Please understand that some photos were uploaded before the explanation sections! I’m writing this review to thank everyone here, who helped me so much. My first surgery was in 2015 with silicone + ear cartilage, but the tip drooped like an old witch’s nose after only a year, so I had revision surgery at another clinic in 2016 with silicone + alar reduction, lateral osteotomy, and donated rib cartilage. Ten years after surgery, my nose suddenly developed severe inflammation overnight. I practically lived on this community for a week, researched clinics, and urgently scheduled complete removal surgery within a week at [Clinic A]—not promotional, entirely paid by me, on a three-month installment plan. I took two weeks off work, so now I have to work hard without vacation. This was the most expensive of all the clinics I consulted. I couldn’t focus on anything while deciding; my nose hurt, choosing the clinic was important, and my husband and I had major disagreements about the surgical method. It was even harder because each doctor had to explain things in a way my husband could accept too. The clinic I ultimately chose persuaded him, matched my needs best, and I scheduled surgery immediately.
Surgery day: It was an afternoon operation. I ate breakfast and surprisingly wasn’t nervous until I entered the operating room, then I was terrified. They said they would sedate me for about ten minutes and operate while I was awake. I worried it would be difficult, but it was bearable! When I said it hurt, they sedated me a little. I was bored and wanted to ask the doctor to put me back to sleep, but they said they were almost finished, so I endured it. It ended sooner than expected. Since I live in Gyeonggi Province, I hurried onto a bus with my medication to avoid rush-hour crowds. I thought I might have to lie down for a long time after anesthesia, but I could walk right away and took the bus home. While I was briefly resting in recovery, the doctor and manager came together and showed me photos of the removal process. I had clearly understood that the doctor used donated rib cartilage during the second surgery, but they said there was no donated rib cartilage and only septal cartilage had been used. Is that good…? I paid extra for donated rib cartilage;; When they opened me up, there was less inflammation than expected but a lot of pooled blood. They showed me the blood being withdrawn with a syringe, and everything finished early without problems!
(Removal-photo explanation) The previous doctor said about 4 mm of silicone had been inserted, but it was actually 2.5 mm and quite thin. I also didn’t know it, but they said I had undergone nasal valve surgery too. They left it alone because it was functional.
The great cotton-packing ordeal 🤦♂️ Start: How will I survive seven days with cotton in my nose? The first night was unbelievably hard; my eyes swelled too, and blood streamed from my nose. Total chaos ❤️ Hell begins.
Day 2: I still couldn’t sleep or breathe because of the packing, and my face was gradually swelling badly. The gauze underneath was soaked with blood, so I removed it to replace it and saw my nose for the first time. It was so swollen it looked like a huge tangerine—an absolute shock. During my first and second surgeries, I had only seen a finished nose with silicone, so seeing myself after complete removal exceeded my imagination. haha. Since my original nose was bulbous, looking straight ahead was especially depressing••• This time, I also bled unusually much. I normally barely swell or bleed, but perhaps because this was major surgery, there was a lot of blood.
Day 3: Humans adapt… The packing that had felt fatal suddenly became tolerable;; On the night of Day 2, breathing through my mouth suddenly became easier. I could clearly feel the swelling going down compared with yesterday. My voice was clearer than on Day 2, and my body felt lighter. I barely slept on Day 1; on Day 2 I woke repeatedly, but finally slept continuously from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. I took my first 30-minute walk and slowly did housework.
Day 4: Similar to Day 3, but the bruising around my eyes had faded a lot. Blood was still staining the gauze How long will it keep coming I slept about six hours straight, but the nasal cotton was still painful Especially when swallowing water, the pressure in my ears was intense. I kept drinking 2 liters of water a day. Sigh… this is the most physically difficult thing in my life. I really hate having my nose blocked with cotton aaaaaaaaa. To everyone experiencing this, the day you can remove it will come soon, right?? Let’s endure But I can’t endure it. Other clinics either use it briefly or for three days at most This clinic keeps it in unusually long, and I’m exhausted. Sorry, I’m so miserable that all kinds of nonsense are coming out. I’ll end Day 4 without much to report••
Day 5: The swelling was moving from my eyes down to my cheeks, making them puffy haha. There was less blood than yesterday, mixed with clear nasal discharge. The nasal swelling had clearly decreased, leaving space between the splint and my nose, so it was incredibly itchy. Even on Day 5 I still hadn’t adapted to the cotton. I had adapted compared with the first day, but I never want to go through nasal cotton again. At first it was hard because I couldn’t breathe; now the cotton had expanded inside my nose, making both nostrils hurt I walked for an hour, washed my hair and showered while wearing a face mask, and could do some housework haha. But what good is that I have no sense of taste at all, so I’m suffering. Day 5 made me realize again that taste is one of life’s five essential senses.
Day 6 🚑⛑️🚑⛑️🚑 The packing I thought I would adapt to became even harder to tolerate. Whenever it was unbearable, I watched videos of people removing nasal cotton on YouTube for vicarious satisfaction… Perhaps the cotton had swollen more: every time I swallowed, I had ear pressure and pain, and my voice sounded completely nasal. Of course packing has advantages, but the disadvantages are proportional—the daily life is unbelievably difficult, enough to count as torture. If I were told to have surgery again and that I would need seven days of cotton, I couldn’t do it Seven days with cotton is truly, truly not easy. Cosmetic surgery at least gives you something aesthetic in return for this suffering, but complete removal means giving up the aesthetic benefits, so compared with what I endured, the appearance is worse and it hurts whenever I look in the mirror haha. Tomorrow I’m having the cotton and splint completely removed. I contacted the surgical clinic: ‘I’ve reached my limit… I think I need to have it removed at a nearby ENT clinic. I feel like I’m dying.’ Fortunately, the clinic encouraged and persuaded me to endure one more day…
Removal day, when seven days felt like seven years!!!!!! I still hadn’t adapted to mouth-breathing, my ears were blocked from the pressure, and everything was a mess, so I slept for barely an hour. I had a headache and blurred vision. My appointment to remove the nasal cotton and splint was at 2 p.m., and the hour until I could leave for the clinic passed unbelievably slowly, like a year At the clinic, I was so happy when they removed the cotton Truly Removing the stitches was nothing ~~~~~ I was unbelievably happy, and when the passage suddenly opened and oxygen rushed in, I felt a little more dizzy haha. But I was terrified to look in the mirror, so I told the doctor I wouldn’t. Because they needed to check the stitch position, they handed me a mirror, and I laughed after seeing it because I reached total acceptance lol. My face looked rounder, and my nose was massively swollen, like a real mudskipper, so the shock was overwhelming. I have to go to work—what am I going to do with this face? Still, my nose felt incredibly light, and there was no heaviness at the tip when I smiled; I felt like I could fly haha. But every time I looked in the mirror, I was startled because I had become much uglier. I’ll have to get used to my appearance. After the splint came off, the front view was so plump that words failed me, but from the side my nose seemed a little longer. At least the beak-like feeling was gone, which was great haha. Since my original nose was bulbous, the front view matters much more to me than the side, so I’ll work hard to reduce the swelling!! I’ll post again after the swelling goes down! Also, for dry mouth from the packing, filling an empty mist bottle or spray bottle with water and spraying gauze placed over your mouth whenever it feels dry helped a lot!!