※ I took the photos down. Since I did not touch the nasal bridge or nasal tip at all, I hope this helps those who are only considering alar reduction^^
This is a review of alar reduction that I paid for myself. I am not a broker, and I do not even know how to do that kind of thing. I will try to write as honestly as possible, without adding or leaving anything out. Things like private messages are a hassle, so anything I can share publicly I will write in the post, and I would like questions to be asked in the comments. I do not check very often, but if I do check, I will reply to everyone lololol
First, as you can see from the photos, even though my nasal bridge itself is not high, my nose is fairly straight, and my nostrils show slightly, but it is not an upturned nose. As shown well in the before photo, my nostrils were large and round, and I was always concerned that my nose spread widely when I smiled. At MT, there are separate procedures called alar lifting/lowering, but in my case, because my columella is visible from the side, they said I probably did not need alar lifting, so this was a case where I proceeded with alar reduction only. I also told the director this, but although my nose is not dramatically pretty, I thought it suited my face and overall image reasonably well, so if it did not spread out so much when I smiled, I probably would not have considered surgery.
I will write the review in six main sections.
1. Surgical process / 2. Swelling / 3. Scarring / 4. Effect / 5. Cost / 6. Side effects ---------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Surgical process I had an internal-incision alar reduction. As written above, to control the spreading of my nose when I smile, I also had a non-incisional alar reduction that slightly ties the area between the nostrils. From arriving at the hospital to leaving the hospital, I think the whole surgery-related process took about 30 minutes. As expected, the anesthesia hurts the most.. It is not painfully unbearable. It is tolerable. Personally, getting anesthesia on the inner side of my eye when having a stye lanced hurt more;; or dental anesthesia hurt more. They wiped the inside of my nostrils with disinfectant, and the disinfectant running down into my throat during that process was a bit unpleasant, but other than that, there was no particular discomfort from the surgery itself. It was just a slight feeling of the thread passing through or of being stitched, maybe? It did not hurt.
2. Swelling As you can see, the swelling was not severe. Only on the first day, it felt like the area between my nostrils had been tied tightly, and my nostrils felt square, so to speak.. As time passed, the nostrils became round again. I think it took about a week. It was uncomfortable because my philtrum felt tight when I smiled (to be precise, I could not make the expression of lifting my upper lip and scrunching my philtrum at all), but this also improved over time. The swelling in my philtrum has not completely gone down yet (not noticeable at all to the naked eye), so it feels like there is something between my philtrum and upper lip, but it is not an uncomfortable foreign-body sensation.
3. Scarring (Addition: A large blood scab forms at the stitched area for at least about 5 days. If you gently remove it with a cotton swab, it all falls off around day 5. Once the blood scab comes off, the stitches themselves are not very noticeable.) The hospital told me that right now is the peak period when the scar becomes hard, red, and lumpy, and indeed, now that exactly one month has passed, the scar is hard and red. However, it can be covered even with BB cream. If I touch up with a matte concealer layered over it, it does not show at all. Unless someone deliberately tries to look up into my nostrils, they cannot see it even if they want to.. Even though my nostrils are quite visible from the front, the scarring is at a level that can be covered well with makeup. They say it will gradually fade over 3 to 6 months. I will write another review about this later.. They did tell me that because the skin on my nose is on the thicker side, a line mark(?) may remain later. They said it would not be severe. (If you do not understand what a line mark means, look at recent nose photos of Luna from f(x), and you will understand.)
4. Effect (Addition: If you want it reduced a lot, you can request that during consultation. The director explains very well, but said the area between the nostrils can be tied more strongly depending on the client’s request. In my case, even though I had it tied only very slightly, I am satisfied with the current issue of my nose spreading. Since I considered naturalness the top priority, I was a case where I strongly emphasized that I wanted it only a tiny bit smaller, just enough that it would not spread when I smile, and done na-tu-ral-ly.. lololol) Personally, I am very satisfied. From the front, my nostrils did not become much smaller, but that is what I wanted. I told them to reduce them only a little, very naturally, so that absolutely no one would notice. As you can see from the photos, they became very subtly smaller. I think it turned out well. The spreading when I smile has definitely become less than before. I am very satisfied with just this.
5. Cost It was in the high 700,000 won range. I heard they have fixed pricing and do not give discounts. The card/cash price was the same.
6. Side effects For now, my philtrum still feels unnatural when I smile. It is fine when I smile during a normal conversation or laugh moderately hard, but when I burst out laughing really hard, I still feel like there is something in the philtrum areaㅠㅠ From what I feel, I think it is because of the thread, and when I burst out laughing, one side of my nasolabial fold also feels slightly unnatural. I asked the hospital, and they told me it is a symptom that improves over 6 months, so for now I am waiting. If I get the chance, I will write a review about this later as well.
I hope this helps many people who are considering alar reduction!
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