My nasal bridge was low compared with my nasal tip, but after getting filler, I wasn’t satisfied with the shape, so I eventually looked into rhinoplasty. Since rhinoplasty has a high rate of revision surgery, I really wanted to succeed with the first surgery, so I placed a lot of importance on the surgeon’s aesthetic sense and surgical method. So I looked for a place that mainly uses autologous costal cartilage, the strongest material, and I think I watched almost all of Dr. Kim Hyun-joo’s YouTube videos. Because she also performs many severe contracted-nose revision surgeries, I thought she must have a very deep understanding of the nose, and among the places where I had consultations, she gave me the longest and most detailed consultation. She described exactly the same nose that I thought would suit my face. There was no overtreatment, and the expected after-result matched the nose and aesthetic sense I was pursuing the most, so I decided on that plastic surgery clinic. Also, I liked that after surgery, the doctor personally checked the progress, and compared with other hospitals, I got to see the doctor more often.
On the first day after surgery, I had more nasal pain than I expected, but after 2-3 days it decreased a lot. Because it was autologous costal cartilage, the nasal tip is firm, but I was fine with it because using the strongest and safest material was my higher priority. I think the feeling that it wasn’t my own nose and the feeling of my skin being pulled lasted for about 3 weeks to nearly a month.
On day 7, I had the splint removed, and I was someone who had almost no swelling, but interestingly, by weeks 2-3, even the nasal bridge that had looked like it had no swelling started to deswell. Once the swelling went down, I liked the shape even more. Especially because my nostril base/alar area is narrow and small, I was worried that if my nose was made higher, it would become too thin. But the doctor explained how to prevent the alar area from becoming narrower or looking pinched, and the surgery turned out just as she said. My alar area really didn’t get smaller, so I’m very happy with it. She didn’t look only at the nose, but raised it just the right amount to match my facial proportions, so it looks natural while the three-dimensionality and my facial features really came alive. They say the nose becomes even more natural over 6 months to 1 year, so I’m looking forward to it even more!