When I was young, I hit my nose and the bone became crooked. My right nostril was about 90% blocked and my left nostril about 60% blocked, so my rhinitis was bad and breathing through my nose itself was difficult. I also had a lot of runny nose.. In early March, I had surgery to correct the crooked bone back into place and straighten the shape. No implant was used; the surgery was done only with my own septal cartilage.
On the day of surgery, around 1 p.m. Anesthesia started on the operating table -> they suddenly asked my date of birth and name, and while I was answering, I fell asleep as if I had passed out.
Around 2:40 p.m., I woke up on the operating table with a feeling like my nose was being stitched up with sutures. (The nurse told me to wake up.) I tried to jump up and walk, but I staggered a little.. I was half-asleep, but my mind was definitely awake, and I could feel all sensations in my body except my face. Then I went into the recovery room and lay down, breathing through my mouth and moving very carefully.
Around 4:30 p.m., I was discharged, caught a taxi that was waiting near the hospital, went home, and lay down.. (Until then I was thinking, “It’s better than I expected? The pain is tolerable?”)
Day of surgery to the next day (Day 2) I only ate a little porridge at a time, and I could only open my mouth enough to fit 2-3 fingers, so I put a straw in water and drank it that way. If I tried to drink with my mouth on a cup or open my mouth a bit wider, I felt a tearing pain around my nose to the philtrum area, so I had no choice but to be careful. I don’t think I slept properly either. The first 2-3 days after surgery were the hardest. I think I did a lot of mind control, just hoping time would pass quickly.
About 48 hours after surgery (Day 3) I went to the hospital and had the cotton packing stuck in my nose removed, and seriously lololol blood poured out, I felt dazed, and those 10-12 seconds of removal (the peak 3-4 seconds hurt so much) Tears kept streaming down (not because I wanted to cry..) and I started coughing like crazy; I thought I was going insane. The cotton seemed over 10 cm long, ugh. They packed it again with other cotton, and the director said to come back in 2 days.
Day 4 I lay down almost all day, gargled.. ate porridge.. but my mouth opened a liiittle more, and when drinking water or eating porridge, I got used to breathing in through my nose first and then eating? I think swelling? bruising was the worst that day. But not that much? It felt like my dark circles just got darker, something like that..
Day 5 I went to the hospital and had the second cotton packing removed. (Ugh.. it did hurt, but compared to 2 days before it was nothing.) They put in a third cotton packing again. And that day I showered for the first time, being very careful not to let water touch the front of my face..
Day 6 Blood was slowly starting to dry and clot, and because I felt stuffy, I removed the third cotton packing on my own. (If it got serious, I could just put cotton back in.) But it was fine, and breathing through my nose for the first time in a while felt like a whole new world. I wondered if air had always been this fresh.. From then on, I started to feel that I was glad I had the surgery, and my condition seemed to gradually improve.
Day 7 Similar to Day 6.
Day 8 When the splint attached to my nose was removed and I saw the shape of my nose, it had settled nicely. I was satisfied because it came out natural without an implant and didn’t look obviously operated on. (There is still a tiny bit of a hump left.) Still, I think I was careful with my body until week 2. I could eat porridge comfortably too, though I couldn’t open my mouth wide..
Day 9 From this point, I started eating soft regular foods? I also started cutting meat into small pieces and eating it.. One strawberry was okay if I cut it in half before eating. Since I couldn’t open my mouth wide, brushing my teeth wasn’t easy.
Day 15 (after 2 weeks) A lot of the swelling around my nose went down, and I could eat regular food without difficulty as long as it wasn’t hard + brushing my teeth became much easier. From this point, even running up stairs two steps at a time was fine. (I could do all daily activities and more..)
Day 22 (after 3 weeks) Overall, things improved. I could open my mouth without discomfort, and since I could sleep comfortably while breathing through my nose, my condition actually became better than before surgery.
After 1 month The mucous membrane recovered, nose hairs also started growing a lot, I was satisfied with the shape, my condition was good, there was completely no discomfort anymore, and I only felt a little pain if I scrunched my facial expression severely.
After 6 weeks This was my last follow-up visit. The doctor said if anything felt uncomfortable I should come in, but if I was okay, I didn’t have to come.
After 2 months Unless I intentionally distorted my face to look ugly, there was no pain at all, and I felt that a lot of the residual swelling had gone down.
After 3 months to now Even if I distort my expression, there’s 99.9% no pain. I’m living normally without any issue. My nose hair seems to have grown even more than before surgery..?
I just focused on resting well and taking my meals and medicine on time. I think I did warm/cold compresses for a day or two and then stopped because it was annoying. The doctor who operated on me seems to have been quite skilled. It turned out well without major side effects. To summarize: hell until Day 2, uncomfortable until one week, be careful until two weeks, and after that it’s okay as long as you make sure not to bump it anywhere?
That’s all.
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