jennobe

Update with pictures!

So on day 8 the splint came off (so exhilarating!) and by then almost all of the swelling on my face was gone, so I could see the new shape of my nose and all. I regret not taking a picture immediately then because a few hours after a bit of rebound swelling appeared on my hump area, so the pictures I have now are not exactly the final shape. With hump reduction a tad rebound swelling is very common and usually takes around a month to pass so I'm totally fine with that (I took a month's vacation anyway...). Even at this point I'm very pleased with the results - I wanted a change that is not extreme but noticeable, and most importantly fits my face. Now post-op I naturally have thoughts like "oh should have asked for more this or that" but at the end nose jobs can so easily go completely wrong so I'm glad I changed a tad too little than the other way around.

I'm especially happy I got over the fear of having a surgery in a different country - there's a reason why they call Seoul the plastic surgery capital of the world! Everything here was definitely on a different level, from the doctors to staff at the clinic. I'm also really glad I went with View, at the end I do feel there's something about big clinics that you don't get in small ones. It's really in the details like having people at the front desk who speak english or having a dermatology department (I got a facial after the splint was removed actually!). With that said you have to be certain beforehand that you're really capable of going through the process - yes healing is only a few days, but you will feel like hell during those. I would also recommend knowing what do you want to do to your face, but be open to new ideas when you go to consultations. I'm glad I had several consultations in different places not only to compare offers, but to hear what different doctors have to say about the shape of the nose and what kind of procedure they would go with.

And now the pics!

Before:

As you can see my nose had a visible hump, was kind elongated and a bit droopy at the tip.

During:

Expect quite a bit of swelling in the first few days...

After:

When I run my finger on my nose i can feel the bridge part is a tad raised, though it's not very visible in the pics. I expect this to go down later and I'll see the final results in the next month or two.

 

Dr. Yun Chang Woon! When I had the initial consultation the translator told me that Dr. Lee (the other main doctor at View) specializes more in Asian features, while Dr. has much more experiences with western/caucasian features.

 

Update - 5 days post op

Here's everything until now!

First, main details:
Type of surgery - Rhinoplasty, hump reduction + tip plasty
Where - View Clinic
Surgeon - Dr. Yun Chang Woon
Price - 5.5mil KRW

Day 1 - surgery day
It all went like everybody say - I got there, everything was ready, I was put under and woke up 2 hours later with zero issues. I too had that small voice thinking for some reason the anesthesia would work... but obviously it did, The surgery took about an hour an a half, and I was lucky to have a morning slot so I stayed at View only until the mid-afternoon. I was dead tired for the entire day and having to stay up for 1 hour post-op was definitely the most difficult part. I actually almost didn't have any swelling immediately post surgery, which was nice (it started a few hours later sadly...). I rented a flat in Gangnam and staying here for a month so getting home with a taxi was super quick. The drive did make me a bit nauseous though, but that's probably due the anesthesia. Before going home, I was accompanied by the consultant to the pharmacy they have at the 1st floor and bought all the medication (note that the price of the medicine is not included in what you pay for the clinic for the surgery). I was a bit hazy during that phase but the consultant handled everything for me, was super nice and patient. In addition I got from View for free a post-op "care pack" that included ice packs, bandages, a mask, and even pumpkin juice. So after getting the meds and the care pack I took the taxi, and when I got home I basically fell asleep in a minute.

Day 2
I would say that was the worst day. I slept most of it, but in short intervals. My face started to swell considerably, especially around the eyes (that's expected with a hump reduction). I also started bruising, but not severely so. When I first planned to come to Seoul for a surgery I thought I'll be alone during the recovery, but at the end my boyfriend decided to join me. It was great that he was there for emotional support and to bring me stuff, but honestly I feel I could have done it alone - I know a lot of people have worries about going through the recovery on their own in a foreign country, but in my experience it's not so much of a problem because you'll be sleeping most of the time anyway. I was also not hungry at all so the pumpkin juice I got from View was more than enough. I have to warn you though, that's the day where thoughts like "was it worth it" were going through my head. But you have to remember all the swelling and discomfort is temporary, and every subsequent day will only get better!

Day 3
After basically sleeping for the last 48 hours I woke up with a bit of energy. I started to walk around the house and do stuff on my own. The consultant sent me a nice text message and recommended me to be on my feet as much as I can, so I tried walking in the area around the flat a bit (with a mask on haha). The swelling started to go down from my eyes to my cheeks, and even though it made me look like a bit hamster-like with puffy cheeks I was glad I could open my eyes effortlessly again. At this stage I was well enough to feel the urge to take the sponges from inside of my nose already, and definitely was counting the hours until my check-up appointment a day later.

Day 4 - check-up appointment
Woke up again with energy and even a tad hungry! My boyfriend accompanied me as we walked by foot to the View clinic, since it's just 15-20 minutes walk from my place. Be aware though that Gangnam is a hilly area... getting the sponges out was definitely cathartic, but I wish they could have taken off the splint as well. However, due to my surgery type I have to wait a week after surgery until it's off. I was bleeding quite a bit from my nose after the check-up, but it was not a major flow or anything, just kept dripping blood. I basically stayed in the coffee shop next to the clinic, drinking hot chocolate in the corner, until the bleeding slowed enough for me to wear my mask again and go home. Luckily this is Seoul and specifically the last 1-2 days had bad air, so it is very common to see people around wearing huge face masks.

Day 5
I'm feeling almost completely back to normal! It's really amazing how quick the recovery is, I can't believe 3 days ago I couldn't get out of bed basically. I'm still a bit swollen around my cheeks and when I get up after sleeping the swelling is much more prominent, but it passes in about an hour after being on my feet. There's some blue marks under my left eye, but almost none under my right eye. When my eye area was really swollen my eyelids were completely red with "blood pools", but now most of that is gone as well. Can't wait for my second check-up appointment in 3 days when the splint will be taken off!

I'll update more after that

 

As a long time lurker I wanted to write a review here since this forum helped me so much with choosing where to have my nose surgery! My surgery is scheduled for tomorrow and I'm quite excited. I had some hesitations with regards to having the procedure done in Korea, but the facilities/skills of the doctors here are definitely on a higher class compared to what I can find in Europe so I decided to go for it. I also had an internal debate whether I should go with a big or small clinic, but at the end a big place gave me much more reassurance that everything will go smoothly. I actually decided to go with View specifically because of the positive reviews I've seen around here, and that the doctor seemed to be very experienced with non-asian features as well. I thought I'll be more nervous the night before, but I'm surprisingly looking forward to getting it done tomorrow! I'll keep updating this post as it goes.

 

Thanks! at the end I decided to go with View after all and I'm having the surgery next week! I'm a tad nervous but I actually came back to your post for reassurance..

 

Thank you for posting this! I've had my round of consultations already and narrowed it down to UVOM, Namu, and View. At first I was thinking going with a smaller clinic (UVOM/Namu) but your pictures are really making me reconsider View... can I ask how was the post op care?

Congratulations

 

Random simple question - how long would a single consultation take? If I want to have several in one day, how far apart should I schedule it? Would 2 hours between each appointment be enough? (consultation for rhino)

 

Does anyone here have any info about breast reductions in Korea? I've tried to search the forum but only found info about breast augmentation. Anything you can share can be beneficial - including if I should look into other countries for this type of surgery. (For reference, I am from Europe.)