I had already had some bridge height, and my nasal tip was way too round and my nostrils were large, so after deliberation for 5 years with the wish that I just wanted my whole nose to be smaller, I finally went ahead and got nose surgery during summer vacation this time. I put in a thin layer of silicone in the bridge and raised the tip with ear cartilage and septal cartilage.
Day 1 after surgery I couldn't breathe through my nose, so I had to breathe through my mouth only, and it was so hard. I kept drinking water and breathing was difficult, so I woke up every 30 minutes to drink water. My nose also throbbed, and I was walking back and forth in my room, then sleep would win over the pain for a bit and I'd doze off and wake up again. I kept doing cold compresses. I was prescribed a week's worth of medication, and since it wasn't covered by insurance, I think I paid about 40,000 won. Day 2 The swelling really set in. My eyes and whole face were so puffy, and the bruising got even bigger. I went to the hospital, had the cotton under my nose replaced, got an IV of antibiotics, had the stitched area disinfected, and came home. On the second night, when I was sleeping, my nose throbbed and pulsed as if a heart were attached to it. It wasn't a sharp unbearable pain, but it was so uncomfortable that I kept tossing and turning and finally fell asleep sometime before dawn. I also got a week's worth of medication and had to take it with every meal, so I ate porridge with a Baskin spoon and took the medicine. The medicine made me sleepy, so whenever I got drowsy I just slept. They said you heal better if you eat well and sleep well, so whenever I felt sleepy I just went to sleep. I kept up the cold compresses that day too. Day 3 I barely got my mom to wash my hair for me, making sure to block one ear with a towel, then after washing I removed the cotton under my nose and kept wiping away the bloody runny nose with cotton swabs or tissues. Day 4 I went to the hospital to get the cotton removed from inside my nose. The nurse was very kind and told me to breathe out deeply when they removed the nasal cotton, so I did one, two, three, and they took it out smoothly. She said to keep doing cold compresses until today. I still couldn't sleep comfortably, but I was happy at the thought that once the cotton was out I might be able to breathe through my nose. But my nose got blocked right away. I kept wiping away the mucus with cotton swabs, and it was surprisingly uncomfortable because the runny nose kept going on and on. Days 5, 6, and 7 were the same. Day 8 They removed the thin silicone layer that had been placed inside my nose, and they also reduced the nostrils and removed the outer stitches near the columella. It didn't hurt much for me, just a little sting? sting? Also, they removed the splint, and that was the first time I was seeing my nose in person like that. I was so unhappy with it that I felt depressed. But I told myself it was just the swelling and that I should wait a little longer; it would go down, it would, that kind of feeling. Day 9 I really didn't want to look in the mirror. My nose looked so big and I hated it. I was so sad. From this point on, I think I was mentally struggling a lot. Also, I'd lived my whole life not even knowing what allergic rhinitis was. Since my nose was big and my nostrils were big too, I had no problem breathing at all and could clean my nose easily, but now my nose was blocked because of the runny mucus and I couldn't breathe well, and my nostrils had suddenly become so small that a wave of anxiety hit me hard. Because I was gasping and couldn't breathe properly, I really thought, do I have to live like this for the rest of my life? My nose seemed way too high, like an avatar, and I just wanted a smaller, sharper nose because mine was big, but it felt like my nose had become even bigger. All night I searched obsessively for early removal after nose surgery and looked up so many reviews on this community. I even sent countless consultation messages through the chat of hospitals famous for early removal, and among those hospitals, almost all of them said early removal was only done after 6 months, and only two places told me to come in for early-removal consultation, so I went. When I went to the Hongdae area, they said early removal was possible and looked at my nose condition and said it wasn't bad. There was no inflammation, and although the tip was a bit too high, there was no problem, but if I wanted it removed because of psychological reasons, they would remove it. Hearing that made me feel like I had a new option, and I felt a bit better. Also, hearing another doctor say that my nose didn't have a problem made me think, ah, it's really my psychological issue; I need to regain my composure. Day 10 I called the manager at the hospital where I had the surgery and told her that breathing was so hard I wanted early removal. She told me to come to the hospital first. When I went to the hospital and saw the manager, I think I just burst into tears. I told them I was having trouble breathing, the foreign-body sensation in my nose was so severe, and I didn't like the shape of my nose. Of course, they comforted me a lot. They also managed the swelling, and the nurse looked at my condition and said my nose was okay right now and that I should just hold on a little longer. The doctor also looked inside my nose and said things were finishing up well inside, but since my nose had become higher, the passage inside had narrowed, and if that was too uncomfortable, they could loosen the part that had been tightened to narrow the nostrils a bit. When I said I also wanted the silicone removed, they said that would only be possible after 2 months and that removing it was easy anyway~~ They seemed to be trying to calm me down. Since the runny nose was so bad, I got 3 more days of medication and took it. The runny nose definitely decreased, and once I could at least breathe somewhat, I started thinking, maybe I can endure this? Since the medication wasn't covered by insurance, 3 days cost about 20,000 won. Day 11 While looking up a lot of reviews about early removal, I watched tons of YouTube videos about one-month-after nose surgery, talked a lot with people here who were having the same concerns, and we comforted one another, which really helped me get my mind back together. Right now, there's no problem, and the foreign-body sensation in my nose isn't constant; it happens when I move my lips. Since everyone says it can take one or two months and even up to six months, I came to think that everyone else is enduring this sensation too, so maybe what I'm feeling isn't some serious problem. Day 12 I canceled the bookings I had made at the three famous hospitals for nose removal, and spent my time reading more posts on this community, looking at reviews, and talking in the comments. I really thought, if only I had known about this community before my surgery.... Now I feel like let's just manage the nose carefully without inflammation and remove it after 6 months, but then when I look in the mirror, the swelling goes down little by little each day, and the nose shape starts to look okay again. I had been looking at it too much on my own, but after asking people around me and posting here and seeing others tell me it looks fine, I slowly started calming down and my nose stopped looking so ugly to me. Day 13 Day 14 Today is exactly two weeks. I still have to be careful about inflammation, so I don't know what things will be like one month or two months from now, but if I can luckily get through this without inflammation, I think I'll probably be okay. I just need to get through the foreign-body sensation well. I still have nasal congestion. It feels like the mucous membrane inside my nose is still quite swollen. I saw comments here saying that swelling of the nasal mucosa can last for a month, so I'm trying to stay firm-minded.. Whenever that happens, I gently open up the airway with a sterilized cotton swab. I wonder if this is how people with rhinitis feel. Today, my doctor is off, so I'm going tomorrow to have the stitches inside my nose removed. If the internal stitches come out, I hope the swelling goes down faster...
And there seem to be a lot of people with noses similar to mine, so first of all, I never knew that just one nose surgery could change my impression this much, and I really came to feel how important the nose is. I also learned this time how scary nose surgery side effects can be. Before, since I wanted nose surgery so badly, I guess I wasn't paying attention to anything else. Other celebrities get nose surgery and live just fine, dance after nose surgery, and even run well. But I had just one nose surgery and now I'm stuck in my room, feel like my condition is bad, and only move between the room and the kitchen. So I wondered if maybe that was why I felt even more depressed and exhausted. I'm going back to my part-time job next week anyway, so I'm trying to think positively that if I live a bit more like I normally do, I'll forget the foreign-body sensation in my nose and be able to get along well. I hope this becomes a review that gives other friends who are worrying about their noses a vivid sense of what it's like.