I decided to get rhinoplasty, joined this site, and got a lot of help, so I’m leaving a consultation review that may help others, though it’s not very detailed.
I’m a man, and since I was planning to do functional rhinoplasty as well, my hospital options were limited, so I only visited two large hospitals.
When I had consultations, I talked mostly about deviated septum, hump nose, crooked nose, and a mildly sunken columella. If your nose is similar to mine, the surgical methods the hospitals below mentioned will probably be mostly similar.
(Leave a comment for the hospital names and doctors) 1. First hospital - CT fee during consultation: around 20,000 KRW (reimbursable through insurance) - Consultation order: staff coordinator > doctor > staff coordinator - Overnight stay possible - No deposit or pressure to reserve - No mention of review discounts or same-day booking discounts - Functional + cosmetic price: 5 million KRW It was my first hospital so I couldn’t compare it with anything, but it was decent overall. They really separated the counselor’s role and the doctor’s role and explained things well. There was no situation where the counselor was overstepping before the doctor even saw me. The doctor in charge has very few reviews and is not mentioned at all on this community, so he’s basically unknown, but the few reviews on the app matched my taste and I made a designated consultation appointment. I wanted to use as much ear cartilage and septal cartilage as possible, but they said the septal cartilage was too limited and the hump on the bridge was too high compared with the glabella and nasal tip, so to make it smooth they would need to use donated costal cartilage. I was pretty shocked by that and my mental state took a bit of a hit anyway.
Anyway, the doctor’s style was that he listens well to the patient’s needs and tells you to ask anything you want, but he seemed a little prideful and not especially the type to flatter patients (this is just my subjective opinion, so you can ignore it). After I finished talking with the doctor, I met the counselor again, and this time the counselor also went into detail. What I felt at this hospital was that the doctor and the counselor seemed to communicate very well with each other. I could tell from how well they relayed what I said without losing the point. The price was 5 million KRW because they would use two functional procedures plus donated costal cartilage. They priced the functional part quite high. Rhinoplasty cost about the same as a used car, which surprised me a bit, but I’m trying to think of it as an acceptable price after deducting the amount I’ll get from insurance ..^^ I found it a little surprising that they didn’t push me to reserve. There are often same-day deposit discounts? But they didn’t mention anything like that. The consultation with the doctor plus the counselor took almost an hour. There wasn’t much waiting, but I was at the hospital for about an hour and a half.
Ah, a downside of this doctor? He didn’t touch my nose or try shaping it with a cotton swab, and only explained things based on photos and the CT scan. He didn’t even take his mask off in the exam room. Thinking about it now, that was a bit hmm ..
2. Second hospital - CT and cosmetic consultation free / if it’s a functional rhinoplasty consultation, ENT consultation fee applies: around 20,000 KRW - Consultation order: staff coordinator > doctor > staff coordinator - There is some pressure to reserve - No mention of review discounts or same-day booking discounts - Functional + cosmetic price: high 3 million KRW range (I don’t remember exactly) I decided not to do it here.. First of all, even the lobby atmosphere was a mess.. As soon as I walked in, it was crowded like a market, and Chinese people were chattering in Chinese, and I thought maybe I should just leave right away. So I didn’t really do the consultation properly either, just half-listened.. The doctors were all wearing surgical scrubs too, so it felt like a system where they consult when they have a break from surgery. The whole place seemed exhausted.
The reason I decided not to do it here was that I went to consult with a specific doctor, but there was a reason it couldn’t happen, so I had to change doctors right before the consultation. Anyway, since I had come for a consultation, there was a doctor among the ones recommended by the counselor that I had wanted to meet, so I consulted with that doctor. As for the surgical method, since I said I didn’t want an implant, they tried to use as much septal cartilage and ear cartilage as possible, but they said donated costal cartilage would still be needed. But oddly, this surgical plan didn’t appeal to me. The first hospital planned to use only donated costal cartilage and septal cartilage, so I just kind of half-listened.
And this doctor’s style was to explain only the basics and leave it entirely to the patient’s needs. Maybe it was because the problems with my nose were very clear, or maybe because he was busy, but it was basically, “I’ll do it like this and that, do you have any questions?” So maybe because of that, he explains well when you ask something, and he keeps asking if you have anything else until you say no more. I was okay with it, but I’m not sure whether that’s good or not.
The counselor consultation was just so-so. Not bad enough to say yuck, but not enough to feel a clear advantage? When I seemed like I wasn’t going to go through with it, the atmosphere changed. I didn’t even get a business card. Maybe “pressure” is the wrong word, but there was some steering. The usual tactic of naturally trying to set a date during the consultation? Or asking for reasons when you say no so you end up with nothing left to say? If you’re not good at refusing or don’t know how to speak up, it may be hard to get out of it. I’m that kind of personality too, so if I hadn’t disliked the hospital this much, I might have gone along with it.
The end If you have questions, leave a comment