I don’t know where to begin. It may be long, but please read it.
For those who had removal surgery: First of all, this may not apply to people who only had a nasal bridge implant removed and then returned to normal well... because you may not have had severe suffering. For those who had tip work done, then had it removed, and were left with a changed appearance... an ugly nose... and are feeling depressed and distressed... to be very honest, it may not go back to how it was before... I’ve talked with many people here and elsewhere in my own way, but honestly I haven’t seen many who returned to a satisfying appearance. That goes for me too. I did escape from that terrible appearance and more or less came back to something close to my original look, but compared with how I looked before, it is clearly different... Still, isn’t it even more awful that without maintenance, it may not even return to this degree...? Recently I’ve almost recovered, but now I’ve come to accept it. During all that time, I kept hoping things would keep improving and that I would eventually return completely, but after quite a long time the softness and volume have continued to improve little by little, while the shape now seems to have stopped. And after putting behind me the days when I suffered terribly, focusing on care and trying to stay positive, I suddenly felt like I had collapsed again. Since there were no further changes, I had to accept it. This might be the end... It can be different for each person... Some people may comfortably accept the degree to which they’ve recovered, think they’ve fully returned, and go on living that way. But especially if you are a woman, and are sensitive, confident in your looks, or someone who pays a lot of attention to appearance, you may have a hard time like I did. Until not long ago, it was hell... hell, part 2. The time when I changed so much after removal because of contracture was hell, part 1. And the recent period, when I was managing it, improving, and had almost returned... hell, part 2. The reason was that I would never have surgery again, and yet I also could not live looking like this, so I was truly stuck between a rock and a hard place, unable to do anything but live in despair day and night. So I had nothing to hold on to. I had gained a lot of weight, so I needed to lose it, and I also had to keep studying... but I lost motivation and became exhausted again, because now I really could no longer expect much more change. And then, after a while, while watching TV, a pretty announcer came on, and suddenly I had this thought: let’s think about it more lightly. Many people have had surgery and still live smart and stylish lives. It’s not as if there’s no way. If I really can’t bear it, then in a year I can prepare thoroughly, like I’m crazy, and have surgery then. (Actually, this is just me tricking myself for now.) Once I thought that way, my motivation came back again. Right, even if I do end up having surgery, I still have nine months ahead of me anyway. In that time, let’s lose the weight and make everything else satisfyingly good except the nose. Let’s study a lot, build up beautiful skin, and get everything else done except the nose. And then when the time comes, if I get surgery well and become pretty, that’ll be enough... that’s how I tricked myself. Honestly, I don’t know whether I’ll have surgery again. But if this kind of light thought and easy mindset can help me escape the pain I’m in now, give me motivation for other things, and help me get out of my day-to-day loser life and do everything else well except the nose, then I’ve come to think I’d gladly rather keep thinking that way. Instead of sitting there thinking, there’s no way this can be fixed, I want to die, oh, what am I going to do, sob sob... I came to think it’s far more helpful for living to think, I’ll make everything else pretty and smart and spend the time that way!! Even if I still don’t know whether I’ll actually have surgery at that time or not. As I’ve lived through it, I’ve felt deeply that depression creates even bigger depression, lack of motivation turns into complete loss of motivation, and it’s an endless vicious cycle. So I had to stop it, even if I had to trick myself. And now, looking in the mirror, before... when things looked similar, I would feel good; when they looked different, I would feel like I was going crazy, want to cry, regret it, and sink into depression. But now, when they look similar, I still feel good, and when they look different, I quickly turn my face away from the mirror and think, while doing massage (because I can do it without looking in the mirror, and massage is something I can do) I should work out~ then work out and study~ then study and watch TV in the evening~ if I live like this, then even if I do end up having nose surgery later, everything except the nose will be beautiful and polished~ and I end up thinking that way. It becomes so much easier, and the more I practice, the stronger my will becomes; the more I repeat it, the more desire I regain to do it and the more happily I begin to want to live again. I still have days when regret overwhelms me, when I mutter for hours like a rap, There was no need for me to have surgery at all, if I hadn’t done it by now blah blah... but those times are getting shorter and the intensity of the pain is weakening. You only live once, so whatever... At this point, I could live happily enough the way I was before, and now I’ll just live more dazzlingly in my own way!! That’s how I brush it off.
For those who had removal surgery: I want you to know the road ahead is long and more painful than you may expect. I’m not trying to scare you. If someone punches you after you’ve braced yourself, it hurts less, but if you’re standing there dazed and get hit, your teeth can get knocked out. It’s the same thing, and that’s what I want to say. You need a tough mindset that understands the process, the symptoms, and the care methods, and accepts that it may be a very long journey, or I don’t think you’ll be able to hold up. I wasn’t like that, and I was ignorant, so the shock was greater and I fell apart a lot. Because of that, my mind couldn’t keep up with how fast my nose was improving, and that made things even harder. Then, as if brain damage came after a severe fever, I really... after that unexpected pain and extreme depression, I struggled as if my mind had been damaged. If before I had severe depression, now I’m in the process of coming out of it, so the remaining issue is that I still have some lethargy. If you are in the process of improving now, I know mornings are hard. Don’t suffer by staring in the mirror. Think, I’m getting better, it’s still a long way to go, let’s just do massage... Don’t suffer because your appearance has changed, and don’t torment yourself with regret.
For those who will have surgery: If you are looking in the mirror right now and thinking about what to do to look prettier, please know that you are already not the kind of person who should have surgery. For cosmetic surgery, for a long time, there has to be some part of the face that breaks the balance, so every time you look at it, you want to fix it, and if only that part were fixed, you would have no more wish in the world. Every time you look in the mirror, you feel like you’re going crazy wanting to fix it. Living like this is too depressing. You want to be happy too. And it’s not just fantasizing that if it goes well you’ll become pretty; even knowing the terrifying cliff edge that if it goes badly, your life could really get tangled up, you still think, I have to do this, I’m that desperate to take that gamble with my life... those are the people who should have cosmetic surgery. Comparison is absolutely forbidden. Someone got great results from surgery, my friend, someone I know, and so on... throw all of that away. I also had surgery at a place where my friend had great results, and this is what happened. The people who did well and are living well are those people. Don’t think that if 100 people do well and 1 person is ruined, that means it’s a 1 in 100 chance. If that one person is you, the chance is 100%. Whether you think you’re fine or pretty or have some degree of harmony... there is no such thing as perfect harmony anyway. Han Ga-in and Song Hye-kyo are not in perfect harmony either, and they’re ordinary people just like us. A moderate sense of harmony, clear skin, an okay figure... what more are you asking for? That’s why when surgery goes badly, don’t people all wish they had invested in their skin, lost weight, and bought clothes instead? That’s exactly right. Look in the mirror right now and think seriously: if you really want to fix it badly enough to accept the risk of something going wrong, then go ahead and fix it. That’s why cosmetic surgery seems to require more careful judgment about the scale of its value than anything else. And if you prepare, you’ll realize internet information is truly trash. Join many places, look around, and write down the hospitals that didn’t do well. Exclude overlapping places first. Then exclude severe failed cases. Write down the hospitals that didn’t do well and visit the rest. Don’t message the photos of the successful cases. Some people may not realize how scary it is these days, but really, ordinary people, photos taken at home, photos taken on the bus... it turns out they were incredible, somehow. So there are more and more people saying they were fooled and their lives were ruined. Go to them yourself. And more important than that is that hospital information is not the real issue. Analysis of your own nose... there is so much to do. Don’t judge your nose from an image. If you get very accurate photos and learn the surgical methods by going to the clinic, then you are already not ready for surgery. Study the surgical methods, process, and materials; the pros and cons; the pros and cons if removal is done; the postoperative process; what contracture is; what scar tissue is; what kind of skin you have; whether the tip needs to involve soft tissue as well; whether your skin can produce a slender result; whether, with your skin, you should give up on slenderness from the start and whether only a blunt look is possible, and if so, what methods exist... all of it. After I had surgery, I saw my own pre-surgery side-profile photo and realized I had never needed surgery at all. I hope you don’t make such a foolish mistake. If there is just a slight dorsal hump, do you really need to live with a silicone implant, a ticking time bomb that could rupture at any time, just because of that tiny thing? If inflammation comes and contracture follows, you might end up with a raised tip like Solbi, but should you really accept all those risks over such a small hump? Or should you shave the hump and slightly fill in the upper and lower areas so the contour becomes very subtle while increasing the height and making it look like a natural nose? What methods are there? Know all of it, and when you visit hospitals, don’t just listen to the doctor explain things, ask questions and discuss them together. It might even be possible to record the consultation if you can. If it were me, I would do it that way. If I ever have surgery in the future, I’ll do it like that. Don’t think, they did fine even without doing all that and without knowing anything. That’s just that person. You might be the one it doesn’t work out for. Don’t forget that, prepare thoroughly, and reduce the odds as much as possible. I think that is wise.
I sometimes get messages from people. Not people who have been into this since childhood, but people who recently started looking into cosmetic surgery thinking, if I get surgery, I’ll probably become prettier, then read my post and feel it really hits home. They hesitate, then suddenly look in the mirror and think, I’m not desperate enough for that. I can’t take that gamble. So they go to a dermatology clinic with that money today, make a reservation, get skin care, go out shopping with a friend, eat something delicious for dinner, and have a lot of fun. Then they send a message saying they’re grateful. The more messages like that I receive, the more I feel relieved, and also sad. If I had read something like this, at that moment I would have looked in the mirror, changed my mind immediately, and with that money by now I might have had glassy skin, had a completely happy summer, and maybe even already taken the flight attendant exam. But what remains now is damaged skin, skin that has spread out and sagged, a nose that gets bigger every morning, and a tough resolve that has to be rebuilt.
If you look in the mirror right now and think, I’d rather live with this face than stand on a cliff and take a risk as big as bungee jumping, then do your research and have surgery. If you’re still undecided, put the mirror down right now, and please don’t come here any more. Close the window immediately and go to Nate or Naver and look at something else. And once you get caught up in the temptation of surgery, you may make the biggest mistake of all and end up looking at only that one area. Look at the whole face. Absolutely. Really, absolutely. If you keep staring at only one part, there’s no one in the world who shouldn’t have surgery. For those who will have surgery, I hope everything goes well, and I hope you become happy.