Hi… I wrote this on day 9 after having all the silicone removed from my nose. There’s far less information about removal than there is about surgery, so I felt that each bit of information would be very precious and decided to write this. It’s a long post, so I divided it by section. I hope it helps even a little, so please read this and do well with both your first surgery and your removal.
-My original nose shape
My nose wasn’t especially long, but because my forehead and chin tip were so short, it looked relatively long. Still, I didn’t have much of a nasal bridge, my columella was long and drooped, and the tip was round, so overall it didn’t give the impression of a long midface. I didn’t like my nose because it felt like a hooked nose to me, but thinking back, there were a lot of people who liked that nose. In its own way, it was cute
-My first nose surgery
I had it at a large hospital. It was done on February 6, 2023, and the procedure was silicone + donated rib cartilage + osteotomy for a bulbous nose + septal cartilage (they said only a little was used). I just read reviews on a community and ended up choosing that hospital and that surgeon because someone’s nose had become exactly my style.
I was really young, in my early twenties, and I ended up trusting the superficially kind words of the director’s assistant and leaving after putting down a deposit. I didn’t consult around anywhere else... Before the surgery, I told the doctor that I didn’t need anything else, and that I just wanted two things: naturalness and a straight line. But while I was visiting around to look for a removal surgery and getting CT scans this time, I found out that they had apparently stacked two pieces of silicone to make the tip higher, and they may have used donated rib cartilage quite thickly too. Since I was touring clinics for removal surgery with a focus on safety and naturalness, when they saw how my nose had been operated on like that, they didn’t say it outright, but everyone said it wasn’t a method people particularly prefer. It apparently wasn’t that good of a method either... (There was also a safety-first surgeon who didn’t prefer using donated rib cartilage in a first surgery.)
At the time of my first surgery, before the operation and during the few follow-up visits, I saw a few other patients coming in because of complications. The surgeon said rhinoplasty was safe, that complications only happened back when people used L-shaped silicone like in the old days, and that the chance was only 3 percent. But when I saw those complication patients coming in then, I should have just canceled.
Anyway, thinking back, after the surgery I couldn’t even see the surgeon who operated on me for several weeks. On the day of surgery, after the operation, I just went home without a single word about whether it went well or not. I think I was supposed to see him on the day the splint came off, but that day happened to be his day off, so I couldn’t see him then either. I remember telling the hospital’s PR team that I wouldn’t post a review on a community until I saw the surgeon. Thinking about it, it was really crazy. I had surgery and couldn’t even see the doctor for weeks. I remember being terrified for weeks.
Then finally came the day I got to see the doctor. That was probably my last visit, to remove the internal stitches. Even after the splint came off, my nose looked so unnatural and had such a straight-but-slightly-curved line that I asked the doctor why it was like that. The doctor told me to wait a moment, looked up my chart, and only after checking the surgical memo and things like what materials were used did he say it should be okay and become more natural. Seeing that, I thought, this is a factory. He doesn’t even remember how he operated on me...
Thinking back, I even wondered whether that person was really the one who operated on me.
Anyway, even after 6 months, even after all the swelling had gone down, my nose never became natural. It was too big, too high, and too long. Unlike my round, cute original vibe, only my nose looked huge and high. That gap was really hard for me to deal with.
-Complication 1: Swelling in the bridge between the eyes
Around 6 months after surgery, on a day when I hadn’t slept much, the bridge between my eyes swelled up very red. It was itchy too. I got scared and went in right away.
And since I was there, I asked whether they remembered that before surgery I had only asked for two things: natural and straight. I said that was all I asked for, so why did my nose still look unnatural? They admitted it and said they would do a revision if I wanted.
I lived outside the city and was a student, so it was hard to make time. By the time I could go in, the swelling on the bridge between the eyes had gone down a lot and it looked normal.
The doctor looked at my nose, asked whether it hurt when touched and other things like that, looked inside my nose, and said there didn’t seem to be anything unusual, so why was this happening. For now, they said they would give me medication and injections, and that if the swelling came back it could become contracture, so in that case I would need to have it removed.
When I took the medicine, it was okay for a while, but then it happened again. It recurred a total of three times, and by the third time it was exam season, so there was no way to make time. The earliest I could go was 2-3 weeks later. I thought the hospital would help make time, but their available slots were only a few times a week too.
So, since the only time both sides could manage was 3 weeks later, I made an appointment with the director’s assistant for that day. But when I thought about it again... I had already had complications three times, so wouldn’t waiting another 3 weeks make it worse? Wouldn’t that just create another opportunity to aggravate the complication? I contacted the assistant again.
I asked whether the complication would get worse if I waited 3 weeks. I asked whether it was okay to just leave it alone until then, or whether I should visit a nearby ENT clinic and at least get some medicine. Only then did she realize something was off, asked for a photo of my current nose condition, said she would relay it to the doctor, and only then told me to urgently visit a nearby clinic and take medicine...
And when I visited 3 weeks later, although I had definitely made an appointment for a consultation, I waited an hour and no one even apologized to me. It smelled like the doctor had come out while eating, and he didn’t say much, looking annoyed, and just said to remove it. He said they would give me medicine for now, but if it happened again after taking the medicine, I could only schedule the removal surgery by phone, had me sign that, and sent me out in 5 minutes.
The fact that they didn’t even take a CT, which is so basic, completely turned me off.
At that time, it was really hard for me to admit I had a complication. And to someone who didn’t know what to do, this hospital casually acted like, Did your nose go wrong? We’ll do a revision. Did your nose have a complication? We’ll remove it. It was just emotionally exhausting.
Anyway, after taking the medicine, it seemed like I had a few episodes of swelling, but I just ignored it and lived like that?
-Complication 2: Bleeding and pus at the left tip of the nose
I kept ignoring it, and the swelling on the bridge between the eyes was okay. But the skin there had become thin, so the silicone showed slightly through in red. Still, only I noticed it, and I thought I was just being sensitive.
While picking my nose, blood came out from the left tip. I thought it was just a simple nosebleed, but it kept happening for several days.
So while looking into removal, I decided to visit many clinics around. The failure of my first surgery was so huge for me at a young age that I thought I really had to research properly, so I made a list of well-known hospitals from major cafés and apps and visited them all.
Among the famous hospitals, there were some places where even though there wasn’t a single review on communities like that, it took 3 months just to get one consultation.
The clinics I visited for consultation from my list were ㅇㅈ, ㄷㄹ, ㅅㅅㅇ, ㅇㄷㅇㅇㅇ, ㅅㅇ, ㄱㅇㅅ. The other famous places, ㅊㅁ, ㅍㄹㅁ, ㅈㅇ, were only available for consultations around May or June, and I didn’t have confidence I could make time after the March semester start.
I posted reviews of the clinics I visited for consultations, so please refer to my consultation posts if helpful!
-Silicone removal (Complication 3: granuloma)
Even though I visited famous places while touring around, different doctors had different views on whether the entire capsule should be removed when taking out silicone. When I consulted at ㄱㅇㅅ, I was completely convinced by Dr. Guk’s explanation that the entire capsule should be removed, so I decided to go with full capsule removal. I wanted to go to that hospital, but the mucosal grafting that hadn’t been mentioned during the consultation, and the extra cost if that was done, bothered me. And among all those well-known doctors I met, only that doctor said there was something called a granuloma. That also made me go, huh?
So I chose ㅅㅇ Plastic Surgery and the director there, who were very confident about full removal.
Also, since my nose had inflammation in both the silicone bridge and the tip (donated rib cartilage), at any hospital it was the same rule: 1. Do full removal. 2. Do the revision 6 months after the removal surgery.
So I was only in the situation of receiving removal consultations.
Anyway, my top choice in my heart was ㄱㅇㅅ, but because of the newly introduced granuloma during the consultation, along with the mucosal graft and its cost, I decided to have it done at ㅅㅇ.
-Surgery day
Right before the surgery, when I was consulting with the doctor, I asked because I was uneasy about the granuloma mentioned at ㄱㅇㅅ. The bridge swelling and the state that seemed like contracture was starting were things the doctor had dealt with a lot, so I figured that after removing the capsule it would be fine, but what would they do about the bleeding and constant pus at the tip? The doctor said they would need to clean the nose hairs and look properly first. I was still worried, but anyway I went into the operating room.
This hospital said they would do sedation plus local anesthesia, so I was really nervous.
I entered the operating room and lay down on the table. There was something like my surgical memo written on the wall of the operating room table, and music was playing too. The nurse asked if I had any favorite songs and said she would play them, but I worried that if it became my favorite song it might turn into a trauma trigger, so I said it was okay.
Then I was strapped to the table by my arms and legs, was given several injections, had my hair tied up, and had some kind of brown sterile disinfectant painted all over my face, then the nose hairs were removed and some kind of sterile disinfectant was put inside my nose too.
Finally the doctor came in and looked inside my nose. He seemed to look serious when he saw it. Then he took photos.
He said this was a granuloma, and that even after surgery I might need to go to a university hospital (he kind of muttered it to himself... in a tone that felt like he had lost some confidence, but it was more like a soliloquy than something directed at me). He took a photo to show me the granuloma. He said he would stitch that area, but because it was inside the nose he wouldn’t be able to stitch it perfectly, and the shape of the left nostril might collapse. But he said he would perform the surgery carefully so that wouldn’t happen.
At that moment, my inner thought was only: I’m screwed... I thought, I should have just gone to ㄱㅇㅅ, I tried to save money and... I thought something like that and regretted it. I thought the doctor would say he couldn’t do the surgery, but he went ahead and proceeded. I was so worried that I asked if there had ever been a case like mine, and he said this was the first time... I was so scared
After the sedation, I think I hallucinated for about 30 minutes. Then I gradually woke up, and although it didn’t hurt, I could hear the sounds of the surgery, and they kept taking photos inside my nose. Then it started hurting more and more during the surgery. They had clearly said it wouldn’t hurt at all, but it hurt so much that midway I begged them to give me more sedation.
It kept hurting, and maybe the sedation kicked back in, I felt like I slept for about 10 minutes. Then the sedation fully wore off, and I think I stayed conscious for the remaining 1-2 hours of the surgery. It really hurt so much. Still, the doctor kept telling me it was okay and that it would end soon, which helped me stay calm.
Especially right before the end, when they put in the splint, it really hurt a lot.
Anyway, I was dizzy, so I had an IV inserted and lay in a recovery room bed. Maybe it was because I had been suffering because of the silicone all this time, maybe because the surgery hurt far more than expected, or maybe because I felt relieved in the present situation, but I just wanted to cry.
A few minutes later, the doctor came and explained:
1. Granuloma Because this had formed, it was presumed that the silicone had protruded inside the nose at some point. That is what caused the granuloma. He removed all of the granuloma and stitched as carefully as possible. Because the granuloma was mucosal tissue, he said that if I rested well after surgery, it would regenerate and be fine. He said that if he stitched the granuloma area, only the left tip could have sunken, but he had taken care of it carefully, so there would be no problem.
2. Full removal He said the silicone, capsule, rib cartilage, and septal cartilage were all removed cleanly. He said the capsule was very thick.
3. Inflammation Because the inflammation was so severe, the sedation hadn’t worked properly, so I must have been in a lot of pain, he said. That was why, instead of only having gauze inside my nose for about 2 days like other people, I had to keep it in for a whole week. The surgery itself was 2 hours, but because there was so much inflammation and because of the granuloma, it took about 3 and a half hours.
The conclusion was that although it was a nose that looked very ordinary from the outside but was extremely dangerous in many ways, in the end it was successfully completed.
I had been anxious while hearing about all sorts of bad factors in my nose, but even so, he worked carefully and there was no problem! In the end, no problem!!!!
I was so grateful to the director I thought that even when meeting noses with all kinds of new situations, experience and time-in-the-chair really can’t be ignored.
And because of the inflammation, I paid an additional 500,000 won. Since the inflammation was severe, I decided to take medicine for 2 weeks instead of 1, and I also had to buy an extra potassium supplement? So the medicine alone cost 110,000 won + 50,000 won for potassium.
The total cost of full removal seemed like it might be astronomically high for a student like me... but once it was actually done, my mind just became so much calmer. The money had already gone onto my credit card in full installments anyway, and I can just pay it back slowly while working part-time, right?
I felt like I had more room in my mind too.
For sure, with no implant left inside my nose, I could feel that my nose had become softer too, and anyway I felt so at ease.
After surgery, aside from the pain at the surgical site and not being able to breathe because of the gauze, everything else was fine. And because I was afraid I might have to live with an ugly nose, I had nightmares every day.
And unlike the large hospital where I had the first surgery, as soon as the surgery ended the director explained the surgical details, and the assistant brought a tablet with all the photos they had taken inside my nose during the operation and showed me everything one by one.
-Day 7 after surgery (splint removal)
I had lived with gauze inside my nose for all 7 days, so after removing it I felt like I might just fly away. But after the splint was removed and the nurse showed me a mirror, I was shocked at how ugly my face looked. My nose had become completely flat, the bridge was totally pressed down, and my nose looked so broad and flat that it was like I had a filter on that made my nose look huge. Seeing me like that, the nurse said it was only just after the splint came off, and that this wasn’t my final face; it would gradually go down more over about a month, so not to worry. Wow, but my nose really did become a Ko-bong-i nose, and I was shocked. I think I’ll probably wear a mask all month.
Family members and old friends who saw me after the splint came off said different things. Some said it had returned to my old nose, while others said it was my old nose but with a little bit of a bridge now.
The doctor said the surgery had gone well, and honestly I just feel so relieved.
If I’m being honest about how similar it is to my nose before surgery, I don’t think it’s very similar. I think it’s much more similar to my original nose. (It’s only been a few days since the splint came off, so this isn’t a precise answer yet.) And from the start, my nose had been a small original nose that I had forced too much height onto with silicone. So if it were similar to the silicone nose, that would feel even stranger and more unnatural on my face.
When I look in the mirror now, it seems okay. I didn’t like the drooping nose from my original nose, but that part seems to have improved.
-Final thoughts
If you’re in the situation of looking into removal, I think your mind must be in a lot of pain. I was like that too, and I think I spent many days crying. But now that I’ve had the removal, I feel so at ease. So I don’t know what kind of complication you all may have and why you’re looking into removal, but if there is a complication, rather than thinking about whether to remove it, I hope you quickly go find a hospital that is good at removal. It seems harder than expected to get consultations at hospitals that are good at removal/revision. Anyway, please be careful, visit several hospitals, and choose well.
Even the smallest complication, please be sure to doubt it. Honestly, you know best what feels uncomfortable in your own body. My nose also looked fine on the outside and seemed to have no complication issues. Other than the fact that my daily life felt inconvenient, but when they opened it up, it turned out to be a high-difficulty nose full of contracture, silicone protruding from the inside, granuloma, and more inflammation.
Anyway... I’m so satisfied right now. I just feel so relieved... I hope my review was helpful. If things are okay when it’s around one month later, I’ll try to upload a nose photo... I hope everyone’s surgery goes successfully!!!