bumb Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 I had surgery with Dr. Lee back around 07 or so. I paid about $6000 and he just stuck an L-shaped silicone in and called it a day. He initially said that he would harvest some ear cartilage for the tip but after surgery, I realized he hadn't done it. There was no incision there or anything. He told me after that I didn't need it (which I did and do, I still have no "tip" to really speak of) Immediately after the surgery I was nervous that my nose was still extremely blunt and short but I thought that maybe it was just a swelling issue and the tip would eventually become more refined and it would look better (he assured me that I would be extremely pleased with my nose once the swelling was gone). It didn't and I regret not being more assertive about it with him. He had good bedside manners and all but I was naive and young at the time (still a teen and a shy and anxious one at that) and felt nervous about being all "I don't like my nose tip! My nose is still too short and blunt! You need to do something about it!" Also, I still have scarring from my alarplasty with him. He told me to just use mederma which I did but....yeah. They're not horribly noticeable but if you're pretty close you can see them. I looked up some of the pics on his website and rhino's at the bottom were the same ones from back when I looked him up (so they should be at least partially silicone since I don't think he used only "organic" materials back then). I should note though that I have an EXTREMELY difficult nose to work with. Naturally, it's nearly completely flat with full nostril show (tbh it was originally a "piggy nose" to the extreme and it's not TOO much better now), the skin is very thick, and it's very wide. And despite my mostly negative review, I did notice some improvements with his work - at any rate, with silicone my nose isn't ENTIRELY flat (though I think most people would assume that I've never had any work done with how flat it still is) and with the alarplasty it isn't AS wide as it used to be. And I haven't had any issues with the silicone implant or anything, so there's that. And I guess that his technique could have improved significantly within the last few years, self-cartilage and rib rhino's weren't nearly as popular back then anyway I don't think. Basically, I was left with a negative but not horrible experience. I emailed him again a year or two after my surgery and got a courtesy email back about how he could of course do a revision for a sum of money (wasn't too cheap either iirc, granted I wasn't too happy with his work anyway so I didn't really push for it or anything and I decided to just forget about it and look for a revision elsewhere). I think that if you're in the US and want the ease of staying here and only need very minor refinement changes to your nose, he can probably do it. If you have a difficult nose and need a lot of big changes, go elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bisousx Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 If you know that you have a difficult nose to work with (thick skin, less columella support, etc), silicone will not help you. I've seen silicone look nice on some but they had that delicate, small nose to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheon Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 This is actually one of the first questions I asked since I wear glasses. We're not allowed to wear our glasses for about a month while our nose is still healing. Besides the fact that the skin is sensitive, the weight of the glasses will add an extra pressure to the implant. Could it be that his skin is too thin? I read somewhere (i'm sorry but I forgot where) that the skin is thinner at the top portion and that if implants are too, high, this would only stretch the skin even more..making it thinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheon Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 That's reassuring! Please let us know your experiences and how your consultation went. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavenderspice Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 My friend had his implant for over a year already and didn't wear glasses for a month or two after surgery. What puzzles me even more is that his implant isn't that high. Maybe your right his skin is just too thin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheon Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 That's odd. Has he gotten it checked? Maybe he'll need a revision rhino. I guess that whoever performed it failed to consider how thick his skin is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mainer84 Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 I don't necessarily feel that you need silicone to drastically change the shape of your nose either. I had a HIDEOUS, flat, and huge nose before, and my doctor was able to change much of it without needing a foreign implant, open rhinoplasty, or cutting up my ear/rib. Pictures:http://www.realself.com/review/washington-dc-dc-asian-rhinoplasty-hugeshapeless-nose-refined-reduced-in-size Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacryssa Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 May I ask how long does one consultation usually last? Will 30 minutes be enough? Trying to arrange my consultations with 5-6 clinics within a day and I am wondering if it's possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris-alexander Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 hello lacryssa, I noted through the thread that it would be safer to have 2 hour interval between each appointment. it will also depend on locations, distances between each clinic, traffic... and the questions you may have... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kisskissbang Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Hello Everyone, Just thought i'd drop my 0.02 since this forum has helped me so much. My surgery is tomorrow & i've finished doing all my consultations. I've went to Cinderella, Jewelry and JW for rhinoplasty. I was really fortunate enough to have all my consults with hardley any wait time, except JW. Cinderella and Jewelry was less than 5 minutes waiting, but if you are looking to do a lot of consults, I suggest you space it out 1-2 hours just because these clinics are supposably really busy. My decision process wasn't easy, my criteria was based on: Reputation of the Doctor, His style of noses, then Price (yet i tried to not let influence my judgements).The surgery: I knew exactly what I needed which all the doctors agreed & recommended, Osteomy (Narrowing nasal bone), Alar base reduction, nose-wing reduction, tiplasty, 2mm silicone implant. Keep in mind these were what I was quoted on for all the clinics, I've listed prices below.Cinderella My first appointment, walked in and the place was really nice, professional, and bright. Staff was O-K looking, a little bit too fake for my taste (thin high nose bridge and sharp nose-tip) so I was kinda already crossing them out. Didn't get to meet the doctor, instead got 2 consults, one was the manager I believe and the other was a front desk girl. (not sure, don't remember her introducing herself) Super nice, she was so open and inviting yet I realllllllllly didn't like her nose. She actually took my hand while she was explaining and put it my hand on her nose and made me feel all the silicone LOL Anyways, she quoted 8.5m then i told her "please give me a deal", just wanted to see how much she would take off. She started punching in more numbers on her calculator and said 7.5m. Then she asked my budget and I said 6m, and Zoe told her we gotta go to other consults. She said if I'm done doing my consults and I still like cinderella, she will give me a *deal* which I'm thinking she will definitely give my price. (Somewhere on this forum some girl bargained from 8.5 to 5.5m, hence why I knew the price was definitely never final) Reputation: Pretty good from what I hear on this forum and other websites, so far no bad news minus the fact they are overpriced. Awesome staff but didn't get to see the doctor.Style: NO. Don't like at all.. even the B&A pictures was Mehh...Price: Too Expensive StillJewelry Jewelry was one of my favorite ones and I was planning to leave for the last consult, but things got re-arranged and they were 2nd on my list. Jewelry is a smaller clinic, not as nice as cinderella but don't really care cosmetically what the clinic looks like. The girls are really good looking, liked the look. Doctor seemed to do big Dolly style eyes.. all the girls had it. Crazy thing, they had posters in front of the clinic of two banners with similar looking women who had done surgery.. the result? .. They freaking looked exactly the same at the end, I thought it was one person but I was wrong. Two similar looking people got their whole face redone and BAM looked like twins. Identical nose, eyes, face shape, mouth, jaw. It was well done though, but the clinic's doctor seriously has an idealistic view of beauty and replicates that over and over again. I didn't get to see the doctor, he was in surgery, so I just saw the consultant. She was super nice, didn't like her upselling, but wow does jewelry have awesome B&A pics of people. The consultant was telling me that no other clinics will show the B&A as comprehensively as they do. Soon-after she told me that all the pictures were STAFF MEMBERS, no offense, but they went from NOT to HOT. They got a good marketing strategy going on, the pictures blew me away since I could tell there we not photoshoped and didn't go from Before to After but, Before, 1 day post op, 1 week post op, 1 month post op, After. Clinics are not allowed to show photos without the permission of the clients, so all the makeovers was done on the consultants. Definitely liked the style of noses but now what concerned me was the reputation, which Zoe had said her past few clients didn't like the result, and one guy had to get the silicone removed. Anyways, they quoted me 6.5m and said I can call them back once I'm done the consults, she said she's sure I'd go with them. (almost did but my gut said NO for some reason, and to wait for my last consult)JW Originally JW was my favorite yet Jewelry had impressed me more with the B&A pics and made me feel more confident that they could achieve the look I want. I walked in and JW was a medium size clinic, pretty nice and I'd have to say very professional. Waiting long though, they were busy, everyone inside was locals. Saw a few very rich looking old ladies. One of the consultants had my photos taken, which was surprising since I hadn't had that done once yet. Once they called me in, the doctor was already inside waiting for me which I was another surprise, first doctor I saw all day! Dr.Suh was so nice, patient, and he didn't tell me what I need, he first asked me what I wanted to achieve. Big difference there, also, he never upsold me on anything and said that I didn't need all those extra procedures the other clinics had recommended (fat grafting, cheek implant, lower blepharoplasty). He then told me what was achievable with my nose and skin, and his personal recommendations. Also, when I told him my fear of silicone implant, infections, and protruding silicone. He reassured me that he guarantees that I wont have any silicone protruding and the infection rate in his clinic is 0.1%, which most clinics are 1.0%. I really liked the doctor, trusted him, he had good reputation, and very professional. NOW, i wanted to see some serious photos of what this guy can do as their website was limited in photos as well. After the consultation, I had to meet with the consult to talk about prices, photos, etc. She showed me a bunch of photos which wasn't really what I liked, doctor definitley does natural look. So I asked to see more, and she wasn't able to. I pretty much asked her 3x during the consultation, that if she showed me more pictures I can make up my mind at that point and book with them. She kept apologizing and said that all these patients privacy are protected and they did not want photos posted, and she wishes she could, but would get in very big trouble. Finnnee understandable, so I took a 2nd/3rd/4th look at the photos and realize Dr.Suh does natural looking style BUT they were all a bit different... there wasn't any exact duplicate noses, some were minimal changes (which I didn't like) but some were fine but not WOW. I told the consult how I felt about trying to see the "style" of the doctor's craftmanship, and she said he does it based on the client's needs, not what he consider's beautiful since we all have a different definition of beauty. Damn she's good at talking, okay so I asked her about price and she quoted me something, then minused 10% (because of ?? dont know why but she wanted to give me a deal) and the final price was 5.1m. Found that pretty reasonable since I know I need alot of work on my nose. Then what almost killed me was when she said they are fully booked for 2 weeks, but she could get me in about 1.5 weeks.. which was impossible since I'd be gone by the time I need to go back for the removal of stitches. She then started typing away and I could see on the screen it was the schedule for all the surgeries and the planner for every day, yes they definitely were fully booked. I could see all the different names & types of surgeries of the clients. She made a call and then told me in 2 days she can get me in, she had cancelled a local clients surgery date LOL. So I sat there and re-thought about my decision process:Reputation: Good reputation for the doctor & clinic, clean, very professional and comprehensive with consultationsStyle: The photos really put me on the edge, I really wanted to see more but seeing that the doctor was diverse in style somewhat made me feel confident that he can come close to achieving the look I want.Price: Was the cheapest which I wasn't expecting, didn't want to bargain and felt comfortable with the price. No tax & supposably 10% off. YUP so tomorrow is the big day, excited yet super nervous of the outcome. Sorry for the long post, reading this IS optional! My mom had her surgery done yesterday, ptosis correction at Teuim. She is now passed out, in pain, in front of me LOL. So far her swelling is fine, and the cut line looks very symmetrical. =) Thanks and goodluck to everyones research & surgery, phew im done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris-alexander Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 hello kisskissbang thank you for this super review, as jw and jewelry are in my list your post gives me much more confidence when I will have to start negotiating, it definitely proves that the first price given can be reduced... your example of reducing the price from 8.5 to 6 or 5.5 m is really eye opening. ( will have to stop thinking that lower price equals less quality though) well I agree, and even more according to your review, jw seems to be really serious and competent so I have no doubt you will get your ideal look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miku37 Posted March 19, 2013 Share Posted March 19, 2013 Im thinking about heading to Korea on May 8 and will be there for two weeks to get some work done. Anyone interested in splitting hotel costs with me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacryssa Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I see. Alright then, thanks for letting me know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avagoddess Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 i called VIP clinic yesterday. she told me not to go with donated rib cartilage as its reabsorption rate is very high as compared to own rib cartilage. is this true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kisskissbang Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Yes, definitely you can bargain the price. Remember, the doctor will be the one operating but the "sales consultants" are the ones that are in charge of maximizing the profits.(hence the upselling) That has nothing to do about the quality of craftmanship you will receive from the doctor. It seemed like Cinderella knew they were expensive, all the quotes given to me, including jewelry's were OPEN quotes, like they were expecting me to bargain. Nothing was said about "final price". I literally said to Cinderella "please make it cheaper" and she knocked off 1.5m, i'm sure i could've got it down another mill if i threw out some better curves. I did research before hand so I already knew Cinderella tends to quote high at first, someone on this forum had said it earlier too. Jewelry is relatively new in the game, and they quoted me on email 3-6m, but started off with a high price, so I knew it was bargain-able as well. Just do good research on the clinics and get a good feel in the consultations, don't be ashamed to bargain, just think about it, saying 4 words had just saved me $1500. Anyways, thanks & goodluck to you too!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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