Satisfied Patient and Well Worth the Experience - San Francisco, CA

Ever since I was a child, I was always self-conscious about my nose. I felt as a female, my nose was out of proportion and too big for my face when compared to the rest of my facial features. Even a boy in grade school commented how I would probably need a nose job when I get older and ever since, I suffered a case of body dysmorphic disorder.
I went to Dr David W. Kim for a rhinoplasty revision. My first nose job was coincidentally done by another Dr David Kim located in Beverly Hills and though I was initially satisfied with it, my nose had lost is tip projection over the years and my mother even commented that the nostrils were uneven. The first rhinoplasty was an improvement from my original nose and even though there was probably nothing wrong with it to anyone else, I was still dissatisfied with it. I wanted a better profile with more tip projection and smaller nostrils and I didn't feel comfortable enough to go back to the original surgeon due to lack of bedside manners and lack of interest in hearing my input. Furthermore, I had observed that most of his patients consisted of SoCal MILFs looking for boob jobs so I figured his specialty wasn't so much focused on facial plastic surgery.
After extensive research, I wanted to find someone who was a true craftsman in rhinoplasty and I knew I had to find the best and I could put no limit on the dollar amount when it comes to the face. I've considered even going as far as NYC or Baltimore to get it done right by renowned rhinoplasty surgeons, but I had found out that I didn't need to go very far the find one of the best. I had heard an acquaintance talk highly of Dr Kim of San Francisco so I did my research, was impressed with his credentials (i.e. focusing only on facial plastic surgery and also being an ENT) and booked a consultation. During the first consultation, Dr Kim was warm and receptive to hearing about my first rhinoplasty experience and my expectations. His office staff is courteous, professional, and Dr Kim has up-to-date technology to show patients a 2-D representation of what the post results will look like. From our consultation, I gathered that Dr Kim is conservative in his approach with plastic surgery and he is a surgeon with ethics. He put it blatantly that he can reach my goals of tip projection and narrowing of nostrils and alar base even though I have a challenging nose due to its anatomy, but the difference may not be noticeable and even negligible to external eyes. The primary reason why the tip projection failed, he explained, was that because I didn't have enough cartilage in my septum that the initial surgeon used to support the tip. Only a graft from my rib would help support the structure of my nose. I had asked about the possibility of using other materials such as gortex or silicon, but Dr Kim doesn't use those unnatural materials due to higher failure rates and rejection of foreign objects. I've had various surgery experiences and have had lots of surgeon consultations and have noticed a recurring pattern of surgeons trying to upsell more procedures than necessary to me, but Dr Kim was not one of them. I ruminated on his advice for nearly a year and half and decided finally to go forth with the second rhinoplasty. Keeping realistic expectations in mind, I knew going forth with the procedure would be a change that possibly only I would notice and that I had to trust Dr Kim to improve my appearance and in turn improve my self esteem.
The surgery overall went well. Right before the surgery, we discussed what he was going to do and I reiterated what my expectations and wants and Dr Kim took that into consideration given the limitations and challenges of my nose. Dr Kim used my rib graft to project the tip of my nose, raise and smooth the bridge of my nose, and reduced the nostrils/alar base. Natalie, the aesthetic nurse, did a wonderful job in explaining to me the before and after care. I am 3 weeks post-op now and only some of the swelling has gone down. It will be a year until the swelling is gone and the final shape of my nose will be visible. I must admit it's difficult to deal with a swollen nose now, but I know that with time and patience, it will look like a good natural nose I was born with. None of my friends or coworkers have yet noticed that I had any work done.