Before <before removal> After <after removal> Hello. I received a lot of help from this community regarding nose removal, so I came to write this review. I sincerely hope it will help people who, like me, are going through a hard and difficult time alone.
[ Reason for removal ] I had my nose surgery 6-7 years ago. Before surgery, I had always had a complex since I was young about my low nose with no nasal bridge, and after getting nose surgery, my satisfaction was very high. My previously unsophisticated impression became more refined, so until recently, I thought getting nose surgery was the best thing I had ever done in my life. But early this year, around March or April, suddenly the area between my eyebrows swelled up, and at the same time I felt pain when I touched it. However, it was not swollen enough for other people to notice, (I actually went to work as usual, and nobody noticed. When I asked friends and family, they said they could not really tell.) I went to the hospital where I had surgery and took antibiotics for about 2 weeks, and the inflammation subsided. At the hospital where I had surgery, they also said that if it were inflammation, it should swell up like an Avatar, but since it was not like that, we should watch the progress and remove it if it swelled up one more time. But from then on, my obsession with my nose began. And for some reason, I felt like my nose had become more upturned than at first. That was when I learned that an upturned nose is called contracture. I had thought complications were something distant for me, since it had been over 6 years since my surgery, but it felt like the sky was falling. Every day I took photos of my nose and only looked at my nose; even when looking at other people's faces, I only looked at their noses. For several months, I lived with the thoughts, 'My nose seems okay, should I just leave it alone?' and 'No, my nose is upturned, let's remove it,' worrying over what to do. That was understandable, because the contracture had progressed slightly, and there was slight redness on the nasal bridge, and I felt like the silicone looked obvious, but other people could not easily notice it, and since I had been so satisfied after surgery, I worried a lot whether I would be able to live normally after removal. Then, around September, my nasal bridge swelled up once again. The swelling was much weaker than when it swelled in March or April, and there was almost no pain, but I was also somewhat happy because it made me feel certain that I should remove it. So I scheduled removal during this Chuseok holiday and had the surgery.
[ Removal-related information ] 3.5 mm silicone, small amount of ear cartilage at the nasal tip
[ Removal hospital ] I worried a great deal about where to have it removed. Since I had contracture symptoms, I wondered whether simply removing it would be okay, or whether I should have correction such as cartilage repositioning. So I gathered information from online sites such as communities and went to two consultations.
One place was a hospital famous for reconstruction, and even to get a consultation, you had to wait two or three months. There, they told me that I definitely had contracture symptoms and, looking at various symptoms, I absolutely needed revision surgery. They also said they absolutely did not recommend simple removal, and that if I simply removed it, I probably would not be able to tolerate my low nasal bridge. They suggested taking autologous dermis from my buttocks to raise the nasal bridge and using cartilage from my ear to bring down the contracted nose. The cost was very expensive, but honestly, cost did not matter to me. Even if I had to pay a lot, if I could become prettier, improve from my current condition, and have no complications, I was willing to do it, but I thought autologous dermis could also be absorbed and could cause various complications. And since I am still young, the thought of having a long scar on my buttocks, although they say it is not visible when standing, also bothered me. So I gave up on having surgery at this hospital. (I am absolutely not saying I do not recommend this hospital. Since the consultation was hard to get, they talked with me for a long time, and I heard they are good at difficult surgeries.)
The second place I went to is where I had my removal surgery. First of all, the nurse who consulted with me was very, very kind and showed me various removal photos. And to me, who was worrying and agonizing so much, she comforted me by saying removal of ear cartilage and silicone is nothing, and not to worry too much. The doctor also assured me that the contracture symptoms could definitely improve if the silicone was removed and that the nasal tip would come down more than now. And he said that if I wanted to go back to how it was before, removal would be fine; if I removed it, it would simply go back to before. I think I needed those words; when I searched internet reviews, there were stories saying that if you remove it when you have inflammation or contracture symptoms, it lifts even more severely, so I was very scared. But because this was the first place that spoke positively, I ended up having surgery there. (I did not schedule the surgery date on the day of the consultation; I came home and decided on surgery about a month later.)
Besides that, I really looked up many surgical methods from other famous hospitals and even made actual reservations, but the only places I actually visited were those two. The place where I originally had nose surgery also had a kind doctor and said they would remove it for a low cost, but because I had contracture and inflammation symptoms, I wanted to do it at a removal and reconstruction specialty hospital that would cleanly remove even the capsule and capsular tissue, so I had it done at another hospital.
[ Surgery review ] Day of surgery - Even until right before surgery, I wondered whether I should not remove it, or whether revision surgery would be better. Since I had contracture, I wondered if I should have cartilage repositioning, but in the end I had the surgery and had local anesthesia. When I read many reviews in this community, people said silicone removal is very simple and does not hurt, so I thought that way....... local anesthesia hurt so much, and I thought I was someone who could tolerate pain well, but I guess not. And during the surgery, the doctor said there was a lot of inflammation and scraped out the inflammation, which was very painful, and I regretted not doing sleep anesthesia. But now that a few days have passed, I think local anesthesia was okay too^^;;; Humans really are creatures of forgetfulness.... Anyway, on the day of surgery, I actually did not swell much. And although I did not swell that severely and the contracture was not severe either, once they actually did the surgery, they said there was a great deal of inflammation and even the nasal tip cartilage had melted because of the inflammation. ㅠㅠ..... Please keep this in mind if your nasal bridge becomes red, or if you have slight contracture or slight pain. I had wondered whether I did not need removal because I was not very swollen.
Days 1-3 after surgery - Because of the splint, I could not tell whether my nasal bridge had become lower. But maybe because I had a lot of inflammation and the capsule was removed, my eyes swelled up badly too, and after removing the splint on day 3, I thought it would absolutely be impossible to live normally in this state. The hospital that did the removal said it would be okay to remove it on Friday and go to work on Monday..^^;;; I really do not think that would work. It may vary by person.... If only the nose swelled, maybe, but my cheeks were all swollen too and I looked like a bulldog, so I thought it was good that I had surgery during a long holiday.
Days 4-8 after surgery - After taking off the splint, I walked a lot to reduce the swelling. From day 4, the swelling visibly went down. From days 1-3 after surgery, it actually felt like I was swelling more. And now, on day 8 after surgery, I finally feel like I have returned close to my face shape. From the front, since there is no silicone, it definitely feels somehow unsophisticated and broad. Especially when it was swollen, I could not believe how unsophisticated it looked. But from the side, it actually feels more natural than when I had silicone, and although I really had no nasal bridge, it did not become terrifyingly low. And although I was worried, the contracture symptoms seem to have eased. Of course, I will only know after more swelling goes down.... One especially different thing is that, unlike in the past when my nasal tip was sharp, my nasal tip has become round. I guess that cannot be helped. So I bought nose-shading makeup products to cover it with makeup^^;;;;
[ Closing the review ] I kept worrying until right before the surgery. There really is not much information related to silicone removal, and there was no one around me who had removed it, so it was very frightening and scary. So even until before taking off the splint, I thought, should I have had revision surgery? I am still young; did I make the wrong choice by removing the silicone? But now that the swelling has gone down somewhat, I think I did well to just remove it. Of course, my thoughts may change again.
Although I had inflammation and contracture symptoms, the reason I only had simple removal is that, even though I do not have professional knowledge, when I thought about it by myself, I felt that while there was still inflammation inside the skin, even if they scraped it out and removed the capsule, placing silicone again or putting autologous dermis on top of it would be something I should not do to my nose. My body had already pushed out the silicone and inflammation had occurred, so if I had revision surgery again and the contracture became worse, I felt like normal daily life would really become impossible. So I thought I should let my body rest by removing all the foreign materials inside my nose, and if I really looked too ugly and could not live with it, I would get filler after 6 months or have revision surgery, and that is why I removed it. And now that I have removed it, of course I look more plain and innocent than before, but I think I should just live while covering it well with makeup. I will work hard on skin care and body care, and try harder to fill my inner self more than my outer appearance^^;; Ah, and because the inflammation was severe, the doctor said during surgery that contracture could occur later. So he prescribed Rizaben for one month. I sincerely hope my prognosis is good without contracture symptoms.
Since I received a lot of help from this community, I am posting this long review. I hope it helps other people suffering from contracture and inflammation like me. And because I was worried it might feel like promotion, I intentionally did not write the hospital name or region. If I get embarrassed, I might delete this post soon.... Anyway, it is Chuseok, so have a good rest of the holiday~
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