An unsophisticated image because of my bulbous nose, my nasal alae spreading when I smiled, and my nostrils being visible from the front were things I was unhappy about. When I took photos, I looked worse than in real life, so I tended to dislike taking pictures. That said, my nose was not especially flawed either; it was an ordinary nose, and since I’m just an ordinary office worker, I had lived without thinking about going as far as nose surgery. But a few years ago, an acquaintance’s image became noticeably prettier with just nasal tip surgery, and I realized... one nose can change someone this much... Even then, I had never really thought about nose surgery, but recently my glabellar/nasal filler had spread too much, making my impression look harsh, and after watching a nose surgery vlog by a YouTuber I recently saw and seeing how much more refined they looked, I started to feel hopeful.
First, I found the clinic where the YouTuber whose post-op result I liked had surgery. With only two weeks left until my vacation, I tried to use weekends and take one weekday off for consultations, but even booking consultations was not easy... In the end, after making reservations at three places, I only consulted up to the second one, and decided to go with the first plastic surgery clinic I consulted at. Honestly, even though my nose wasn’t a problematic nose, the price was shocking, so I hesitated, but I was drawn to the director’s clear, straightforward answers and decided on it.
Silicone, autologous costal cartilage (my septum was small, so it could not be used---this opinion was the same as at the second clinic) I emphasized a lot that I was going into the surgery with the determination that there would be no revision rhinoplasty, and requested a natural nasal tip and a straight-to-slightly-curved profile close to a straight line.
I had seen many reviews saying it hurt a lot on the night of surgery, so I was extremely scared. It was about 30-40 minutes from the clinic to my house, and they told me to take my medication as soon as I got home, so I ate porridge and took the medicine around 8-9 p.m. I decided on my own to take the medicine every 6 hours, woke up at dawn, and ate porridge and took the medicine. Until I fell asleep, I sat on the sofa and kept repeatedly applying cold compresses.
Maybe thanks to that, I got through the night without feeling even the slightest pain. (I was afraid, thinking, will it hurt tomorrow...? but throughout the surgical period, it never hurt even once.) There was almost no swelling either, but around days 3-4 it swelled to the point of feeling tight and puffy... If anything, my nasolabial folds were completely smoothed out, so I liked that period lol. The first week, when others go through the ugly phase... It was surprising that I did not swell hugely, it did not hurt, and the bruising was not severe, and I thought, is this what paying a high price gets you? (I can’t say I’m just naturally suited for surgery, because I swelled a lot with my previous double eyelid surgery and under-eye fat repositioning.) When the splint was removed, there was yellow bruising where the bridge of my nose had been covered, but it was covered just by lightly tapping on cushion foundation... That feeling where people say you start spiraling... My nose was so freaking high, as if it was saying, I raised it as much as you paid for... From the next day, it started going down surprisingly fast... For reference, I did not take even a single one of those swelling medications that are so common on YouTube. According to the clinic, the prescribed medicine alone is already strong enough? and has a swelling-reduction effect, so they said it was better not to take anything extra. I’m the type who listens really well... By week 2, the facial swelling seemed to have all gone down, and although the nose swelling is supposedly still going down, it is still high, so it definitely still looks like a surgical nose. So from far away, it looks pretty.