One Month Post-Op Review from Maryland

It's been 1 month and 1 week since my surgery and I'm having doubts about the tip of my nose. If you look at the digital pic before & after compared to the side view from under a month, the tip is up-turned. I HIGHLY doubt this is going to come down. It kind of annoys me that when I ask my doctor if it will come down his only response is "it is still very swollen"... he hasn't given me a solid answer whether or not he adjusted my tip or not. I'm really worried it's not going to change. I miss the old tip of my nose, it looks very strange when I smile now! Can someone please help me? Does it go down????

I've decided to keep my face in the pictures. I realized it's not really that big of a deal and also hiding everything you can't really get as effective feedback.

Hey everyone,

Ever since I was in middle school I have wanted to fix the "masculine" dorsal hump on my nose. I was very self conscious about it and would find myself looking at the mirror often just obsessing over it. I knew I needed something done with my nose to get the obsession out of me. As I told people I was getting surgery, many people tried to convince me not to. Many people said it might ruin my natural features. I knew this was something I wanted done since forever, so I went ahead and did it on May 25, 2012 right after my college graduation. It has been very stressful over this past month worrying about what may or may not improve with my new nose. My doctor was very keen to remind me many times before my surgery that there will be a lot of swelling, and the results are not immediate. I am trying to make time my best friend and remain optimistic that things slowly improve. Just like when I get my hair done differently than before, I was very nervous that I might have some cognitive dissonance after surgery. Beyond that, although I consider myself (as well as those around me) an outgoing and confident person, I obsess over the little things.

I apologize for not keeping my face in these pictures for the full comparison. I just do not want someone to recognize me out here due to my job.

**WHAT I WANTED CHANGED**
- Fix the dorsal hump and make it more flat
- Fix the tip of my nose slightly
- Fix the "pinching" noticeable from the front (pics attached)

**MEETING WITH THE DOCTOR**
1. I made sure to go more than once to get pictures done. He digitally altered them and sent me them in an email which was great. We spent a lot of time on my side view, not so much on my front view. I wish we had spent more time on my front view, because I am not so happy with how it looks from the front right now.
2. My doctor was extremely nice and friendly and took the time to listen to me. Listening is crucial. Also, when deciding on a doctor (I contacted about 15, and visited 5) he was the most knowledgeable and also his office was very clean and beautiful. It was also busy. I heard a lot about his office, so it built that initial trust factor that is needed in cosmetic surgery.
3. We did not speak so much about what he was going to put or take out of my nose. I noticed after reading this website that some people get grafts or get cartilage removed. I was not aware of this, and did not ask.

**THINGS I WISH I HAD DONE PRE-OP**
1. I wish I was more structured with knowing what exactly he would do to my nose. I had spoken with him about it, but it was still a little up in the air. After surgery, this made me much more nervous.
2. We should have spent more time with my front images rather than just from the side. From the front view, my nose looks a lot wider, which has made me a little nervous.
3. I wish I had seen more images of his clients. All he had was a few on his website that I had seen. I heard a lot of good reviews about my doctor, though, which reassured me that he was a good choice.
4. I would have enjoyed knowing an exact number of rhinoplasties he has done. I know he has been in practice for 10 years, but that doesn't tell you everything.

**REVIEW SO FAR**
(RIGHT AFTER SURGERY) I woke up from surgery in probably one of the best moods in months, haha. That didn't last long and I realized that was definitely from the anesthesia. I came home feeling nauseous and in some pain. I took the painkillers they prescribed me and it worked pretty well, but I realized after about 5 days I was still in a lot of pain, and it wasn't coming from my nose! It was coming from my throat. I could barely swallow anything and it hurt to even drink water. They told me my intubation process was difficult because of the anatomy of my throat. And this definitely wasn't getting any better. My throat was really beaten up. They gave me an anabolic steroid to take and within 2 days I could eat pretty well again. It reduced the swelling in my mouth and also really helped with the swelling of my nose.

(TAKING THE CAST OFF) When the nurse took my cast off and peeled off the tape, not going to lie I was shocked, but very impressed with the initial results. My nose was HUGE and SWOLLEN, but they had prepared me for this. But beyond that, it was flat! I was very happy. Also, my nose looked so proportional. I had noticed in old pictures that my nose was slightly tilted to one side in front pictures. This was gone. After 2 days of having my cast off I had gone to a BBQ party. A few of my friends noticed something different, but not everyone. I was realizing that in pictures my nose looked very pig-nosey. Not something I was used to, and it started making me nervous about the tip of my nose. Did it go to high up now? Was the swelling going to decrease?

(UP TO 1 MONTH) The swelling in my nose definitely decreased. I notice the width of my nose came in and more back to how it used to be. Also the tip of my nose moved downward back to more of it's normal place. It is still a little high for my liking and pictures of me from the front still look piggish. I am really trying to remain optimistic that it will improve.

**SOME OF MY WORRIES**
- After about 2 weeks, I wore my glasses for about 30 minutes while running errands. When I took them off, I noticed they formed a very creepy looking dent in my nose that gave my nose a huge hump again. Where my dorsal hump used to be is now hard bone, but above that (closer to my brow) it was soft and tissuey, so that caved in a little as the bump was even more prominent. It looked as if someone put one of those fake noses on me like those on Mr Potato head. I started getting really upset because it looked so unnatural and strange. I was nervous that if I ever were to wear my glasses again this would happen again or cause permanent damage. I have yet to wear my glasses again because of this.
- On the sides of my nose that travel up to my eye sockets, I noticed that on one side it feels like a line of hard bone traveling up it. It isn't really noticeable without touching it, but it is very hard and protrudes out a bit. I have no idea what this is. I am hoping this is some sort of swelling that will go down, but it hasn't in a while and it is making me worry!
- My tip still looks very piggish to me. In addition, I really dislike my front view. It is way too wide and I feel like my nose has lost a lot of it's old definition. I also, in a way, miss the "pinching" I used to have. It gave my nose some character.

I have uploaded some pictures. Feel free to leave comments. I will update as soon as there is something of importance to write about!