First of all, I had a severe hump nose and a droopy, arrow-shaped nose. I was okay with it not being very obvious, so I just wanted it to look natural no matter what. I had hump osteotomy + nasal tip surgery using donated costal cartilage and ear cartilage. I told the doctor I wanted a slight hump left, but they said my nasal bone was thin to begin with, so they couldn’t shave it all down haha.. When the splint first came off, it looked too high, upturned, and strange, so I spent the whole day looking up reviews and even thought about revision surgery. But from week 2, I think the swelling went down really quickly. I think it was probably because the nasal tip swells the most, and even now it’s still going down little by little.
In case there’s anyone else worrying like I did, to help ease your anxiety a bit: looking at photos someone else took and looking directly at your own face are different. When you read reviews online, everyone looks natural from the start, and even if it seems like there isn’t much difference after the swelling goes down, in real life the difference is big. You might think the same thing while looking at my photos, but my family said that for the first week after the splint was removed, they thought it had gone wrong. For me, from week 1 until before week 2, the bruising hadn’t gone down much and I was very swollen, to the point that I felt a little embarrassed walking around outside, and my nasal congestion was bad It’s not that I couldn’t breathe at all, but when walking outside or doing things, I had to breathe through my mouth, so it was hard.
I think the biggest changes happened from week 2 to week 3. First, my nasal congestion recovered about 80%, and although the swelling was still somewhat noticeable, it was enough that I could take photos and go out and about! From week 3, I just went out for drinks and lived normally. The nasal congestion completely disappeared too. This was also when I showed my older brother for the first time, and until I told him, he didn’t know what had changed. That made me feel like it turned out as naturally as I wanted, so I’m quite satisfied...
Now, at 1 month and 10 days, the swollen feeling in my nasal tip has disappeared, and from certain angles, the hump is slightly visible. I think the shape has now more or less come out as expected before surgery. If there’s one thing I’m slightly disappointed about, rather than wanting my nose to become higher, I wanted it to be unobtrusive, even if it wasn’t a glamorous and pretty nose. But as my nose became more defined, it feels like it stands out more. I’ve lived my whole life with a big nose, so I was really envious of faces where everything blends harmoniously.. But well, that’s just my personal aesthetic, and it’s not like I can reduce the size of my nose the way you edit a photo lol The shape came out exactly how I wanted, so I’m satisfied. I do wonder if there’s really anything more left to go down from here, but considering that more swelling will go down, I think it was a success. I also attached the photos I brought to my consultation, so I think you can look at them for reference. I didn’t include front-view changes because aside from it becoming slightly more defined, I don’t think there’s much difference. If you have any other questions, leave them in the comments!