beautyjunkie123 Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Hi everyone, I'm thinking about going to South Korea to get a rhinoplasty (slight bridge height increase & an alar reduction) and would love to hear your experiences with the different clinics and see some before + after pictures if you would be so kind as to share! (you can send via DM) Another question that I have is regarding follow-ups/touch-ups - I was speaking to a friend and she said that according to her friend in Korea who has gotten a rhinoplasty, rhinoplasties are one of those surgeries that requires a lot of maintenance and "must do retouches every few years". Wondering if any of you who have gotten a rhinoplasty are aware of this? Did your surgeon discuss this with you? And if you have done it in a foreign country - how are you planning to "maintain" the touch-ups? Are you planning to go back to that country to see the surgeon/ do you have virtual calls for them to inspect? My biggest concern right now is the maintenance every few years post-op. I'm based in Toronto and don't know if it's feasible to be travelling to Korea every few years for these touch-ups and being of a southeast Asian descent, I would trust the surgeons in Korea to give me a better shape and help me achieve my desired look (natural, slight bridge height increase and alar reduction) with their expertise and experience more than the surgeons here in Toronto (even though the aftercare and maintenance would be easier to coordinate). Lastly - I originally wanted to use a medical tourism group - DocFinder however after reading many informative posts from all of you here and in PurseForum, I have decided to reach out to clinics directly with the help of my Korean friends. When I reached out to DocFinder in the past, I was recommended to Cinderella, Banobagi, ID Hospital and JK and was recommended to get an osteotomy ontop of the alar reduction to reduce the nose bridge width to get a more "feminine appearance" lol. Has anyone done an osteotomy? What are your experiences with that? I was just thinking that a silicone/cartilage insert to help with the height is sufficient enough but let me know which you chose as well re: silicone/cartilage - would love your input! This was a lengthy post, thank you so much for taking the time to read it and I am extremely appreciative of any advice that you have to offer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvxqgirl Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Hi dearie, I just found your thread. My results are really conservative (which is what I asked for), but I did do osteotomy, tip plasty, and alar plasty. I'm also Southeast Asian. My nose prior to surgery was wide and bulbous, and although I was happy with my nose height, my bones between my eyes were wide. I did my surgery at JW Beauty with Dr Suh in 2015, and it was my first time ever in Korea and also my first elective surgery ever so I was so so so scared but I told myself that I saved for this and I really hated my nose then. Please remember that I did my nose job in 2015 so the information/situation may be different now. 2) Touch-ups/maintenance for nose surgery - I didn't have any silicone implant or donated dermis/rib so I didn't do any touch-ups/reoperation/revision. For me, all the surgeons I consulted then told me I should also do bridge plasty to add about 1mm-2mm or so in height for the bridge. Back in 2015, I didn't know of "dolly noses" and I think the ideal nose back then was straight and sharp, at least to me that was the ideal. But I didn't want to do bridge plasty because I already had a decent bridge height and I felt like 1mm-2mm was such a minuscle change that I didn't want to risk putting anything foreign in my body like silicone. Of course at that time I'd also heard of rib but since I was a student then and self-paying i couldn't afford the damn rib (donated or my own) to build up the bridge lol. So I told the surgeon forget the bridgeplasty and I remember him asking me, puzzled, "Why not?" haha. But I don't think re-surgeries/touch-up/maintenance for rhinoplasty should be happening unless you have an infection with the silicone. From what I recall from consultations with surgeons, actual silicone rejection/infection by the body is a rare side effect. Donated dermis/rib is supposed to reduce the likelihood of any rejection/infection, but the problem with using autologous materials (I think, i did my research quite a while back so i'm rusty with nose jobs) is actually with the absorption. I believe not everything will be absorbed on the primary (i.e. first) rhinoplasty but the degree to which absorption happens and whether the absorption rate can be predicted - that's what I don't know about. So basically my nose job was a "one-and-done" deal with the clinic - I just did it and didn't have any follow-up with them or any other doctor after that trip to Korea ended. 3) Osteotomy - As earlier mentioned I did an osteotomy to "push in" the bones between my eyes, to make it a bit narrower. I knew for sure that I needed this because I had a wide nose and wasn't gonna do the bridgeplasty. All I can say is the bruising around the whole area was pretty bad, understandable because its bones. But right now (5 years later) I have no problems with touching those bones or wearing spectacles. But I didn't wear glasses or go swimming for almost half a year - a year after surgery. You can click on my post history, I think its visible to see, what I wrote about my nose job experience and there are many posts in this forum about nose jobs. Bear in mind that I'm in no way recommending JW. I didn't receive any discounts from them, and also my surgeries were in 2015. JW's reputation might have changed from that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flnxo Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 hey tvxqgirlq, and dearie, Your post is helping me with my research. As soon as these travelling restrictions are easing I’m booking my flights to South Korea for my primary nose job. Similarly to you, I find doctors here in Australia not as skilful in asian noses IMO. Was also looking into clinics in Vietnam as I saw a recommendation on another thread of a doctor specialising in rib rhino. seems risky though and I’d rather get it right the first time to avoid a revision. I agree with tvxqgirlq, when it comes to maintenance or touch ups, these generally aren’t required unless the individual is unhappy with the result, or an implant is infected, deviated or protruding. @tvxqgirlq, in terms of donated dermis or own rib, in your opinion which would be better to use? The thought of having another humans donated body part in my nose makes me uncomfortable but the latter to harvest ones own rib can be quite invasive. you’re super lucky to have a high bridge! I had filler in mine before and it’s widened my bridge so I’ll need to have the filler removed and an implant of some sort inserted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flnxo Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 I enquired with Docfinder too and they tend to only recommend those four clinics, I’ve read on some threads that they’re affiliated with those four. An osteotomy requires shaving of the nasal bones (If I’m not mistaken). I think they recommended that to me too, but I did not want my bones shaved or an overly thin bridge. When it comes to silicone vs cartliladge, I assume this is for the bridge. You’ll find that a lot of the clinics recommend silicone for primary rhinoplasty. For me personally, I’ve been reading that silicone may require revision Long term. Which is why I’m opting for autogulous material. Although, for a small percentage of people out there they may not require revision. It’s definitely personal preference so please research and consult with different clinics What results were you after? Ie natural, dolly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvxqgirl Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 I think there are several considerations whether to use the donated dermis or your own rib. First is safety, then absorption. In my opinion I would prefer the donated dermis, as it's been fully processed already and in a case where the shape is not satisfying and a revision is desired, my guess is that it would be easier to revise from donated dermis as compared to what is harvested from one's own body. But this is a guess, and I think it also depends on other factors like the thickness of the nose skin, how high of a nose bridge you want, etc. But I wonder whether the body might also have a rare reaction to donated dermis? People with rare allergies, e.g. people allergic to titanium, etc. I just read part of @MissOrange 's thread last night where this was mentioned. I have no idea and my nose job was so long ago so I'm rusty with nose jobs. If only they could construct the bridge with ear cartilage instead! The thought of it is much less scary and as a person with multiple cartilage piercings it's not something I'll be afraid of. Sadly they can only use ear cartilage to build the nasal tip as I believe ear cartilage is too soft to form the bridge. Was yours a dissolvable HA filler or those permanent filler? If it was a dissolvable filler, how many times did you inject the filler? I think these are important things to let the surgeon know as it could increase the difficulty of the rhinoplasty. For me, natural. As earlier mentioned I already had a somewhat "high" nose bridge for Asians and adding 1-2mm via bridgeplasty wasn't worth the cost for me. When dividing my face tranversely into facial fifths, my eye whites are 20mm each while the space between my eyes are 36mm (based on a neutral photograph). I knew that I couldn't really go for those straight and narrow noses from my naturally wide nose anyway because it just wouldn't fit my facial proportions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flnxo Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 this is a so true, I hadn’t even considered allergies. I agree, it would be much safer if the bridge could be augmented with ear cartilage. You’re also right in saying it can’t be used to augment the bridge as it is too soft. Unfortunately in most cases There is not enough ear cartilage to make a noticeable height difference too. I had Radiesse filler in the bridge and tip of my nose,. I wanted to see what my nose would look like with filler first with the adjustments - without committing to a permanent nose job. I was ignorant and hadn’t researched enough on the longevity of the filler. It’s meant to only last for two years however I have been reading that Radiesse can calcify making it bond and become part of the nose structure. Radiesse unfortunately cannot be removed with an injection like a HA filler can. I’ll require surgical removal which can hopefully be performed by the dr in conjunction with rhinoplasty. a change in bridge height of 1-2mm would not be worth it, you made the right decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beautyjunkie123 Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 Thank you so much for sharing your experience! 1mm-2mm is so minuscule I definitely would have left that alone. I'm looking into Dr Jin as I've been reading that he specializes in rib rhinoplasty and this is what he recommended to me: "Tip refinement will be done probably by cephalic resection, sutures, tip onlay grafts, and septal extension graft if necessary. Dorsum augmentation can be done with two options. 1. augmentation with rib cartilage prn) diced cartilage in fascia 2. combination of thin septal/conchal/rib cartilage and temporalis fascia Deviation correction needs septoplasty, spreader grafts and osteotomies if necessary." I'm definitely going for a more natural look so I'd rather have a straight vs dolly nose and heard that Dr Jin is very conservative so he won't do anything too drastic. Read your post - so scary that you woke up during the end of the surgery! But thank you so much for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beautyjunkie123 Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 Hi! Yeah after reading up a ton about DocFinder and them increasing the prices too, I decided that it would be best for me to reach out to clinics directly! I reached out to Dr Jin for a quote and recommendation and he said, " Tip refinement will be done probably by cephalic resection, sutures, tip onlay grafts, and septal extension graft if necessary. Dorsum augmentation can be done with two options. 1. augmentation with rib cartilage prn) diced cartilage in fascia 2. combination of thin septal/conchal/rib cartilage and temporalis fascia Deviation correction needs septoplasty, spreader grafts and osteotomies if necessary." When you mentioned autogulous material - are you referring to 1 of the 2 options above? I'm going for a natural look! Based on the images that I sent to Dr Jin he said that I have "You have a low bridge and slightly bubous tip and wide alar base. You also have a deviated nose from the frontal view. Your tip is also slightly upturned." It's all true but slightly hurts to hear haha. I've also reached out to TOP CLASS and they said, "Rib cartilage on the nose bridge is not always possible actually. As you already know, there is pros and cons to every material. Normally, that is too heavy and hard to make a ideal shape of nose, sometimes it disappear depends on patient's nose case. So, using rib cartilage on the nose bridge should check your nose condition firstly and then decide will be better for your surgery result. 2 weeks staying in Korea is a good choice for rhinoplasty. You will consult again in the clinic for more details too. That will be wise to compare each other and give the right advice to fit your case too. Based on your photos, your alar is not wide and not much big holes that you have. So we can recommend making a higher nose tip to make it better shape and make the alar width shorter together." Now I'm confused as to why they said that my alar is not wide enough as I sent to them the exact same images that I sent to Dr Jin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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