Suuzy

Hi everyone, I just came back from Seoul and reached the end of my rhinoplasty journey (fingers crossed). I figured it is a good time to write about it now. (Sorry it is going to be a long one...) Regarding my background and looks: I am chinese, I have a typical wide face, large forehead, asymmetrical double eyelids (one inline, one outline non parallel), normal length nose, thin skin on nosebridge, very thick skin on the tip, a bulbous tip, wide alars (alar spread when smiling) and small lips, small chin. In general, I have a very asymmetric face, my eyes are not on the same level, same as my brows, one half of my face is slim and weak and the other half has strong cheekbone features, wide and sharp jaw. First Rhinoplasty in 2019: My journey started in 2019 where I had my first rhinoplasty in Germany, where I also live. After a lot of research about surgeons and the surgery itself, I decided to go with a well known and reputable ENT rhinoplasty surgeon, who only uses rib and ear cartilage for augmentation. At that time, I was believing that autologous material is safer longterm. I didn't want foreign material, that might require future surgeries at that time. I paid about 6.800 EUR that included anesthesia, rib harvest, and hospitalisation for one night. The meds were about 50 EUR, but I had those covered by my insurance. My body took the surgery itself pretty well, since I do not have problems with the anesthesia. I had rib cartilage harvested and used for tip and bridge augmentation. I asked for a higher bridge and a more defined nosetip. There was no alar reduction and ear cartilage wasn't needed either. The surgeon didnt use "stuffing" in the nose, so I could breath right after i woke up from the anesthesia. The only struggle I had was my throat was hurting, because of the inturbation. It made it hard for me to swallow or drink fruit juices that were acidic. I struggled with the throat pain for about 2 weeks, I guess the inturbation tube was too wide for my throat and scratched the surrounding areas. However, when I woke up from the anesthesia and looked at my cast on my phones front camera, I noticed that the cast wasn't straight. I was very worried, because you keep the cast on for 7 days and if it's not straight, the nose isn't going to heal straight in those first few days. When the surgeon came to check on me, he didn't say anything and said the surgery went fine and somehow I trusted him. I wanted to believe that due to some miracle, my nose is going to look fine after cast removal. And I was so wrong. When they had removed the cast, my nose looked so raw. My bridge was so thin and so crooked and my nosetip was SO bulbous and swollen. It looked insane. The surgeon suggested I should tape my nose and use some extra cotton to have pressure on the side of my bridge - pushing it straight... Which i did, but it didn't help. The rib implant on the bridge kept shifting to the side and it never healed in place, from the constant pushing and snapping back to the crooked position. I was genuinely devastated and depressed, because it looked so obviously crooked and the implant edges were showing. I had sharp shadows on my nosebridge from the implant poking. It really was challenging, mentally too and I had to take a break from working as well, because I couldn't see people in their faces. I was so self conscious about it, that I wasn't able to function anymore in day to day life. Fast forward 6 months with therapy, stationary clinical treatment for depression, I managed to contact my surgeon and tell him about my current state. He told me to see him ASAP and when he saw the result after 6 months, he offered a revision for free. I only had to pay the hospitalisation and the anesthesia fees, because those were being outsourced in another clinic. I accepted that offer, because I couldn't continue living with this nose on my face. It was robbing me of my confidence and living energy. At that time, it was also when Covid was forcing countries to close their borders so the option of going to Korea to fix the nose was not really available. 2nd Revision 2020: I trusted the same surgeon and this time we focused on making the bridge centered. My body took the surgery well, just like the first one. We had adjusted the size of the inturbation tube to prevent injuring my throat when putting it in / taking it out and it worked well. I didn't have any pain after the surgery. The cast was looking more straight and I also received cortisol meds to reduce the swelling. However, just when I stopped taking the cortisol meds, the swelling came and my nose was very swollen. The cast removal was unfortunately not great either, but it was an improvement from the previous result. The implant was shifting still but it wouldn't shift too much. When complained that it is still off-centered and the implant is moving, his response was that my face is asymmetrical, e.g. my eyes and this is the best i can get. I should live with the asymmetries and when I said that my tip has gotten bigger instead of more defined, he said this is the best I can get once again. He blamed my thick skin + fat + tissue and warned me against doing anything abroad. I had asked for the surgical records and never received these. Anyway, since I got a slight improvement on the bridge, I was able to continue living my life once again. My friends would say they dont notice it being crooked, however with time, my nose started to look worse from the side profile. I had a little dent between the bridge implant and the nosetip. I don't know if it was due to resorption of the cartilage. It wasn't pleasant. I had realized I paid over 7k EUR to get a nose that looked worse than my original one. It was a sad realization, also the fact that the revision wasn't to make my nose prettier, but to fix the botched result from the first surgery. My learnings from those two surgeries were: - Do not go to german surgeons, if you have a thick bulbous nosetip. They do not "de-fat" your nose tip, so whatever cartilage work and augmentation they do to make your tip "defined", it's not going to be visible under thick skin. You will not get a defined pointy nosetip without de-fatting the nosetip - period! - Rib cartilage is not neccessarily always better. You will need to find a surgeon that knows how to shape the rib cartilage to your nose structure. (It's difficult because rib cartilage is not as soft and easy to shape). - Do not go trust your surgeon naively like I did. I realize that I wasn't clear enough with the expectations I had. I thought he knows what will look good on my face. I thought he knows what hes doing. I thought he is pricy, hence he is skilled at his profession. I thought he knows stuff like proportions, aesthetics, golden ratios. But he didnt know better. - Be very percise at what you ask for. When I told my surgeon I want a natural result, he just gave me my nose, in worse. He didn't change the look of my nose. I didn't realize, what I wanted in my head was a dramatic change, but I wanted it to look natural in the sense that people won't recognize I had my nose done. I wanted a nose that would fit my face as if I was born with it and never had a different nose before. But my surgeon understood it as "no changes". Honestly, who wants to pay 7k EUR for no change? Not me. - The most annoying part about most german surgeons? They don't show before and after pictures of their previous patients. Negative reviews get deleted from Google. You do not know their results, their aesthetics. It is like a black box. How can you find a surgeon that fits your style, if you cannot see their before & after patients. How can you find a surgeon that is skilled, when the negative comments get removed? You cannot. There is only a few turkish rhinoplasty surgeons in germany that post the before & afters on their instagram. But then again, the style of turkish rhinoplasty surgeons is very distinct and you have to like it. They do their magic and put the same nose on every face, which is incredible in itself. They also do de-fatting on the nosetip, which really is required to get a defined nosetip for people like me. - After my two experiences with rib cartilage. I am not a fan. I wouldn't recommend it. But I know there are people who have good results with rib cartilage. Maybe I just picked a very bad surgeon, hence find a really good surgeon, if you do decide to get rib for your nose bridge. (Finding a good surgeon will be the hard part, as usual) 3rd Revision in March Seoul 2022: I had looked at doing Surgery in Korea before, but due to Covid it didn't seem possible at all. And I was at a point where I was able to live with my non optimal nose. I still spoke to a few clinics on kakao talk to see and hear their opinion on my nose. I wasn't willing to go to Korea with the 14 days quarantine regulation, so when my friend was planning her trip, I kept declining. Eventually they changed the regulation to 7 days quarantine and my life situation had also changed, where I was able to just go to Korea for a month (yay student life once again). Kinda last minute I booked my flights, sorted K-ETA, made appointments with the clinics via Kakaotalk and got my negative PCR test to board the plane to Seoul. I was speaking to View and DA for about a year on-and-off without concrete plans and quotes at that time. When I had booked my flight 1 week in advance, I messaged both and JW for consultation, telling them that I was going to be in Korea in 2 weeks (+7 days quarantine). I had set consultation dates right after my quarantine period with View and DA. JW was fully booked until April and I couldn't stay until April, so we decided there was no point in consulting. Why those two? View: I really liked talking to the english consultant Jasmin, she gave me the feeling that she remembered me everytime we spoke. I knew she was talking to lots of clients, but she was always giving me the feeling that it's all about me. I know this isn't important for the surgery result, but to me it was important to know that there is someone who I can talk to, when I am back in Germany and having questions, struggles and worries. I needed to feel reassured that I won't be left alone as soon as I leave the surgery table and paid the cash. She really gave me the feeling that I was going to be treaten well and they will try to give me the best result and the best price. Despite the treatment from their english consultant, I really liked the results of Dr. Jeong Jinwook. He specialises in Rhino and Facial contouring. I had checked out the B&A on Gangnam Eunnie and I liked the aesthetics. I knew I didn't want a dolly nose, which he is known for, but a little cute slope would make me happy. I also spoke to a girl on kakaotalk and she had revision with View before, because she wasn't happy with the aesthetics. I really appreciated this fact, because it showed me, that they really care for longterm relationships. Plastic Surgery is not like you buy and leave, never see you again. The post-care isn't just the 7 days after surgery. Things can happen during the healing process, that take up to 1 year or longer. I wanted to be in good reliable hands, even after the 7 days immediate post-treatments. I am not the best at bargaining, but I gave her my budget and told her what I want. Since I was being very last minute, I also placed a deposit to secure a surgery date. I paid about 1k EUR and that included staying in one of their VIP rooms, airport pickup and drop off, deswelling treatment and a guaranteed surgery date. It was important to me to get a guaranteed surgery date, if I decide to go with them. I did not want to be forced to make a choice with a different clinic, because of surgery dates not matching at View. At that point I wasn't 100% sure which clinic it's going to be, because I wanted to speak to the surgeon first, before making a final decision. Oh I also wanted to add that I only had to pay deposit, because I wanted to consult with Dr. Jeong Jinwook. If i had asked for another surgeon or not mention any preferred surgeon, I don't think deposit would have been neccessary. DA: I was talking to DA for a while until I had been ghosted, I really liked their full-face-transformations. However, I wasn't looking for a full face transformation, just a little nose fix. Here I struggled a bit on Gangnam Eunnie to find a rhino surgeon that I liked. Most of their surgeons do almost everything, at least that was my impression. There were a few surgeons, who only did boobs and eyes, but most of them know how to do noses too. I had a hard time deciding for a doctor. When I messaged them again, after being ghosted (left on read) I told them that I was in Seoul and I would love to come for consultation. They had responded and apologized for the lacking response previously. It left a bitter side note for me personally, because this was what I am afraid of the most. Being ghosted and left alone with eventual issues or requests after surgery. However the consultation was very thorough and they were very friendly to my surprise. It was a complete opposite experience compared to the previous chats. They suggested the most experienced rhino surgeon for my case and she initially suggested rib reharvest, but I denied. I already had a bad looking scar from my first rib harvest and I asked them to possibly re-use the rib cartilage that I already have in my nose. It was indeed possible to do that and have silicone for the bridge and ear cartilage for the nose tip. The rib cartilage would have been used to augment the nose base, because my columnella was pushed inwards and the base was collapsing a bit from the weight of the tip implants. I was really happy with the consultation and I also asked for Double Eyelid. My eyes were luckily an easy case that could be fixed with non-incisional method. I also mentioned the fact that I was ghosted to the consultant and he was very apologetic and explained that they had swapped their entire team. So not every contact was picked up again like my case. I understood, but I needed more reassurance, like something on paper haha. He agreed that we would definitely find a solution, which I was happy about. When I went back to my Hotel I researched the suggested surgeon and her B&A results. She was doing very natural looking noses and I knew she would be able to fix all the problems, that came with the initial surgery, but I was being greedy. I didn't just want the problems fixed, I also wanted a pretty nose this time around. I ended up deciding against DA, because I wanted both, fix the crooked nosebridge AND a cute and defined nose. I felt that the suggested surgeon wasn't having the same aesthetic as me. Only for this reason I decided against DA. They were very accomodating on everything else I had asked for, also regarding the price. I was positively surprised. Rhinoplasty 3rd Revision and non-incisional Double Eyelid Surgery with View: I had 2 consultations with the doctors, one initial consultation with health check including blood check, CT-Scan and heart check and a second one on the day of surgery. This time I was much more prepared regarding what I want. I had a Powerpoint slide prepared with pictures of myself, notes on what I disliked and notes on what I wanted to achieve with surgery. I also showed pictures of aesthetics I do not like, to make sure, the surgeon and me were on the same page. We decided on pulling my collumnella down with the existing rib cartilage, ear cartilage for the nosetip and 3D printed soft silicone for my nosebridge. I had asked the surgeon why the rib cartilage was always moving and what would be different with silicone, to make sure it stays centered and fixed in place. His response was that the rib cartilage is like a solid brick that is placed on top of the nose bone and structure and it can go left and right as it has no grip and it can not lay over smoothly over the existing structure unlike the soft silicone. I was happy with this explanation and we proceeded as planned. I had paid in 2 parts, because of my daily card limit and my consultant prepared everything I needed for the tax refund and medical record. We went through the Paperwork together and she answered all the questions I had. I felt in save hands. On the surgery day, we started with eyes and then nose, so I was getting the IV needle in which was very painful (lol) and eventually I dosed off. I assume that is when I had gotten the local anesthesia for the eye procedure. When I woke up I heard my consultant say that the surgeon is here now and she is going to measure the distance again and I did not have to open my eyes during that. Eventually I was dozing off again and tripping from the sedation IDK. I was dreaming about sitting in a cart driving through a rainbow land full of colours, lol. Eventually I came out of that dream and only felt some pulling on my eyes, but I couldn't do anything. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it felt like I was getting stitched together without feeling any pain. When she was done, the consultant told me that I was going to put under GA now for the rhinoplasty. After that I woke up in the recovery room and it was already night. I was disoriented and luckily my consultant and friend were ready to help me. The anesthesia hit me a bit differently than the one from Germany. I wasn't vomiting or feeling nauseous, but I felt very weak. I had to walk around a bit before I was okay to get discharged. The walking felt hard, because I was so lightheaded and any fast movement would make me feel dizzy. I was also very very thirsty, because at that point I had fasted for 24 hours I think? I had fasted 12h before surgery. Suggested fasting time was 10h before Surgery. My throat was unfortunately hurting, my eyes were heavy and swollen from the surgery too and my nose was stuffed with the cotton. I felt more beaten up, than during the procedures in Germany. The consultant had bought the meds with my friends credit card and she told her when to take what meds etc. etc. It was nice having my friend with me, because I was in no state to understand the meds lol. My friend also made sure to prep me with sweetened pumpkin juice, because the unsweetened one was really undrinkable. This time around the whole recovery was very slow for me, because my injured throat from the inturbation turned into an inflammation. I wasn't able to drink, eat nor sleep properly. I was suffering from the dry air from the hotel air conditioning, my throat would instantly dry out from the mouth breathing, i wasn't able to swallow food, it was a nightmare lol. I was in so much pain, that I asked the consultant to see the surgeon and have him check my throat. He confirmed that it was due to the open wound plus a weak immune system, stress on body causing the inflammation. It would take a week to get better, so I went to the pharmacy and bought some mouth rinse and only ate congee for a whole week. I realized not eating and sleeping well, really slows down the recovery process by a lot. I am very unfortunate that I don't take the inturbation well. On day 8 I had gotten my cast removed, stitches from my ears and nose removed. They also cleaned my nose insides and gave me a nose peel and deswelling light. My eyes had healed nicely and were very symmetrical. My nose looked SO much better on cast removal. I couldn't believe my eyes. When I got to the hotel I was stoked and happy. The overall shape had improved so much and my nosetip was so refined, I didnt know that was possible. The nosebridge is centered, the tip is defined, no shadows of the implant, columnella is pushed out. I couldn't have asked for more. I am so happy with my decision and I am finally getting my confidence back <3. I love the fact that I no longer have to edit my pictures anymore. It's such a blessing. The journey went on longer than I had anticipated, but I reached my happy ending!! Hope this post was informative. I apologize for bad spelling and bad grammar! I added some pictures 10 days post OP 3rd revision, before any surgery, and 2nd revision 1 year post OP (off-centered nose).