For Part 1, I only wrote about hospitals I thought I’d probably choose around that point. In Part 2, I came back to write mainly about the places I visited because I was curious about them.
My nose description is in Part 1, so please refer to that. https://sungyesa.com/new/bbs/board.php?bo_table=walk&wr_id=53182
$All amounts are before discounts$
ENT clinic 1 7.63 million won (functional rhinoplasty 1.7 million won)
This is where my in-person consultations started. One of the places that only does closed surgery.
First, they said to use donated rib cartilage... (I had not even considered that) They said the remaining septal cartilage after septoplasty would not be enough to support the tip, so I should use that. And they said they had never seen a single person have side effects from using it, which made me go, huh?
+ Later, at other places, donated rib cartilage was never mentioned at all lol. At the places that took CT scans, they all said my septum was larger than average. Their explanations were so different that it made me wonder if this place was just making things up by intuition.
Anyway, they said my hump was larger than average and my nose was also curved in an S shape. The doctor said they would open it up first and decide what to do from there; I do not remember the details clearly. That also bothered me. Instead of clearly saying, “We will definitely do A and B, and we will need to open C to look more closely,” the way they talked made me uneasy too...
At the very least, osteotomy was definitely necessary. My nose was curved in an S shape.
It was my first hospital and I did not know much, so I mostly just listened and left. I had been eyeing this place for a while because it was one of the places that always came up when I searched for hump noses even before I had ever seriously considered rhinoplasty, so I had planned to come someday anyway. But the results on their website looked natural.
And they do not use models. They do not retouch photos at all, so you can clearly see blackheads. That part feels trustworthy.
They are not especially kind to patients, but I had mentally prepared for that, so I accepted it. The doctor seemed very firm, which inspired confidence when it came to surgery, but during consultation it felt a bit awkward. They also seemed to really dislike having the same thing repeated. If I said something in the middle, they looked annoyed...
They said they would show me the result directly, and they were extremely confident. They themselves said that talking well is useless if the surgery is not good. Then they showed me high-resolution photos. When I looked at the photos, all the noses seemed to look like their own nose.
I hesitated because it was expensive (it was my first time seeing someone quote 7 million won for a first surgery), and they told me to think of it like omakase at a restaurant... lol. It was absurd. They also said that in the U.S., surgeries like this cost in the thousands, but that argument had no persuasive power at all in a country that is a powerhouse in plastic surgery.
The unusual thing is that after surgery, you have to see the doctor more often than at other places. For the first week after surgery, it is basically daily, then three times a week the next week, then once or twice the following week, so it seems like you see them more than 10 times in a month.
But I did not match the materials the doctor preferred in the first place, the price was hard to accept because it was so high, and their way of speaking somehow left me feeling unpleasant...
Clinic H 4.95 million won
I had gotten curious about what septal extension surgery was and whether it was truly safe, and at that time someone had mentioned this doctor’s blog. When I looked at the blog, the explanations were good. From then on, I think I had some sense of the risks of extension surgery, but I went there thinking I should visit directly to understand it for sure.
They are famous for revision cases and third-time surgeries, but because this is truly a place people go by word of mouth, gathering information before visiting was the hardest part. There is no promotion. The doctor used to be at ㅅㅇ(ㅔㅣㄴ), and that hospital still exists, but the website disappeared, so I could not tell what their style was like at all.
What stood out about the hospital interior was that it felt genuinely like a neighborhood clinic, but also a bit empty. I was the only person waiting, so I could hear everything from the consultation room even from outside. I thought they might be angry, but they were just loud... lol
The pride level felt similar to the first place, but this doctor felt more professional. Still, both felt a bit uncomfortable. They seemed to have a very strong personal style. Both had a strong vibe of, “There is probably no one who does it like this except me.”
Just from the blog, I thought they would seem very blunt and cold, but meeting them in person, they spoke with intense passion. Their voice was loud too. It felt like I was being educated. Since I had already seen information beforehand, I could follow along. (If I had not had any information, I might have briefly thought they were an eccentric professor.) They felt like someone addicted to conference presentations.
They drew my nose on the consultation form, and I was surprised because it was drawn exactly like my nose. Then they said I needed osteotomy. Sorry, but they said I absolutely had to do it... lol I understand. If a doctor specialized in osteotomy reconstruction says I need osteotomy, then I probably cannot avoid it. They said the same thing at other places too, that my bones were very large.
Most of all, they carefully explained septal extension surgery, which I had been most curious about, and showed me a model they had made themselves. But mathematical terms were mixed in too, so I did not understand it perfectly (for example, vector). Still, because I had studied a little about the internal structure of the nose before going, I could understand what they were saying.
At another hospital I was told my septum was deviated, but since there was no CT here, they said they would open it and straighten it if it was bent. I still do not know whether that cost was separate or included in the estimate.
The manager felt like a youngest aunt... very friendly. The staff members were generally a bit older. They said they had worked together since the doctor’s previous hospital. At least I was glad they were not scary older sisters.
But the estimate was on the high side, and they did not disclose many before-and-after photos. More than anything, the photos the doctor showed me also somehow were not my style. Maybe I did not really understand this doctor’s aesthetic sense. Since I could not see noses that I thought were pretty, or pre-op noses similar to mine, I could not feel confident.
Still, the anesthesia was a bit unusual too (they do not seem to do sedation because of risk, but it was not general anesthesia or anything like that), and the safety seemed pretty good.
Clinic B 4.96 million won (anesthesia fee 110,000 won separate)
I had been thinking about whether to go or not, but since I was going nearby anyway, I decided to stop by, and even before going I already had the feeling that this probably was not my place...
As expected, once I went, setting aside personal taste, even the consultant’s consultation felt burdensome. Suddenly they started talking about parts of my face other than my nose.. I hate it when people bring up things I did not ask about first, but they brought up other areas... I just felt that bringing up unsolicited topics only creates more resistance. I was not planning to do it here anyway, and that feeling only got stronger. They said they did not do much promotion, but among the places I visited, their promotion was the most aggressive.
The doctor was quite kind. It was not a long consultation, but they explained things calmly and in a way I could understand. They of course mentioned osteotomy. The diagnosis was similar to the places I had visited before. The material was septal cartilage, and they showed me before-and-after photos; the result was somewhere between a soft half-moon shape and a flashy fairly straight line. To me, it felt a bit intense. They did take a CT, but it did not seem to be used much here. Still, if I asked questions, they explained everything kindly and diligently.
Before coming, I already thought from the photos that this place would not match my style, but I came anyway because I needed multiple opinions. But the quote was not as cheap as I had expected. Maybe because they thought I probably would not do it here, or maybe they simply forgot, but they did not even send a consultation summary by KakaoTalk or anything like that.
As expected, there was no place among these that made me think, “I want to do it here.”
Anyway, that wraps up Part 2, and if I get the chance, I’ll come back to write Part 3 too. (It may become supply with no demand... lol)