Asian Rhinoplasty with Dr. Yoo

I have been following Dr. Yoo’s work for years and finally decided to go ahead with rhinoplasty that I’ve wanted for pretty much a decade. I wasn’t going to document my healing but I know how much it helped me to see photos of other people’s experience here on RS so I am going to go ahead with it (and I’ll be thorough). I flew in from out of state (had my skype consult in March), arrived Tuesday, surgery was Thursday.
PRE OPS:
The skype consult was more of a formality for me because I had already decided years ago that this was the surgeon that was going to operate on me :) my prescriptions were called in a week before and I picked it up from my pharmacy at home. Lupe, one of their medical assistants, first had me sign some forms when I got there and gave me a thorough explanation of all post-op instructions. She was very sweet and made sure I understood everything. Then I finally met Dr. Yoo. I stressed that I still wanted to look like me, and I liked his computer simulation. It gave me more tip projection (in my photos you will see I have no tip) and derotated it. We also decided that we will not augment my bridge too much to keep the bridge height to tip projection ratio in balance. I also specifically asked for that little “dip” in the radix instead of a totally straight line. He told me a slight piggy move is unavoidable because the tip will drop 3-5 degrees. He also told me that since I have typical thick Asian skin, my bridge would be swollen an extra 3-4 mm and I probably would have a super swollen radix. Ugh well, at least I am prepared to look like an Avatar for awhile..he did say though that he fully expected me to like the new nose better even when swollen. I was SUPER nervous and had lots of questions because I over analyze everything but he answered all of them instead of making me feel rushed. I really appreciated that; after all, this is the middle of your face!
Afterwards, I met with Vivian, who had been prompt and helpful with all my emails and questions, to settle remaining balance. She let me look at a bunch of post-op photos that weren’t online. Some of them are even more impressive and beautiful, but I can understand why people want to not have their face plastered all over the internet lol
Then I had an awesome facial with Aubrie, who was a blast to talk to and recommended a few products for my hyperpigmentation and blotchy skin that I will look up when I get home.
NIGHT BEFORE SURGERY:
I ate a lot the entire day so i had a light dinner, which I would regret in the morning lol. The surgery center had called and said to arrive at 2:30. The anesthesiologist, Dr. Charles also called me but unfortunately i missed his call. He left a voicemail introducing himself but when I called back 45 minutes later, he was already asleep. Which is good, you want your anesthesiologist to be as well rested as possible. That’s the guy keeping you alive on the table!!! I stayed up all night reading a book because I was going to sleep in as much as possible, plus I figured I was also going to be knocked out for 6-7 hours for surgery.
DAY OF:
Unfortunately I naturally woke up at 7 am. I just kept reading my book to take my mind off the fact that I was already starving and super thirsty...my mom went out and picked up fried chicken for herself to eat and I closed my door so I wouldn’t have to smell it. I took my Ememd (anti nausea) three hrs before surgery, washed my face and didn’t put any lotions on, put on a button down shirt and we headed out at 2 ish.
I met Gerry, the nurse, who was awesome. I think he could tell I was nervous so he joked around alot with me. I was instructed to change and leave my belongings, but could bring my phone so I wouldn’t be bored while waiting. He had prepped my bed for me already with this heated blanket and then set up my IV. My veins are super tiny (nurses hate me bc they always have to jab me like 100x) but he nailed it on the first try! Dr. Charles came by and I told him I was very nervous and also super prone to nausea, so he assured me he would do his best and patiently explained the entire process. Then Dr. Yoo came by, went over exactly what he was going to do again, answered a couple of my last minute questions (I’m full of them, poor doctor lol) and marked my face. I was a little worried he would be tired because he had a surgery before me but he said he is a bit of a night owl so he enjoys night time surgery ^^
Soon after, Gerry came back and walked me to the OR, I laid down on the table. Dr. Charles gave me some stuff to calm me down and almost instantly I was in a great mood, talking and laughing. Before I knew it he told me he was going to give me the anesthesia and I don’t remember anything beyond that.
Then, I woke up like a light turning on. No grogginess, no slurred speech, and best of all, NO NAUSEA!! Wow. So thankful to Dr. Charles for that because I was so afraid of puking all night. AND I could breathe through my nose! A lot of people complained about the stints so I was worried but I could breathe through them just fine. Gerry was talking to me and Dr. Yoo came by to tell me the surgery went great. I cannot stress enough how much I appreciated this, that my surgeon would come by even though it was already so late at night to update me. He said he did end up narrowing my base (alarplasty, we were not sure yet whether I needed it until he was done with the rest of my nose; it’s the last step) and said he thinks I’m going to love it. After a little more rest, Gerry let me drink a little bit of water then helped me stand up and walked me out to where my mom was and then they both walked me to my car. When we got back to the Airbnb, my mom noticed that on the instruction sheet they gave her, I had an afternoon appointment, but when my post-op was scheduled it was for the first morning appointment. She called Gerry to double check and he said that yes it was changed. We actually then ended up checking out of our Air bnb and driving back home (which is a little further away - 20 min vs 1 hr) because our Airbnb check out time was suuuper early and we didn’t want to just sit in the car for 5 hours lol.
NIGHT OF:
I slept surprisngly well even though I’m not a back sleeper. Probably because of the leftover effects of the anesthesia. My mom propped me up on so many pillows I was nearly upright lol. I ate some yogurt and some eggs and took half a painkiller and went to bed. Last night, The worst pain actually was my sore throat from the breathing tube. It kept waking me up at night and wouldn’t relent no matter how much water I drank. However by this morning the throat soreness is nearly all gone. I Am sure by now the painkiller has worn off, and while my rib is still the most sore part of my body, it’s actually not thaat bad. I am hoping I can get away with not taking any more pain killers. The scalp incision hasn’t bothered me at all, I can barely feel it. My nose feels extremely stiff. No soreness in the columella incision but there is tightness and slight pain from the alarplasty. I changed my gauze only twice and it looks like it has stopped draining blood and fluid (probably because I slept upright lol..). I am eating breakfast now and will start my post op routine before I head off to the appointment.
Side note - Gerry said they washed my hair with some sort of sanitizing solution, and now it looks and feels disgusting lol!! My hair is all knotted up and crunchy.. but he said not to wash it until after my post-op.. so yay I get to walk around Beverly hills looking like a psycho..

I got my cast taken off today! I didnt really read any reviews on here that talked alot about the recovery so i’ll try to give some details about mine.
Day 2: i was prematurely excited about being able to breathe through my nose on day 1 post op bc by day 2, this was no longer the case. I was suuuuper congested, lots of post nasal drip. Mouth breathed all day.. rib was still sore but i didnt need any painkillers. I noticed some redness along my nostril rims and tried not to freak out about it (where i think the rim grafts were placed). I washed my hair today too but near the fascia incision was still greasy because baby shampoo is too gentle. Also, this is something that wasnt mentioned to me but make sure you are regularly urinating after surgery! General anesthesia can make some people lose that feeling of needing to go, so your bladder can end up overfilling. I went out of habit the night before and peed for waaaay too long. Had no feeling of needing to go.
Day 3: still congested, still got post nasal drip. But day 2 was definitely worse. Pain in rib was gone by now so the congestion was the most irritating thing.
Day 4: congestion greatly improved. I was breathing through my nose again. By today, my fascia incision had started to feel sore. I just kept cleaning everything as usual.
Day 5: more congestion improvement. I noticed the bit of redness/red splotches on my nose rims were gone by now so that’s good. By now the skin underneath my cast was also itching occasionally and it was driving me insane that i couldnt scratch.
Regarding diet, all week i had tried to eat somewhat healthy.. i made sure i had protein, yogurt, fruit, and plenty of water every day. I tried to eat veggies a few times but i’ve always been bad at that :( steamed baby carrots were the easiest because they are small and soft to chew. I didnt necessarily go out of my way to eat no/very little sodium, but if i tasted something and it was very salty, i would choose something else to eat. I didn’t eat any spicy foods or anything that was piping hot. By day 4 it was actually fairly easy to eat larger/chewier foods because my fascia incision had mostly closed up. Another thing - don’t just lay in bed all day! I think it’s healthy to make sure you’re doing things. I would read, cook, walk around to get my blood flowing, friends came to visit me, etc. i think it really helped make recovery not miserable.
Day 6: cast removal!!!! I was so ready to get this thing off. It made my whole face feel tight. Both the medical assistant and Dr. Yoo remarked that my incisions were clean and healing well, including the one on my scalp which i was a little concerned about because it was still stinging occasionally. I guess the stinging was because of the staples? Removal of everything wasnt too painful. Staples hurt more than the stitches in my nose but it was still fine. Removing the stents though was.. omg.. it felt like a massive booger or something coming out. It was super uncomfortable and relieving at the same time haha. Dr. Yoo and i chatted throughout so i was at least partially distracted from it all.
Anyway.. the big reveal!!! I love it so far! It is definitely swollen. I was more caught off guard by the swollen bridge than the upturned tip, probably because i could see my tip all week and had gotten used to it. And my bridge still had surgical marker and that brown sanitizing solution on it so it looked like bad contour haha. After Dr. yoo applied the tape, it was easier to appreciate because it was skin colored. He was right, even swollen i like this nose alot more than my old one, which felt like a blob in the middle of my face! After i left, i snapped a few photos for friends and my boyfriend and got approval from them and my mom too, so thats a great sign too :) so far, i really am very impressed with Dr. Yoo’s skill. Cant wait to see what this looks like in another week!
I am going to continue being very diligent about post op care this week and keeping everything clean to ensure proper healing. Dr. Yoo told me that when they swabbed my nose pre-op, they didnt find anything funky like MRSA so hopefully thats a good sign :)

A couple of days ago i went in to get the tape removed and see Dr. Yoo one more time before flying home. One thing that sort of caught me off guard was the changes in my skin! I normally have dry skin but right now my nose is sooo oily. And flaky at the same time! Kind of gross but i assume its because of the trauma it went through underneath. The rest of my skin on my face is also drier than normal for some reason. My usual sunscreen is making my face flaky so i have to layer another moisturizer on top.
Anyway i am very pleased with my nose so far. Dr. Yoo said I could blow my nose again and resume light exercise and drink alcohol if I want to, and that I can sleep normally again. No glasses/sunglasses for two months. The stitches on the inside of my nose will fall out by themselves over the next few weeks. I think im going to refrain from using makeup on the incisions until i start work again next week, just to leave them alone as much as possible.
One thing that really reassured me that I chose an ethical doctor - at the end of the appointment I asked him to give me a quick filler consultation because I was interested in getting fillers on my cheekbones, jaw, and possibly chin. To my surprise, he said no! He said i already had good structure to my face and i was being overly critical of myself, and that he never does a procedure for a patient unless he thinks it will make them look younger or prettier. Anyway, i was thoroughly impressed because he could have easily made some more money from me that day but refused to. I guess i will try my best to take his words to heart and focus on good skincare instead of nitpicking over my facial structure :)
I will be skyping again with him in a couple of weeks so we can touch base again on how my healing is going so i will update again at that time.
One more thing i noticed these past couple of days - my nose actually is slightly uneven on the bridge right now. I am trying my best to not get anxious about it. Resolution of swelling can take over a year and is usually non linear and both sides do not de-swell at the same rate. Or perhaps i already had some slight asymmetry to my nose pre-op that i never noticed. In any case i will try not to be overly critical since results cannot be accurately evaluated for at least 6 months