3 weeks after rhinoplasty After about 2 years? of online research, clinic visits, worrying, and studying plastic surgery, I finally had rhinoplasty. I wasn’t going to write a review because it’s a hassle, but just as someone else’s review helped me while I was going around to consultations, even though I’m only 3 weeks post-op, I’m writing this in the hope that my review can help someone too. I’m keeping the clinic private by default because I don’t want this to look like an ad. First, the reasons I chose this clinic were: 1) I saw many reviews saying they use rib cartilage well and are good at problematic nose surgeries and revision surgeries. 2) They clearly said no to things that weren’t possible, and they carefully looked at what kind of nose would harmonize with my face. 3) I think the fairly long A/S period and the director saying he would take responsibility until the end were a big factor. 4) Among the clinics I visited, I thought the cost was the most reasonable. 5) No pressure or urging ❌ 6) Private clinic In my case, because I had double-jaw surgery, there are limits to what can be done with just septal cartilage and nasal cartilage. Anyone who has done a lot of online research and clinic visits will know this, but people who have had double-jaw surgery often have a weakened or insufficient septum because it was damaged or removed during double-jaw surgery, so there is a high chance that rib cartilage needs to be used. Also, as you can tell from the before-and-after photos, my nose was low, so I thought rib cartilage would be the safest material against contracture. So I didn’t consider any other material and only thought of >rib cartilage<, and since many people say rib cartilage bends easily, I only looked for a director who handles rib cartilage well. When I went for the consultation, the consultant kindly explained every question I asked, and all the staff inside were kind. Most of all, I liked that there was no urging from the consultant either during or after the consultation. (There are many clinics where the consultant keeps sending KakaoTalk messages asking if you’ve decided yet or when you’ll decide, so that actually became a minus for me..) After finishing the consultation with the consultant, I waited a little and then met the director for the consultation. During the consultation, I told him all the parts of my nose that had stressed me out. When you get a consultation, you really have to talk about all the things you want and the parts that stress you out. As expected, because I had double-jaw surgery, he said my septum was probably weakened or insufficient and that rib cartilage would be needed. Since it was my first surgery, he recommended donated rib cartilage rather than autologous costal cartilage. He also said it would be good to use a little septal cartilage plus ear cartilage together. For people wondering, “If the amount of septal cartilage is insufficient, why use septal cartilage?” I was curious too, so I asked, and he said that all materials have drawbacks, so he doesn’t rely on only one material. Using only septal cartilage would mean the septal cartilage is the main material, so in my situation where there may not be enough, it cannot be used alone. But he said it is possible to remove just a very small amount and use it together with ear cartilage as support. He also said that rib cartilage has drawbacks if used alone, so using rib cartilage + septal cartilage together is safer. It feels like the septal cartilage compensates a bit for the drawbacks of rib cartilage. So we decided to proceed with surgery using rib cartilage (main) + septal cartilage (support) + ear cartilage (support) + 3 mm silicone (nasal bridge). If you look at my original nose, the bridge? between my eyes was low. [I added a gray rectangle to cover my eyes, but I drew separate lines because I thought it might be hard to tell them apart (yellow: eye position, red: nose height)] This was my biggest source of stress, and besides that, when taking photos, the contour of my nose didn’t show? And the nose widening that came after double-jaw surgery.. I found this out during the consultation, but they said that considering I had double-jaw surgery, my nose had not widened that much, so fortunately I didn’t need alar reduction. On the day of surgery, I took photos and had a design consultation. The director saying that he takes responsibility until the end for people he has operated on was very reassuring, and he kept asking for my opinion to find the shape I wanted and the shape that suited me. He asked about my personality, so I was like, huh? But he said introverted people usually feel burdened if the look is too glamorous. I also actually rejected anything too glamorous, and although I wanted a polished look, I preferred glamorous<natural, so we decided to proceed closer to a natural style! When I went into the operating room, I was extremely nervous, and because I was trembling so much, the director and the surgical nurses kept talking to me to calm me down, haha.. When I woke up after surgery, other than feeling a little dizzy and my ear feeling slightly numb, I was so fine that I thought, did I really have surgery...? I quickly got over the dizziness, left the clinic, and went to the accommodation I had booked nearby. (I booked accommodation because I had to visit again the next day!) But this crazy body started showing signs that I had surgery from the night of the surgery. I kept resting at the accommodation, and my whole face gradually became uncomfortable. I thought it was because the anesthesia was wearing off, but when I looked in the mirror, I was seriously so swollen that I couldn’t recognize my face, so I was really shocked. Of course, I knew my face wouldn’t be normal! I just didn’t know it would be this much.. I couldn’t sleep properly at night, my throat kept getting dry, and because my face was so swollen, I got a pretty bad headache too. Since the packing was blocking my nose, it felt like the headache doubled? That part was a bit hard. Still, it was bearable. I was someone who usually didn’t sleep much at dawn, and because of chronic rhinitis, I was used to breathing through my mouth, haha. The swelling that made my face unrecognizable lasted about a week. The nasal packing was removed on day 3, and after removing the packing it was seriously heaven.. The splint was removed on day 5. In terms of satisfaction, about 98%? First of all, I’m extremely satisfied with the fact that I have a nose now! It got higher! If you look at the position of the lines in the photos, you can tell it got much higher, right? The remaining 2% is because to my eyes, my nose feels slightly upturned, just that little bit? But people around me, even people who don’t give empty compliments, all said it was done really well, that it looks good, and that it suits me, so I decided to just leave it as is. I’m also scared that if I touch it again to gain that 2%, I might lose the 98%.. So far, I don’t have any side effects? or discomfort. I only hope that side effects never come for the rest of my life. Oh, and everyone planning rhinoplasty, there are posts telling you to buy all kinds of things needed after surgery, but honestly, except for several extra-large beak-style masks and sterile cotton swabs, you don’t need anything.. Buy plenty of sterile cotton swabs. Sterile gauze and straws depend on the clinic, because in the case of the clinic where I had surgery, they told me to avoid putting gauze under my nose as much as possible. They said it could actually make the incision area and wounds inside the nose heal poorly, and the reason they tell people to put gauze under the nose is because it’s hard to wipe runny discharge and bloody fluid when going outside. They told me to definitely keep it off inside the house. So even when I went out, I just went without putting it on. I used gauze exactly once and almost never used it. Since I didn’t use gauze, of course I had no reason to use straws either, and the clinic also told me not to use them. And after surgery, if you’re going to sleep sitting up, just sleep lying down. If you sleep sitting and then topple over, that’s more dangerous. As for a plastic surgery pillow, I normally don’t move around in my sleep, so I didn’t need one. After this surgery, I slept on a recliner sofa. The sofa was leather, so it was slippery when I slept, and my head tilted left and right while sleeping, but I had no symptoms of my nose bending and I was fine. Of course, you should be careful about what the clinic tells you to watch out for! Anyway, you’re already paying a lot for surgery, so there’s no need to increase spending even more. I’m saying I recommend not spending money buying all sorts of things... If you really can’t get a sense of it, ask your clinic. I wrote this really diligently and at length, but I don’t know if I wrote it well or whether it will be helpful. Anyway, everyone planning rhinoplasty, fighting! (Make sure to do a lot of online research, clinic visits, and study plastic surgery for a long time, think it over for a long time, ask people around you, and proceed only after making a careful decision..)
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#FirstRhinoplasty #LowNose
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This is a surgery review pursuing natural beauty.