Before removing the silicone, I had only been reading posts in a community for several months. After getting it removed, I’m writing for the first time in my life like this, hoping it can give even a little strength to people who are going through emotional hardship like I did.
I had the most basic? kind of surgery: silicone + ear cartilage for the nasal tip. At first, I really wanted it to look natural, like filler, and above all, I knew nothing about plastic surgery.. I thought it could really look unnoticeable and natural. But after the surgery, my image changed. From the side, as the swelling in my nasal tip went down, the tip became lifted too much.. I was worried someone would notice.. It felt like everyone was only looking at my nasal tip.. Before surgery, my eyes were naturally quite large, almost as if they had been done, so I used to hear that my eyes were pretty. But after surgery, the first thing people asked was whether I had had plastic surgery..ㅜㅜ I hated the foreign-body sensation too.. I had only been seriously researching removal, and a few days ago I finally had it removed!!
The first place I went for removal was the hospital where I had the surgery, and they said things like, “It’s pretty, why remove it?” “It has been 5 years since the surgery, so we don’t have your pre-op photos or information” (How can they delete all records just because 5 years passed.. ridiculous..) “Your nose could collapse, but if you still want removal, the cost is 1.4 million won, but we can bring it down to 700,000,” etc. The consultation was short and careless... All I could hear was my heart breaking.. In short, they were friendly only when doing the surgery and didn’t care about what happened afterward.. So I thought I definitely shouldn’t leave it to this person again and looked into other hospitals.
**Everyone looking for a hospital, there really is a doctor who fits you well, so believe that and look calmly** I finally decided on a revision-specialized hospital where my older sister had her revision surgery (it was a local clinic, so somehow it hadn’t caught my eye..) Since my original surgery was open rhinoplasty, I had the removal done through an open approach too. The doctor had pride in his work and clearly said what he was confident about when he was confident (he wasn’t the type to give false hope by saying everything would definitely be fine). He suited me so well that I scheduled the surgery right away and had it done. This hospital didn’t use sleep anesthesia; they used very localized anesthesia. The doctor said there have been so many bad news reports these days (apparently there are hospitals where they put patients under sleep anesthesia and then nurses perform the surgery..;;;;) During the surgery, from beginning to end, he showed me the mirror every so often to let me check, listened to everything I wanted, and even revised the open-surgery scar from my first surgery. He got angry, saying how could they have sutured it so carelessly and made a scar like this.. I originally thought that much scarring was just what happens with open surgery, but it wasn’t..ㅠㅠ And the thing that made me extremely angry at the hospital where I first had surgery was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They were supposed to carve the silicone to fit my nasal bones, but instead they inserted raw silicone by grinding down my nasal bone...ㅠㅠ (He said the reason the nasal tip looked especially obvious was that the ear cartilage had been inserted very thickly and aggressively..ㅜㅜ) As soon as he removed the silicone, he showed it to me, and the doctor told me to look in the mirror for a moment, so I did. Wow.. one side of my nose was deeply sunken, like someone had pressed hard into clay with a finger.. So I asked, “Doctor, what do I do..” and he asked, “You don’t want silicone, right?” I said, “Yes, I hate it even if I die..” Then he carved cartilage from inside my nose like silicone and inserted it for me! (He said there are almost no hospitals that operate this way because it’s bothersome, and they usually prioritize using silicone or fat.) When I said I wanted my nasal tip to be soft too, he said he could make it completely soft by using it in powdered form, and that if he inserted it thinly, it wouldn’t look obvious, so I trusted the doctor completely and left it to him.
The doctor kept asking what hospital on earth it was, saying they operated without thinking about the aftermath at all, and he was curious who it was.. He got even angrier than I didㅠㅠ After surgery, he kept reassuring me, and said that if the sunken area didn’t take shape well, he would take responsibility with filler or fat, so I was so grateful. It was practically the same as revision surgery, so I should have paid a revision fee, but he did everything at the regular removal cost..
And what I liked most about the doctor was that if his condition is even slightly bad, he doesn’t operate, and on surgery days, he focuses only on that patient and doesn’t even do consultations with other people.. He isn’t greedy, there’s no consultation manager or anything like that, and the doctor handles everything from start to finish..
It’s currently day 4, and as time goes on the swelling is going down, it feels soft, the nasal tip looks natural, and I’m very satisfied. Of course I’ll only know after more time passes, but I love my nose without that disgusting silicone, and I feel sorry to it. One nostril feels lighter, and after surgery it used to get blocked easily, but I didn’t know breathing could feel this fresh..
Everyone thinking about removal, please really stay strong. And before removal, you must be worrying so much and having a hard time, right? Worries about cost, worries about ending up with a third face, all kinds of things making you unable to sleep and causing social avoidance.. I overcame it too! You can absolutely overcome it too. Please make sure you meet a conscientious, meticulous, good doctor like I did. A hospital isn’t automatically good just because it’s famous and has good reviews.. And while reading in the community, I was also very scared after seeing people whose removals didn’t go well.. If you have already scheduled your removal surgery, it may be easier on your mind not to look, if possible.
Lastly, what I really want to say is this: Since my surgery had been a standard one, I thought removal would end simply, but once the silicone came out, one side was sunken.. I never imagined one side of my nose had been ground down and operated on like this. When I think of my nose that was sunken like that, it’s truly horrifying.. Anyone can really have variables like this, just like I did. And neither the surgeon who operated on you, nor other doctors, nor of course you yourself, can ever know for sure until the nose is opened. Please don’t imagine things alone, lose sleep, and feel sad because of an unknown nose condition. When you have removal, make sure you entrust your face to someone who will take responsibility for you even if variables arise, and keep your mind at ease. Even a timid person like me overcame it!! I sincerely hope this post gives even a little strength to everyone reading it. It will definitely go well. Stay strong!!
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