Rhinoplasty & Turbinoplasty January 2014 - Australia, AU

After checking this website almost daily for the last 6 months it's time I started to give back and share my story :)

I am 21years old and it is time to make the change! Throughout my teen years, and even quite recently, I was called big nose, ugly nose and variations of this. A few comments regarding noses have stayed with me in particular. One occurred quite recently. It was late one night and my parents had just gotten home from dinner with friends. Their friends had wondered into the lounge room while my parents were making coffee in the kitchen. None of the adults who had wondered into the lounge noticed me sitting silently in my blanket off to the side and they wondered up to the mantel where my parents had wedding photos on display. I’m fairly certain the adults had had a few drinks as one of them pointed to my parents photo where they were turned slightly to face each other and were smiling while they signed their wedding certificate and obnoxiously said "look at their noses sticking out!” My parents didn’t hear this but it just confirmed for me that on my own wedding day the last thing I want is to have to worry about this nose.

My dad has a long wide nose and my mum has a long thin nose with a big (Italian) hump on it. Unfortunately I inherited the best of both worlds (not) and got a wide, long nose with a hump on it. I also have a bulbous tip which droops significantly when I smile and the cartilage of the tip is uneven so one side flares out while the other comes in and it appears like my nose is turned to the left, this I also had pointed out to me- that my nose goes to one side; something I hadn't even noticed until then. I’m unsure if my nose was actually broken as a kid or if I have just inherited all the problems, as trauma to the area could be responsible for the asymmetry in the tip cartilage and mild obstruction in breathing I have.

It took a year of research before I even found Realself for me to decide this procedure was for me and to decide on my surgeon. It had to be Dr Imani who was also an ENT. I liked Dr Imani right from the start and he has said he can reduce the size a bit and make it more feminine (wooo!!), as well as remove the hump and try to do whatever else needs to be done to make it a more aesthetic nose.

I have huge eyes and lips as well so I know a little nose will not look good on me (nor is it possible as I have thick skin) but the aim is improvement not perfection. I have realistic expectations about the surgery and am comfortable with everything else about myself at this point in my life so I think this makes me a good rhinoplasty candidate.

My best friend had jaw surgery last year so is pro the surgery as she knows what a difference it can have in your life. She and my boyfriend are the two supporters I have as my parents are conservative and do not believe in unnecessary surgery That’s where all you realself readers come in. Please leave me any advice, comments, anything! I feel like I know many of you from flicking through the posts over the months :)