<Original nose> The bridge was already fairly high, there was a mild hump, the tip drooped, and the nose was short and upturned, so the nostrils were easy to see from the front. -> Because the nose was short, it gave a younger-looking impression, and from the front the nostril wings looked spread out, giving a round and dull impression.
<Desired direction> What I wanted most was an improvement in my overall image. My original nose gave a round, youthful impression, and I had a strong aversion to that kind of look, so I wanted a nose that could give a slightly more masculine and stronger impression.
<Choosing a hospital> This was my first surgery, but I’m timid, so I didn’t actively go around in person to compare clinics (haha). I gathered information online through communities and similar places. Based on the information I found, I set rules and filtered out hospitals.
1. Must be implant-free only (autologous cartilage) -> The word that always follows nose surgery is complications. Infection, contracture, revision surgery, and so on. At first those things were just scary, but what I learned while researching was that most complications after nose surgery, aside from dissatisfaction with the shape, are caused by foreign materials (silicone, Medpor, etc.). I wasn’t particularly greedy about the bridge, so I decided to have surgery without an implant.
2. A one-doctor clinic rather than a large hospital -> I had once gone to a fairly large plastic surgery clinic for another purpose, and the assembly-line atmosphere that felt typical of large hospitals was stressful for me.
3. Avoid brokers -> I thought, "If they’re confident in their skill, why would they use brokers?"
4. If the hospital’s attitude changes 180 degrees before and after surgery, avoid it -> I thought that if I watched for this carefully, I wouldn’t have any regrets after surgery, so I paid special attention to it. It seems more common than I expected.
5. Look at many review photos -> I read reviews and, if necessary, signed up on the clinic’s website to look at before-and-after photos. If a hospital didn’t seem like my style, I moved on.
6. Check complication reviews -> I checked everything from major complications caused by the surgery itself, such as a crooked columella or exposed cartilage, to complications caused by the doctor’s surgical method (e.g. the tip of the nose doesn’t move when smiling and feels unnatural), and skipped places I couldn’t accept.
After repeating this filtering process, I chose one clinic.
<Why I chose this clinic> First, it passed all of the points above. In terms of review photos, it was a bit hard to judge because there weren’t many easily available online, but I was able to check them at the clinic after the consultation and was satisfied.
The director has a blog, and there I could check information on the surgical philosophy, surgical methods, and more. After reading that, my trust in the clinic increased, and after the consultation I decided to have the surgery there.
There was a comment in this clinic’s reviews that said something like this, and I strongly agree with it as well:
"From a capitalist point of view, the fact that a clinic five minutes from Apgujeong Exit 2 has been maintained for over 15 years without advertising or a website makes me think its skill has been proven."
<Consultation> They said they would raise the tip using ear cartilage + fascia, shave down the hump a little, cut the muscle to improve the nasolabial angle, and shave the slightly crooked part of the nasal bone. I heard it like this, but it was a while ago so I may not remember exactly.
<Surgery review> As many people mentioned, the operating room itself does not give a very clean impression at first. However, there were no reviews saying that anyone developed an infection after surgery there, and they said they disinfect thoroughly, so I trusted them and lay down on the operating table.
Before surgery, they remove the nose hair and tape back the hair around the area where the ear cartilage will be taken. They insert a catheter into the right arm and disinfect the face before putting me to sleep. After the dreamlike feeling passes, I can feel that they are in the middle of removing the ear cartilage. There is no pain at all because of the anesthesia, but it takes longer than I expected, so it gets a little boring. After some time, I can feel them stitching the ear, and they straighten my head, which had been turned for the cartilage harvest.
Now it’s time to incise the nose, and if you want, they can put you under again. I was scared of feeling the nose incision, so I asked them to put me back to sleep. When I come to from that dazed state, my eyes are covered and they are operating again.
Then, when they finish stitching the nose, they put cotton inside the nostrils and apply a splint and tape. After a brief cold compress, I move to the recovery room and can rest for about 30 minutes. Once the dizziness goes away, they set the next appointment and I go home. The hospital gives me a cooling pack for compresses and a serving of pumpkin porridge with the prescription.
<Day 0> I buy the medicine with the prescription, and the pharmacy bill is higher than I expected. Since they said cold compresses during the first 48 hours after surgery are very important, I kept doing them as soon as I got home. I repeated cooling for 40 minutes to 1 hour, then continued until it warmed up.
On the first day, medicine from the cotton inside the nose, nasal mucus, and the blood that had pooled inside keep flowing out. I kept wiping it with wet wipes, made sure to eat every meal, took my medicine, and since walking is said to help with swelling, I went out for about 30 minutes. When sleeping, I propped up several pillows so that my head stayed above my heart.
The ear is heavily bandaged like a cast so it won’t lose its shape. There’s nothing else to do for it, and they said I just need to make sure it isn’t pressed on while sleeping.
There is almost no pain in the nose, and only a little pain in the ear. It feels like the pain you get after wearing a mask that doesn’t fit your ear for too long.
I can only wash my face cat-style because of the splint. They also said I can’t wash my hair because of the ear.
<Up to day 2> The swelling was less than I expected. I felt swelling under the nose, around the philtrum area (where the muscle was cut), and it doesn’t move well. While the cotton is still in, I can only breathe through my mouth, so it’s hard. My mouth gets dry, so I think I need to be careful about catching a throat cold. (I already got one) I kept doing cold compresses for a total of three days, through days 0, 1, and 2, and tried to walk at least 30 minutes every day. I didn’t buy pumpkin juice separately because I heard it isn’t effective for swelling. I made sure to eat every meal because of the medicine.
Then on day 2, when I go to the hospital, they remove the cotton from inside the nose and tidy up the tape. (They do not peel it off entirely.) They also remove the cast from the ear and apply a waterproof tape so the wound won’t get wet. I can wash my hair from today, but I still cannot wash my face.
<Up to day 6> From day 3 onward, I was told to stop cold compresses and switch to warm compresses. The compress pack I got from the hospital has to be heated in the microwave in 10-second increments while checking the temperature so it doesn’t burst. I do warm compresses as much as I can, but because I can do them more often than cold compresses, they start to feel a little bothersome.. I confirmed that I could breathe without any problem because the nose was open. After that, everything was the same. Three meals + medicine, and walking for 30 minutes at a time..
On day 6, they remove the splint, tape, and the stitches at the columella. Right after they are removed, the nose feels very swollen and tight. This is the first day I can really check my nose, so I just kept looking in the mirror because it was fascinating. It was very swollen so I could only see the nose, but the shape looked fine. The director said that from today onward the swelling would go down noticeably day by day. The nostrils looked roughly symmetrical, and it was clear that the crooked part of the nasal bone had improved. The incision line is in a W shape, and it feels like it won’t bother me much as time passes.
After day 6, I can shower. At that point, I was told that lightly spraying water on the nose, almost like massaging it, can help reduce swelling, so I did that often. Since I had it done in summer, there was a lot of sebum, but just in case, I’m trying to resist touching it.......
There was a light bruise on the bridge of the nose, but maybe because of the warm compresses, it wasn’t large.
<Afterward> There are still stitches inside the nose, but from this point on I started not really caring about them. The stitches are removed on day 14. You can see the swelling changing day by day.
I’m really satisfied. The short-nose feeling is gone, there are no complications, and it looks natural. The reason I’m writing this review is that I also got a lot of help from reviews like this while researching nose surgery.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment. Thank you.
I won’t upload photos because I don’t like my photos going up on the internet. As for the cost, I won’t bother writing it because it is a fixed-price system without discounts, and the director decides based on looking at your face and the difficulty level.