My issues
- From the front, a long nose (a nose that should not undergo alar reduction or cartilage binding) - From the front, a bulbous nose (round and blunt) - The bone and cartilage are on the thick side - From the side, a slight hump and a blunt nasal tip
Desired surgical approach - For the bridge, shave only the hump and use no implant - Absolutely no donor rib cartilage X - Absolutely no silicone X - Because I have a deviated septum, I also want functional nose surgery if possible (I have a history of medical treatment at a university hospital for rhinitis in the past)
★Prices★ are written based on receiving 80% reimbursement through actual medical expense insurance ☆Prices☆ are based on clinics that do not perform functional nose surgery
1. ㅁㅇㄷ (마ㅇㄷ) - CCTV viewing available: O - If you sign the consent form, you can view it in the consultation room on the treatment day - Aftercare period: 1 year - CT scan: O (photos O) - Price: 350 (no donor rib) ~ 420 (with donor rib) -> ★364 ~ 294★ 420 = 350 (out-of-pocket) + 70 (80% reimbursement through actual medical expense insurance) 364 = 350 + 14 294 = 280 + 14
- Method: septal cartilage (+ if not donor rib) + ear cartilage + bulbous nose correction + hump + lowering the nostrils + functional nose + no osteotomy X
My nostrils (= nasal openings) are quite exposed, but my nasal tip is not turned up, so if I simply raise the tip the way I want, from the front it would look like a pig nose, and from the side the triangular nostrils would be exposed = lowering the nostrils is essential
They would build a support column with septal cartilage and raise the tip with ear cartilage, but my septum is not especially large and may be bent, so on the day of surgery, after opening the nose and checking the condition, they said donor rib cartilage could be used if needed
Using donor rib cartilage as a column rather than for the bridge, and since my septum is not large and this is not a bridge-augmentation surgery, they said the change would not be dramatic, and I should expect a naturally slimmer-looking nose The hump would also be corrected naturally by shaving it down
2. ㅁㅎ (미) - CCTV viewing available: X (installed, but not available for viewing) - Aftercare period: 1 year free ~ 3 years (anesthesia materials extra) - CT scan: O (photos X) - Price: 325 -> ★241★ 325 = 220 (out-of-pocket) + 105 (80% reimbursement through actual medical expense insurance) 241 = 220 + 21 - Method: septal cartilage (+ donor rib recommended) + ear cartilage + bulbous nose correction + hump + lowering the nostrils + functional nose + no osteotomy X
During the head consultant meeting, at other places it felt like they were thinking, 'You already know all this, right?' but here it felt like they were dealing with a kindergarten child They drew my nose with a pencil like in an art class
While touching and examining my nose in different ways, they explained that there are three total causes of a bulbous nose: 1. When there is a lot of fat under the nose 2. When the nasal skin is thick (surgery is difficult) 3. When the cartilage under the nose is thick and curved
I thought I was 1 + 2, and when I said things like I wanted to get some nasal fat removed while talking about what I disliked about my nose, they felt it and said my case is one where the bone and cartilage are developed In this case, bulbous-nose correction becomes easier the more you raise it, but since I want no implant and if it is raised too much it will become a turned-up nose, that approach is not possible
They used cotton swabs and pinched it here and there while checking the line from different angles My problem is that, because the bone is thick (thick-boned?), it does not look like a large nose, but rather it looks thick overall, and the lower cartilage also develops downward, making it look like a protruding-mouth profile, but they said this would improve with correction They also said it kind of looks like a long nose because the bone is so developed
So the method would be use the harvested septal cartilage as a column and ear cartilage as the roof, like building a house and after explaining that much, they asked, 'Do you have any other questions?'
So I told them that at a clinic I had visited before, they had suggested using donor rib cartilage because my septum was average to below average in size, and only then did they reveal their real opinion and say yes, that was correct They said that in their view I have exactly the average Korean female nose, and if I do it without an implant, there is inevitably a limit to the pillar material, so there is a limit to how much the tip can be raised They said they could correct the bluntness, but it is difficult to raise the tip with septal cartilage, and later, as dermis naturally dissolves into the body, this being my own cartilage and having the least side effects, it could cause the tip to drop over time
They would not perform osteotomy and plan to fill the level difference with ear dermis
3. ㅋㅂㅈ (코ㅂㅈ) - CCTV viewing available: O - A guardian can watch the surgery live in real time - Aftercare period: 3 years - CT scan: O (photos X) - Price: 480 -> if I put down a 10 deposit and come back, 430 -> ★330★ 430 = about 290~300 (out-of-pocket) + 140 (80% reimbursement through actual medical expense insurance) 330 = about 290~300 (out-of-pocket) + 28 - Method: septal cartilage + ear cartilage + bulbous nose correction + hump + lowering the nostrils + functional nose + osteotomy O
The head consultant was extremely kind It felt a lot like a more upscale otolaryngology clinic On the weekday evening I visited, there were men in their 40s and women who looked to be in their 60s or older as well If I had to compare it to ophthalmology, it felt like one of those hospitals that also does cataract surgery?
The consultation was unremarkable They said my septum was indeed on the small side, and when I asked about rib cartilage, they said this clinic does not use donor rib cartilage (at that time I was not thinking about autologous rib, so I did not ask)
After touching the nose and ear cartilage, they said they would use those, and this was the first clinic that said they would also do osteotomy on the nose It seemed like they prioritized the overall shape of the nose more than the tip As they looked at it, they said my nose is not low overall, but the bone is thick (the same judgment as Miho), and no matter how well the tip and alar base are raised, if the bone is thick it will look blunt, so they would do osteotomy
Come to think of it, that was the part I usually shade when doing makeup contouring They said the bone taken during osteotomy can also be used as a supplemental material if the septum is insufficient (did I hear that correctly...?)
They talked a lot about the nostrils, and after precisely facing the issue that my main stress was the bulbous nose, when I could not understand the long-nose issue at first, they explained it carefully from the beginning again They said lowering the nostrils uses ear cartilage
Also, there are a lot of patient photos in the PPT But since they cannot show full faces, they mosaic the patients' faces in their own way, and it was... strangely eerie Like the animation Coraline, where they draw circles around the eyes All hundreds of photos had black circles on them
They had hundreds of PPT slides organized by case, so they searched for cases matching mine and showed them to me If other places are like learning rhinoplasty through Photoshop and drawings, this place felt like learning through cases I think I saw dozens of noses with a similar feel The cases they showed were not turned-up noses or Karina-style noses, but naturally slimmer, pretty, and naturally straight-with-a-slight-curve noses
4. ㅂ () ㅈㅈㅇ (doctor with no final consonant / the two doctors' names are almost the same)
*This may be negative, but it is based on experience and fact* - CCTV viewing available: partial (30 seconds each at the beginning, middle, and end) - Aftercare period: 1 year - CT scan: X (photos X) - Price: dropped from over 600 to ☆450☆ (I do not remember why... partial model? provision of photos?) - Method: septal cartilage (+ donor rib) + ear cartilage + bulbous nose correction + hump + artificial dermis AlloDerm + lowering the nostrils + osteotomy O
I wanted to leave a bad review, but I barely held back My first impression was that there were a lot of foreigners with brokers attached (not exactly that, but it felt like more than 80% were foreigners Why even go on exchange? Just come here)
You register on the 1st floor and go up to the 4th floor They run dermatology, dentistry, and plastic surgery all together, and the whole building is basically theirs No CT, no photos
The nose consultation is on the 4th floor, but they said the wait was getting too long and sent me upstairs, where I ended up being brought into the room for fake breasts, which was a bit confusing (...) The whole clinic just felt like a breast-surgery-specialist kind of place
I went into the consultation room across from the 4th floor and waited, then the doctor came in LOL This was the first time I had seen someone diagnose a nose using the eraser on the end of a pencil Not a cotton swab, not a hand, not a middle or high school student using a tail comb to mark the double-eyelid line, but they were moving around someone else's nose with a used pencil eraser and I just thought, well, whatever ^^ from that point on I stopped caring and listened
Since I could not see the full CCTV, only 30 seconds each from the beginning, middle, and end were possible They would slightly shave the hump and use artificial dermis (AlloDerm) between the tip and the bridge The tip would use septal cartilage + ear cartilage If the septum is insufficient, donor rib cartilage would be used
The doctor with the final consonant omitted does not do surgery to reduce the columella (150 separately), and the other doctor with the final consonant does They said they would arrange a separate appointment, but noted that another surgeon's surgical plan could be different from today's They did book it for me, but since I had no intention of having surgery at this clinic, I later canceled by phone
This was the first clinic to mention artificial dermis, so I asked about it a lot Artificial dermis is used to fill in the sunken area (between the hump and the tip), and its absorption rate is good compared with autologous tissue
When leaving, if you hand the coffee coupon to the 1st floor, they give you free coffee, and it is genuinely delicious; it is a coffee hot spot I still have one left, so I will use it next time I go to Nonhyeon
5. ㅁ (ㅣ) - CCTV viewing available:? - Aftercare period:? - CT scan: X (photos X) - Price: ☆It was average... I do not even remember☆ - Method: osteotomy + hump + thin silicone on the bridge
It was the only clinic among the nose surgeries where I had an acquaintance recommendation, and it felt more like a Cheongdam-dong dermatology clinic than a plastic surgery clinic, and the doctor definitely had that kind of atmosphere too For the visit route, I initially used a community reference, but since it was clearly a place with no internet mentions, I planned to just say I had been recommended by an acquaintance and move on But they persistently asked for the name, so I had no choice but to honestly tell them the name of the junior who recommended it
The surgeon's preferred method is a natural-looking nose focused on removing the hump I felt it was a bit different from current trends like straight-slightly-curved lines or a more refined line That is absolutely not a problem, but it was completely different from the surgical style I wanted, so I thought this was a clinic specialized in hump and long-nose correction
I want the overall nose to look slimmer, and I want the bulbous nose and long nose corrected, but I also heard this clinic has a subtle reputation in the hump area Still, even though I came by referral from an acquaintance, I think it is bad manners for a doctor to keep mentioning that person That part was disappointing (But considering the age group of the clientele, I can also understand it)
6. ㅈㅇㅈㅇ (자ㅇ주ㅇ) - CCTV viewing available: X, (installed, but not available for viewing) - Aftercare period: 1 year - CT scan: X (photos X) - Price: ☆594☆ - Method: septal cartilage (+ donor rib) + ear cartilage + nasolabial angle correction + hump + lowering the nostrils + osteotomy O
They did not perform CT or other photo-taking, and just looked at the nose vaguely They looked at the bridge and said that even if they only did osteotomy and no implant, it would probably be okay
For the bridge, compared with the nose alone, it is not especially high, but the overall image suits my face, which is on the smaller side, and they said it is better not to raise it further When explaining the tip, they drew on paper at almost Da Vinci level during the consultation
First they looked at and touched my nose, then diagnosed that (1) If they shave the hump on the bridge a little, it is fine However, without silicone it would not be completely smooth (2) After glancing at my nose, they said it was obviously a small-septum nose (which is honestly true; how did they get it right without CT?) and said donor rib cartilage would be needed The remaining septum would be used to prevent a pinched nose (3) They talked about the nasolabial angle several times It is the angle formed by the nose tip and the lips, and since my nose tip is originally somewhat lower than even a male nose, they seemed to be suggesting raising the tip They said my nose has thick bone and a low tip, but the alar base is too small, so it looks blunt So they said alar reduction is absolutely something I should not do
Despite not doing CT or photos, the diagnosis was detailed and accurate, so it was not bad But when I asked, since I am hesitant about donor rib cartilage, if I did surgery using septal cartilage instead, would my tip be too low?, they said the other options besides donor rib cartilage are (1) horse cartilage (yes, literally horse) and (2) autologous rib cartilage and they said that for a young person having their first surgery, they would even try to dissuade their own cousin from using autologous rib, something like that There was no event promotion
7. ㅂㄹㅋ (바ㄹㅋ) - CCTV viewing available: O, (a guardian can watch in real time) - Aftercare period: infinite..?...?? (did I misunderstand?) - CT scan: O (photos O) - Price: 580~480 -> ★259~359★ I do not remember the functional nose price (...) What I do know for sure is that the discount was -30 for cash and -30 for providing a selfie, and after receiving reimbursement, using autologous rib made it 359, while using ear cartilage made it 259 The calculation is certain - Method: choose one of autologous rib (or ear cartilage) + hump + tip correction + no osteotomy X (they said they would go around it instead of osteotomy) + functional nose + artificial dermis
The male head consultant at the desk? seemed to be treating me a bit lightly because I looked young, so I was like, 'Oh really? Hah...' but the consultation with the doctor proceeded in a surprisingly warm atmosphere
They said my septum is on the small side for surgery, and if it is opened on the day of surgery and ends up more bent or smaller than expected, that would be a problem, so they recommended autologous rib Before I even said what look I was aiming for, they looked at the bridge and recommended surgery without an implant
But I cannot say I was pursuing a very natural look In the virtual simulation, the version using autologous rib looked quite high For adding support to the bridge between the eyes, artificial dermis could be inserted... or not... They said they would decide after opening it on the surgery day For reference, there is no additional fee for artificial dermis
When talking with the consultant, they showed me their own nose and said they had undergone a similar surgery with rib cartilage as well ...it was pretty, but inevitably it looked very much like surgery had been done, so I hesitated a bit Still, the price was reasonable and overall it seemed fine But later I wondered whether the price was too cheap for autologous rib
But then they said live CCTV viewing was possible, which was tempting At the time of the consultation, the operating room was empty, and the consultant showed it to me briefly Honestly, it felt really... um... more eerie than those sensational surgery-room CCTV videos that circulate on YouTube I felt a bit down for a moment It was not like I was trying to become Karina or Winter or anything, so I wondered if I really needed to go this far (... CCTV is scary)
8. ㅊㄷㅊ (첫ㄷㅊ) - CCTV viewing available: X, (installed, but not available for viewing) - Aftercare period: 1 year - CT scan: O (photos O) - Price: 700 (septal cartilage) ~ 900 (autologous rib) -> ★500 ~ 700★ 700 = 450 + 250 (80% reimbursement through actual medical expense insurance) 900 = 450 + 250 (80% reimbursement through actual medical expense insurance) + 250 (estimated autologous rib cost)
500 = 450 + 50 700 = 450 + 50 + 250 They said the nose surgery cost could be brought down from 550 to 450 Insurance reimbursement 250 (80-90% reimbursement) -> 50
They did not explicitly say autologous rib was +250, but since they only said the total would be 900 including later reimbursement from insurance, I calculated that autologous rib must add 250
- Method: autologous rib (or septal cartilage) + hump + tip-focused correction + functional nose + no osteotomy X
They explained the tip in very careful detail They said their standard is: if the septum is 30*30, okay 25*25, borderline 20*20, they would do it with other materials only and mine was 27*24, so they said it was on the edge
When I asked about warping with autologous rib, they said warping only occurs in extreme cases when 35(?) or more is harvested to build the bridge, and in cases where it is raised to make a pillar instead of using the septum, only about 20-25 is used even if a lot is harvested, so I do not need to worry much about warping
When I asked about ear cartilage, they said they do not prefer using ear cartilage to create fine detail They said it feels too soft to use as nasal material (✔️This is the surgeon's personal opinion) Even when operating with only septal cartilage, they would minimize ear cartilage and use septal fragments in the area where they stack dermis so the nose would not become a curved-tip nose
They explained separately for the cases using septal cartilage and using autologous rib cartilage When I asked about the bridge, they said that if I did not want it, it was a height that would not require silicone
While doing the virtual simulation, they revisited what they had explained earlier The consultation was quite long and they were open to questions If the tip were raised, to prevent the nostrils from getting pinched and looking too triangular, they said they would do @@@@?? and explained it with a medical term (they themselves said they did not know what it is called in Korean, so they drew it out for me) It seems roughly like lowering the nostrils, since they said they would use cartilage
The virtual simulation, the surgeon's preferred style, and the postoperative photos were all exactly my style, but the price was an issue Even with reimbursement, 900 is a lot to think about
One disappointment, though: when I asked about the aftercare period, the consultant said, 'Most places in Gangnam are one year~', and I briefly felt put off When talking about the price, maybe because it was expensive, they did not treat me like someone who would actually have surgery there The surgeon consultation was good, but the ending felt uneasy
9. ㅂㄷㄴ (비ㄷㄴ) - CCTV viewing available: X, (installed, but not available for viewing) - Aftercare period: 2 years - CT scan: O (photos O) - Price: ☆400☆ - Method: septal cartilage + ear cartilage + hump + columella-lowering surgery (reduction surgery) + tip-focused + osteotomy O (functional nose X)
The doctor looked like my maternal uncle, and I thought, what is this? A parallel world? I prefer doctors who speak up first and are open to questions, but here it felt more like a consultation with a university professor in a major, so I was a bit stiff and awkward, like, uh, so then, uh, if that is the case, how does that work?
After diagnosing with a disposable cotton swab and a microscope-like tool used in ENT exams to look inside the nose, they said they would not go as far as functional nose surgery They showed me several other patient cases I was a bit disappointed that there was no detail on the fact that I have both a bulbous nose and a very visible long nose, but that was not really because of the doctor here After this, my trust in ENT specialists dropped somewhat
They said they would mainly use septal cartilage in the surgery, and ear cartilage would be used only if needed after opening The consultation ended faster than expected (very ordinary)
10. ㄱㅅ (곡ㅅ) - CCTV viewing available:? - Aftercare period:? - CT scan: X (photos O) - Price: ☆495☆ - Method: ear cartilage + hump + osteotomy (I wanted it) + careful minimal correction for the nostril details
In my opinion, if you are considering nose surgery, ㄱㅅ is a place you should probably visit at least once regardless of which method you prefer. It felt so genuinely medical that it made me reflect on myself. My first impression was not of a plastic surgery clinic, but of a clean neighborhood internal medicine clinic? Even the consultant staff did not feel overly artificial from too much cosmetic work; it just felt like visiting a local clinic
The consultation method was that I first went into the doctor's consultation room and the doctor took photos, then I went into the operating-room room and lay down on the surgical bed while they checked the inside of my nose (seemed like they were checking the septum)
Since I was the only one there, the consultation went on for a very long time, but when I had visited previous clinics, it felt like just checking what needed to be checked as part of in-person shopping and that was it. Here, it really felt like a consultation. For example, in my case they presented possible problem scenarios as (1) (2) (3) and then adjusted each one within the possible conditions. At other clinics, it would be like they said A, B, and C would work and then I would ask questions; here, they explained one by one why A is done, or why B cannot be done, and what parts might be disappointing if C is chosen and what must be compromised
In summary: - Functional nose X (do not touch the septum itself) - No septal cartilage use X - No rib cartilage use X - Ear cartilage is recommended over autologous rib - The hump can be shaved or not, but I requested a natural shaving style (virtual simulation: in my case, shaving the hump would refine the side view, but from the front the hump's point of height could become blunter) - Osteotomy was optional because the blunt feeling was not caused by the bones near the glabella (virtual simulation: I have slight overall facial asymmetry to the left, and to correct it they recommended osteotomy mainly on one side if I really wanted it, so I agreed)
But because I went in with a very suspicious mindset, I was highly skeptical that they could build both the column and the point using only ear cartilage (especially since they kept talking about tip drooping). They then said that among patient cases, no matter which material is used, there is always a statistically unavoidable 10% chance of tip drooping, and that this is not a material issue but related to the patient's own elasticity
They said clinics that mainly use rib cartilage simply recommend rib, and clinics that mainly use septal cartilage recommend septal, but they personally felt that ear cartilage detail and material were sufficient They said that even if a little drooping remains, if the front view is corrected, using hard cartilage should be avoided in daily life and living
And I studied through patient cases There was a case where it dropped again just two months after using rib cartilage, but they said that does not mean septal cartilage or ear cartilage can completely replace it
And because my problem involves both a bulbous nose and a long nose at the same time, they said that if you correct the bulbous nose and raise the tip with overly hard cartilage as the pillar, it becomes a severe pig nose / triangular nostril shape, so cartilage binding is absolutely not something this nose should undergo. That one thing, they said, is not negotiable For bluntness correction, there are (1) raising it and (2) cartilage binding, and for me it would not work with (2); it would have to be made naturally through (1). I knew that, but seeing them show it to me directly made it feel even more heavy... Even after all the clinics I visited, only ㅋㅂㅈ / ㅊㄷㅊ had spoken about this in detail, so that made it even scarier (the nostrils would show even more than Winter's)
But if I lower the columella to make the nostrils less visible for long-nose correction, the front view becomes rounder. Since the bluntness is already stressful for me and the side view does not need to be lower, I want front-view correction the most (even taking off a mask in this weather is stressful), and they said I need to compromise and find an appropriate balance. The moment the long nose is overcorrected, the side view may improve, but the front nasal tip will become even more blunt than it is now, and the moment the bulbous nose is overcorrected, the nostrils will become too visible, so it is considered a difficult nose
They accepted the virtual simulation at an appropriate balance while compromising where needed, said they would use only ear cartilage, and if one side was weak they would open the other side too. It was under sedation plus local anesthesia, but the surgery time was on the long side at 3 hours. Since the consultation itself was quite long too (I really said all kinds of things), when I later met the consultant, I only got the price explanation and that was it. It felt less like a plastic surgery clinic and more like I had received psychiatric treatment (absolutely not a broker and not a promotional post... how do I even prove that...???? Even after being consulted like that, I still felt uneasy about using only ear cartilage, so I did not put down deposits elsewhere)
11. ㅋㅇㅍㄹㅅ (케ㅇㅍㄹㅅ) - CCTV viewing available: X - Aftercare period: 1 year - CT scan: O (photos O) - Price: 495 +35 (anesthesiology) -50 (selfie event) = ☆480☆ (Event pricing, so it may go up) - Method: autologous rib + ear cartilage + hump + bulbous nose correction + level difference + no osteotomy X (functional nose X)
They said that even if the procedure goes ahead with just raising the tip, it would still look naturally pretty Because they knew I had visited many clinics, they carefully went through how the other clinics had diagnosed me and the possible scenarios one by one
The most stressful part, the bluntness from the front, could be improved with bulbous-nose correction, and for the nostril exposure I kept worrying about, they used cotton swabs to look from various angles and recommended correcting it by raising it, as long as I did not get too greedy
My desired nose shape and the surgeon's preferred surgical direction were similar, so I liked it, and they showed me various cases so I could understand what applies in which situation
Regarding surgical materials, the initial plan was septal cartilage + ear cartilage, but they said my septum had good strength yet was on the edge in size They asked if I had any material in mind beforehand, and I said I had no resistance to autologous rib cartilage
I told them I absolutely did not want donor rib cartilage, and they said autologous rib would be excessive for this case, ear cartilage alone would be insufficient material, and if they used septal cartilage, it would be hard to leave 1.5 cm * 1.5 cm behind as I wanted, so in the end the surgical plan narrowed down to autologous rib + ear cartilage ----- + Clinics left on reservation list ㅇㅇㅌ (에ㅇㅌ) ㅇㅂㄹ (오ㅂㄹ) ㅅㅇ (이ㅅㅇ): but the earliest available was the end of July (...)
+ Still considering ㄷㅍㄹㅅ (더ㅍㄹㅅ) ㅊㅁ (차ㅁ)
I... did my best in my own way ☺️ I was so overwhelmed that I forgot all the consultation fees I hope this helps with your in-person research