do your research before you allow implant in your nose **very unnatural - New York, NY

I never really uploaded pictures but since I received a few DM about implant and removal, I thought I would update this with my results 2 years post surgery and removal of implants.
Again, let me quickly state the facts, I went in for surgery not truly knowing what I wanted except that I wanted my nose to look cuter than what it was...I didn't do as much research as I should have (I know who does that?!)...anyways, an implant was inserted which I hated because i felt that it was very un-natural looking and made me look like a roman statue and it just didn't look good on me in my eyes so a week after surgery, I insisted to go back in and remove the implant despite being told that my look would pretty much go back to my original nose and honestly I was okay with that more Han the roman statue look.
After implant removal, my nose did look like my original nose with the exception than the nostrils were slightly reduced and tip not as round from profile view as it was.
My nose did heal well after the removal and yes I had the implant in my nose only for about a week. All in all, I'm very happy I had the implant removed. If I had to do this whole thing over, I would have maybe first try to resolve my self-esteem issues by seeing a therapist, I would have researched this way more and be VERY specific into what I wanted so I cannot blame the doctor for the results because I do think I wasn't specific enough into what I wanted so I take the blame for my results.
Thank god, 2 years went on and this whole ordeal is behind me.
Hope this testimony helps you.
Xoxo

It has now been 4 months since my surgery and although I was very unhappy in the first month because of the whole high radix and having to go through implant removal ordeal.

I must now say admit that my nose is turning out to be really really cute, very natural looking and I get men approaching me at least a few times a day to compliment me on my "beauty". (Beauty is such a subjective concept - hence the quote marks). I'm also told, I look like a doll at times...lol...(Make up is my best friend ever and I swear to never argue with her!!)

So this being said, if I were to do this over, I would prepare myself emotionally and mentally because I just wasn't ready for the emotional changes it takes you through. To look at your face and see a different person can take a toll on you especially if you dislike the new you. Luckily, I realized very quickly that the implant was not a great fit for my face and was able to have it removed almost immediately. My nose is still healing but I can honestly say that the tip work done looks great and I'm getting used to my new nose...without the implant!

I am 5 weeks after septo-rhinoplasty. No words can describe the regrets I have for going under the knife as it was so very unnecessary. I should have done more homework and not have taken this procedure lightly. I have always been called pretty (and hilarious girl) even though I have what most western (insert "white/caucasian") doctors would call a bulbous, round nose but somehow it just seemed to fit my face well. I just thought I would be cuter with a slightly slimmer nose (thank you media brainwashing), so for a few years, I always fantasized about what my nose would look like smaller and was always browsing "ethnic rhinoplasty" websites but always chickened out until....I met this new girlfriend whom underwent rhinoplasty before (her results are ah-mah-zing) and swore it changed her life and she was so very happy.
So she gave me the name of her ps, I went on the website and thought all the pics were awful and told her that and we had joked that she initially thought the same but when she went to his office so more pics in his pics book and they were better so here I am $150 later for a consultation I go in and look at the book and yes the pics were better.
October 2012
Doc comes in and here is our convo:
Me: " I think I am really pretty but I believe I would be even prettier if my nose was slightly smaller" (Seriously, I rated myself an 8 out of 10...lol)
Dr S: " Yes, most african american patients who come for a consultation come for the same reasons: low bridge, wide nostrils, and no definition in the tip"
Then he takes a few pics, steps out and comes back with the "computer imaging" when he shows me I tell him " I don't like the pointy nose and I am fine with my round profile", he replies "I cant refine the tip if I leave the roundness".
In his opinion, I need his "cookie cutter" african american 3 tiered approach:
1. a custom tailored SLUPimplant™
2. tip refinement
3. nasal narrowing
I take the pics and share with my bf who urges me not to go through it that I am just fine the way God created me....I left it alone until one year later...Broke up with my bf, feeling really low and decide to do smtg for myself so I go back in for a second consultation which was free this time and same as first consultation I was unprepared and had no specific clue of exactly what I wanted except that I wanted a slighly slimmer nose... and smtg very subtle so that noone notices I had surgery....ha! (I should have spent time asking myself questions like do I really want an implant or not?, do I really want the tip of my nose to be altered? These questions didn't really cross my mind...LADIES DO YOUR RESEARCH))
So I decide to go ahead with the three-tiered cookie cutter approach as proposed by "expert plastic surgeon"....
Surgery scheduled for Oct 2013 (I have a week off from work and tell myself it is now or never).
I go in and when I am in operating room my blood pressure is dangerously high (177 over 114), doctor comes in and says "I am going to give you something and if it remains high, we have to reschedule the surgery" - this should have been a sign for me to get my behind up and say " SAYONARA!" - Yes, he did give me smtg but guess what I didn't wake up until... AFTER the surgery was done to hear that I needed to go to "doctor ASAP bc my blood pressure was dangerously high"....hmmm, what happened to rescheduling the surgery as you mentioned, doc?....I guess he wanted to get it over with but I basically could have had a stroke, a brain aneurysm and after having received my post-op report I was confirmed that surgery should not have been performed...This incident is now being reported to the Board for medical negligence.
Fast forward, 7 days, the cast is removed and to my dismay, I look like a totally different person, what happened to my subtle change request?!! I had shown him some pictures of nose job he performed on other patients and he replied that my nose was different...ok my request was subtle change!!
I am told "it is the swelling, it will go down"
Except that I go home and cry at the reflection in the mirror, I do not recognize myself, I look like a mix of Michael Jackson, the Joker, Miss Piggy, a raccoon and so on. I definitely do not look like Halle Berry, Alicia Keys, Beyonce and by that I mean their results...VERY NATURAL LOOKING!
My mom saw me and started crying because my once cute face was just ruined ...I keep looking in the mirror to find out what went wrong....The oh-so-famous "custom tailored SLUPimplant™"....It made me look like a roman statue, if I had asked for an aquiline (please look up this word if you don't know the meaning and look at the pics) look I would be fine but no, no, no I didn't ask you that unnatural look Dr S.
10 days after surgery, I schedule another appointment to express my concern and Dr S. tells me that it looks just like in the pictures....Yeah right! The implant absolutely did NOT look like in the pictures, it was placed WAYYY TOO HIGH (as confirmed by 3 other ps)....It changed my entire facial features in the worst way possible, my face is no longer proportionate, face is now long, eyes are sunken in, straight naso frontal angle, no curve between eyebrow and rest of nose, bridge actually looks weird from the semiprofile almost obstructing my eyes....JUST PLAIN AWFUL LOOKING
I am told to wait at least 4 months before removal.
4 months being super miserable, I just couldn't wait, I have never felt so depressed in my life ever...4 months..no way, I decide to text him pretty frequently because I was so desperate....I guess he got fed up of my texting and agreed to remove implant and he dares tell me "I will charge you again if you want to put the implant back in". When I tell him how unnatural it looks and that it basically was ethnically inconsistent with my features, his reply " its a matter of perspective and preference".
I posted a pic for everyone to see - the after implant is MORE NATURAL!
3 WEEKS after surgery, I go in for the implant to be removed....What a relief! I don't exactly look like my old self (bc of tip work) but at least I can stand looking at my own reflection in the mirror.
The lesson I learned " Do not mess with what nature gave you unless you really have to" (i.e. you are super ugly in your own eyes, you have nasal functional issues)
I know it is a long post but I felt I needed to share my experience.
Before I end this update, a few tips for those who seek ethnic rhinoplasty:
Ask yourself - what is your goal?
- raise bridge
- smaller nostrils
- refined tip
If you choose to raise your bridge, there are different ways, either from your own tissue (grafts) or with (artificial) implants:
Grafts include:
Septum
Ear cartilage
Rib cartilage
Hip carilage or bone
Skull bone
Implants include:
Silicone
Porous polyethylene
Polypropylene
PTFE (Gortex)
Please know that there are differing doctor opinions when it comes to raising your bridge using SILICONE or SILASTIC IMPLANT as used by this doctor.
Do your research and be aware of the infections and extrusion rates and possibly the revision rhinoplasty you will have to go thru if infected because you have a foreign material in your nose. The use of the implant means faster operation time for the doctor but very often unnatural results for you as a patient..Think about the long term of having a foreign thing in your nose which the body doesn't accept and keep trying rejecting by forming a capsule around it...DO YOUR RESEARCH.
As I am only 5 weeks after rhino, and 2 weeks after implant removal, my nose has to heal ...I will update you on the rest of this ordeal. Keep me in your prayers for a smoother recovery.