Indian Ethnic Rhinoplasty - Dr Julian De Silva (Hammersmith, London) London, GB

This review is for my South Asian / Indian Community. I was frustrated by the lack of detailed Indian recovery / review stories, so much of this website is geared towards caucasian girls with different skin types and of course different types of procedures... So I hope future non-white users of realself find this illuminating. Of course, Indian people have the most genetic diversity of all races, so even my post may not be relevant to everyone, nor would Dr JdS use the same techniques on another Indian person, but at least it gives another perspective.
For anyone out there with Asian heritage, please feel free to ask questions. I recommend printing out these posts, highlighting anything that you find interesting and bringing them with you to consultations to ask more relevant questions to your surgeons! I would finally just like to say that I have zero pain tolerance, so a lot of the experiences detailed here probably apply to me only.

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Feminisation of nose:
* Reduce slight hump on profile
* Reduce width of bridge
* Refine + reduce droopy tip

Limitations:
* Slightly 'thicker' south asian skin may limit how petite the tip can look
* Lifting the droopy tip may reveal more of the nostril, but should not at all look pig-like

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I have had consultations with 3 other surgeons, Dr Uppal, Dr Rowe-Jones and finally Dr de Silva. Of the three Dr de Silva, seemed the most genuinely interested in understanding my specific situation, giving me plenty of time to ask questions (and not rush or patronise me!). He provided me with a booklet with extensive pre-op suggestions and tips for healing which gave me something constructive to focus on in the run up to the surgery.

Interestingly, every surgeon told me that from my profile-view I had a 'tiny chin' and that this was causing any nose projection to look exaggerated. While I have never thought of this aspect and none of them pushed for me to have a chin implant, I decided not to go ahead with a chin implant, as that was not the priority. But I thought I would mention it here in case any others would like to find more 'facial balance' rather than just 'nasal balance'

At the time of surgery I was 27, I have been intensely thinking of surgery since I was 16, that’s 11 years. It’s only after working and saving up money for the consultations myself that I had the capacity to do something about this problem that has been a burden on every aspect of my life, confidence and even promotions at work. What’s worse is that my elder sister has a more normal looking nose, that fits in with the rest of the family, and I just pulled the short straw looking like the odd one out.

Currently I have seen Dr JdS twice, one at the consultation £225 in Harley Street, and a second time at the clinic in Hammersmith. I was given an information pack at the consultation along with a full cost breakdown (£8000) on the same day. At the clinic I has my height and weight recorded and paid £775 to secure the surgery. While the price is the highest of the three surgeons I met, I believe he was the most rounded and considerate.

At this stage, I am slightly nervous about 2 things: 1) The final result! The noses on caucasian girls look great, but there arent as many images for south asian girls that significantly feminise their look! 2) The sedation process, being vaguely awake while my face is being operated on is something Im not quite sure I understand. But if it helps to reduce discomfort immediately out of theatre, it should be fine.

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Getting my blood test done was a nightmare. This has nothing to do with Dr JdS team, but I wanted to mention it here as advice: Do not go to the NHS for blood test! I know it’s free but a simple thing like a blood test is too difficult for them and they don’t alert you if anything else goes wrong. Also with NHS you have to make a physical appointment with your GP to review the results and ask for a copy. The receptionist wasn’t able to download the results and send it to me directly for ‘patient confidentiality’ reasons, which is a waste of time. I was extra unlucky as my GP (at the time) Dr Cowling is incompetent IMO and she has a random work schedule so it was hard to get a hold of her. Despite getting my blood test done 3 weeks ahead of surgery, I found out 3 days before surgery that the lab messed up my blood and only 1 out of 3 tests actually came back with results… such. a. joke. The NHS is a farce! I was forced to go to a same day clinic by Tower Hill and paid £280 for the 3 tests, they emailed detailed results (with lots of other data) in a .pdf document back within a few hours, which I finally forwarded to Stephanie. It’s expensive, but its 2016, and that’s how blood tests should be done. Unfortunately as both bloods were taken out of my left arm, my veins bruised causing unnecessary uncomfort before I even got to my surgery! Overall it was a big mess, perhaps one of the most stressful points in my life because I had waited so long to save up for this operation and the NHS screwed up almost causing me to rearrange surgery, which would have also impacted my work!

As I mentioned in my first post, the good thing about Dr JdS’s Team is that they gave a full pack with lots of useful (non-monetary related) information. I was quite nervous about ingesting a lot of new medication that I never heard of before, but that is what good preparation looks like. In total I spent c£50 at Boots (UK pharmacy chain) collecting all these items. I also bought a c-shaped travel pillow to help secure and elevate my head at night so that I don’t slip down. I also got a massive waitrose (grocery store) shop delivery of vegetables and fruit that I would later use in the first few days to ensure I didn’t hit up the comfy food which is most likely counter-productive.