Conclusion: They rely on memory rather than written records of consultations with patients. Because of that, they cannot remember what they said before. If you say, ‘But you said this then,’ they either deny it or improvise an explanation that fits the situation on the spot. They are kind in the sense that they answer every question, but all of those answers feel defensive. They do not admit fault or apologize. The doctor does not really know what surgery was performed on the patient. They can seem friendly with a smiling face during consultation and answer questions well, but what comes to mind is the sales aspect of a businessperson. Someone trying to sell the product by any means necessary. Looking at the consultation content, the post-op consultation, and the results, I feel that their expertise and skill are lacking. Especially since they are an ENT doctor, I think it is hard to expect much from the plastic surgery side. I think the reason they recommend non-incisional alar reduction in the first place is that they have no real technique and want to make money without much risk. After surgery they said breathing was improved, and then said it was a difficult surgery and the method used now is the one they are writing a paper about with a professor at Seoul National University. Did they think the patient was ignorant? They probably thought the word “paper” and “Seoul National University” would impress me. If they say they applied it while writing a paper, that means I was treated like a test subject; I wonder how little they must think the patient knows to say something like that. They say one year of free A/S is provided, but I think they use the patient psychology of not wanting to come back here again as a marketing tool.
One-line review: It was my own fault for not avoiding this hospital, which I think is inadequate.
P.S. This is a subjective post, written based on my own memory, and interpretations may differ depending on perspective.
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