Asian Rhinoplasty with Dr. Yoo

Hi all, i got some requests asking for another update so i took some photos. I’m almost a year out. It’s pretty crazy how much the bridge has deswelled and the tip has dropped. I actually did not realize how swollen i was until now! Anyway by now i pretty much have forgotten that this wasnt the nose i was born with (until i touch the tip and realize i cant smush it down anymore hahah). My favorite angle is the three-fourths angle. In the end i did end up with what i asked for - still looking like me, but with a nose that has more of a projected tip and subtle improvement and refinement. I love having a nose tip and i’m glad that Dr. Yoo was able to preserve the little dip in the radix area, which wasn’t as obvious in the early healing stages because of the swelling on the bridge. I do plan to fly out to see him sometime soon and will see what he thinks of his work too :)

Hi all, thought i’d update now that i’m further out from surgery. I have skyped a couple of times with Dr. Yoo and saw him in person once. As always he is a pleasure to talk to, he never makes me feel like I’m irritating him by asking a million questions. Things have healed very nicely, the bridge and tip have dropped and my nose looks very natural. What’s amazing is it FEELS natural. It feels like i was born with it. No bulky feeling of grafts or anything. There’s still slight stiffness in the tip but nothing bothersome. I would say that people probably knew I got some work done with my nose, but I don’t mind that. If someone asks i would just point them to my awesome surgeon :)
Dr. Yoo said the airways look good and everything healed nicely. I no longer wear makeup over the scars too, which is awesome. Overall, i’m just glad I finally did this. It feels so good to be able to take a photo of myself and not worry about getting an angle that makes my nose look not-hideous. I feel like it refined my face. Dr. Yoo is awesome and I can see myself going to him for future cosmetic treatments for as long as I’m in the US. I am even considering getting some botox in the masseters with him because I grind my teeth so badly at night I wake up with an aching jaw. But i’ll have to research it a little more - no compulsive decisions when it comes to medical treatments :) does anyone here have experience with it?

Hi all! So this week marks a month post op
Ive been taping my nose every night per instructions. It’s actually kind of cool how when i wake up i can touch my nose and feel the swelling on the bridge but within 30 min of getting up and walking around, the swelling is gone. In general, i dont really feel crazy swollen anymore - i actually feel like i look pretty normal, with the bridge only a teensy bit too high. My nose tip still feels stiff but definitely less stiff than a couple weeks ago, with the right side being more so. Stitches in my nose fell out over the past week, which was a little gross. Ive also kept up with doing the sinus rinses just because they feel awesome. My boyfriend even asked me to buy him one! I got lucky so far in that i dont have any black heads or anything. In fact after week 2, all my skin went right back to normal. Knock on wood!!
Nobody at work really noticed because i changed a different part of my appearance to throw them off. Its kind of funny how once people think theyve pegged what was “off” their brain stops noticing other differences. So yea! Dr. Yoo’s advice about switching something else up was spot on. Not that im ashamed to admit that im vain to a degree, but i work in a field where i know people would judge me for it or look down on me for caring about my appearance. I just dont need negativity like that.
I had my skype appointment with Dr. Yoo yesterday. I had a lot of questions for him - my nose was really itchy at times, my tip had sort of a pins n needles feeling that comes and goes, theres still slight soreness or tingliness here and there, etc. my tip was very, very, verrrryyy sliiiightly pink (but the skin on the tip had also peeled off in big flakes so idk if this was part of it). Anyway he said these all are normal parts of the healing process so i was relieved. I would ask every few minutes “is this normal?” Because i just want to not be the outlier! Haha. I really did try my best to relax these past two weeks and let my body do its thing without freaking out but it was relieving to be able to ask him all these questions to help reassure me. 99% of the time my nose feels normal, like i was born with it, but 1% of the time i get these sensations (the itching or tingling etc) that remind me i JUST had surgery and i freak out a bit because im silly.
He reminded me again that the bridge would drop a bit and get thinner and the tip would derotate more (not that this bothered me; my nose was so wide and piggy before that even now, i feel like i look great) and that the tip would de-project a bit. I forgot that the tip would de-project a little once the swelling in the skin went down so i was a bit sad to hear that but oh well. I suppose having the tip i have now doesnt look totally natural with my Asian face. Im just so in love with it because lack of a tip was what i hated most about my old nose and now everytime i take an angled picture im like OMG look at that beautiful tip!!
Most importantly, he told me that at this point, there are no more open cuts in or outside the nose (thats why the risk of infection is greatest in the time between week 1 and 2). He said that at this point, the chances of getting an infection is the same as if i had no surgery at all, and would normally be due to accidentally nicking the nose somewhere (eg: trimming nose hairs or something with a dirty tool) and allowing bacteria to enter through that cut. He has had to reassure me a lot about the risk of infection but each time i hear it, it does help calm me immensely.
Im a little sad that my incisions arent back to skin color (it seems like everyone else on here is like, i cant see the columella or rib incision at all anymore! Within a couple weeks) but Dr. Yoo said that the redness is normal at this point in the healing process. I jus gotta keep up with the scar gel and sunscreen. Its not severe, pretty easily hidden by my concealer but then i gotta be careful not to blow my nose during the day and wipe it all off. So thats annoying, im definitey anxious for the day i can go to work without makeup on the incisions!
He said i could slowly ease back into full physical activity and exercise now (i had only been doing light cardio and lifting before). No glasses still for 1 more month, which is like aghhhh for me because im so excited to see what its like to finally have a nose that lets me wear sunglasses!! No more need to tape at night. Use scar gel for 1 more month at least and then from that point its up to me whether i want to continue using it.
I am going to try my best to fly out to see him within the next few months but if not i will just skype him again.
I will update more in a couple weeks but i just wanted to say thanks to everyone on here who sent well wishes or words of encouragement. Reading other peoples experiences on here helped me both make my decision and stay positive during the healing process, and reading the comments helped me not freak out and go crazy these past few weeks. Yall have really kept me calm! I hope everyone is having a beautiful start to their summer :)