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5 months post-op and I'm sooo happy!
I've been getting questions about whether or not I got my dream nose, and I have two responses to that:
1. Yes, absolutely! On some days, it looks somewhat bleh because it's swollen so it doesn't really have a defined shape, but on days when I watch my diet and it doesn't swell up, it's way better than what I expected.
2. Don't spend so much time overthinking exactly how you want your nose to look. Honestly, my nose doesn't always look the same but I don't even think about. It's the freedom of not having a huge ugly-looking nose and the freedom from the anxiety that comes with that that's made the big difference in my life. I spent so much time pre-surgery making sure I could find a surgeon that would give me the exact nose I wanted and figuring out the exact shape that would best fit my face, but looking back it's not really the shape at all that matters. Nobody pays attention to the exact shape of your nose, and neither will you. I honestly just love looking in the mirror and having a normal shaped and sized nose and don't really give a second thought to "is it straight, is it curved, does it have a supra tip break, is it exactly like (blank) celebrity's nose..." Once you have a normal nose, you'll become like everyone else like a normal nose and not even think about what it means to have a "dream nose."
Who do you know with a normal nose who really thinks about what their dream nose would be? What I've learned is that people don't even pay attention to noses-- nobody has even noticed my nose job until I've pointed it out!
1-month post! Seeing the swelling go down!
One issue that's kind of scaring me is that on the very top of the bridge next to my left eye, I can feel a little bump. One of the nurse's had mentioned during my pre-op that in rare cases the bone will grow back, leaving small bumps, which Dr. Elam could easily fix. I really hope that's not what's happening here. A similar thing had happened earlier on on the right side and now that is very smooth with no bumps, so I'm just going to keep doing the compression exercises and hope it goes down. Thankfully it's not actually visible at all.
I also think I look weird when I smile, but that's probably due to the numbness that makes my smile feel kind of forced, and also due to not being used to seeing my nostrils from the front when I smile. I'm sure this will also get better with time.
Overall, I am so so glad I did this. I keep on looking back at before pictures and it is honestly painful to think that was me. A lot of people tried convincing me that I didn't need a nose job and that my nose was fine, but looking back now it is a huge difference and I feel like I have the nose that I was supposed to be born with. I'm so happy with it and my confidence has improved a lot. My nose is no longer something that I think about when out socializing or when people are looking at me from the side, which used to get to me a lot.
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Provider Review
Like many of you, I've felt extremely self-conscious about my nose since I was in middle school. I've avoided doing many things because of it and I'm ready to take control of my life and let it stop affecting me. Many people say that confidence is a skill and can't be fixed by changing the thing that's preventing confidence (my nose), so I've been working the past few years to build up my confidence, but it's still something that I think about quite often. For example, when I go out for a walk, I can't help but feel like everyone in their cars passing me are staring at my nose and thinking how horrible it is. When I put makeup on and try to look nice, I think it's pointless because I'm going to look weird regardless thanks to the big blob in the middle of my face. When I sit in class surrounded by girls with nice noses, my confidence diminishes. I wouldn't say this is something that's constantly on my mind (after many years of working hard to improve my confidence) but it's something I do think about and something that will always negatively affect the way that I see myself. I want to feel confident enough to go out without my nose/appearance creeping into my mind and ruining fun experiences for me. So for the past 2 years I've been thinking of a nose job as a real possibility. I used to think that it was something only for the rich, for celebrities, but then I decided to do some research and see if I could save up. I've been living frugally and saving up from summer internships, etc and I was finally able to afford to have my nose (and my confidence) improved. Yay!! I chose Dr. Elam over a few other surgeons that I was considering (mainly came down to Dr. Elam versus Dr. Grigoryants) but I just really appreciated how unique each of his noses are and how each one is tailored to match each patient’s face. I like his style of straight noses with a round tip, and really liked all of the ethnic rhinoplasties that he’s done. As a hispanic female, it’s important to me to have a nice, soft, feminine nose, but not a cookie-cutter white-looking nose. I felt that Dr. Grigoryants noses, while very petite and cute, did not always match the patients faces, so I wanted my facial structure to be taken into account. To be honest, at first I was hesitant to go with Dr. Elam because I felt like the consultations were rushed and I didn't feel like he was warm and caring like other reviewers had raved about. However, now that I am actually his patient, I see what all the fuss is about. The entire staff has been incredibly kind to my family and me throughout this entire process and I feel very well cared for by Dr. Elam and his staff. Anyhow, I’m now 5 days post-op and am getting my cast removed tomorrow! I’ll be sure to keep posting updates, and feel free to ask any questions!