My Rhinoplasty Journey - London, GB

Hi Real Selfers!

I've been using this site for a while now and I firstly want to say a big thank you to all the reviewers and commenters. Everyone has been so helpful and it's because of the content on this site that I'm going into this process feeling informed and knowledgeable :)

Like a lot of people on here, I've had an issue with my nose for a very long time - since I was a teenager really, and now I'm 28! It's been waaaaay too long wit this horrible nose!

I've always disliked the bump, but more recently I've also been bothered by the hanging columella (I think that's what it's called!) and it think it looks quite long. I've considered getting a rhinoplasty before, but it's only really been in the last six or so months that I've decided it's definitely something I want to move forward with. Can't wait not to cringe when I see pics of myself ha!

I booked my consultation back in early Jan and there was quite a wait (what can you expect from someone as popular as Mr Ion hey!) - the first appointment he had was in March. I ended up booking it for the 16th (last Weds).

Generally I was really impressed by the consultation. It's a lovely office with warm, professional and helpful reception staff. After filling in some forms with my details and some medical history, I only had to wait about ten more minutes before Mr Ion called me in (Mr Ion sounds so formal ha...but it feels weird calling him by his first name!).

He was very polite, composed and professional. I didn't feel like he was rushing me at all - I had a very geeky long list of questions printed out ha, but he told me to take my time and not rush. To be honest, he was so informative that most of my questions were answered before I even came to them.

He told me he had been doing rhinoplasties for about 16 years and that he performs about 200 a year! So it's safe to say rhinoplasty is one of his specialties!

I've uploaded my morphs, which I could really do with some advice on. I love the profile one, to be honest I love them all. But I'm slightly concerned that my nose looks a bit short in the front one and the three quarter one. Not sure if I am being paranoid, or maybe I'm just not used to seeing my nose look like that. Previously I've thought my nose was too long...and now I'm worried about it being too short ha! Help! Definitely need some input here please.

Anyway, that's all for now, I'll keep you updated on my rhinoplasty journey and looking forward to hearing some thoughts on my morphs :)

Hi everyone! Hope you're all well, apologies for not updating in a while but I have been waiting for my second consultation. I went in earlier today and spoke to Mr Ion for about another 30/40 minutes. Once again he was very warm, friendly, professional and knowledgeable. He also tweaked my morphs a little to give me more of a slope - the difference is subtle but definitely there! Please have a look at my morphs and let me know what you think! The original morphs are the right side of photos and the new ones are on the left. On the side profile I actually prefer the original morph, but I prefer the new morph on the three quarter angle shot. But it's a choice between one or the other. Mr Ion said to go for whichever three quarter angle I prefer, as that's the angle I will see the most - which makes sense ha. So I think that's the one I'm probably going to go for but would definitely welcome opinions from you all! I haven't uploaded a front morph as Mr Ion said there wouldn't really be much of a change from the original morph, so we didn't actually do one. And more exciting news...I have booked the operation for 2nd August!! I actually booked it back in June and that was the first slot he had. I'm going to be an overnight case at Weymouth Street Hospital. Very excited already!! Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly, it's a bit never wracking thinking about what would happen if it didn't!! I'll keep you all updated as I go along. And finally I want to say a big thank you to everyone for their kind and encouraging comments on my last update. It really does help being able to talk to people who are going along the same journey. You guys are the best :) That's it for now, speak soon!

Hi Real Selfers!

Now that I am about 11 days post op l, I thought I'd do an update. Overall, I am pretty happy!  I have a few concerns but I think that is normal for given where I am currently at with swelling and healing. More on that later but here are some details about the day and recovery first :) Sorry this is going to be a long update haha as there's loads to say!

My surgery took place the Tuesday before last (2nd August) at Weymouth Street Hospital and I had to get there at 9am for an 11am slot.  Annoyingly I was half an hour late because of stupid train delays (ended up having to pay for an uber) but the hospital were really understanding and said it wasn't a problem. Generally all the Weymouth Street staff were really friendly, helpful and professional - you definitely feel you are in safe hands.

Anyway I ended up getting taken down to surgery at about 11.40am (Mr Ion, professional and friendly as ever, popped into my room before this to recap the plan and give me another consent form -  I also met the anaesthetist, Warwick Merchant, who asked a couple of medical history questions). I can't remember exactly when I got back to my room but I think it was about 3-4 hours later. I actually felt pretty good, there wasn't much pain apart from some in my throat (from the tube). I had a few weird spells where I felt hot, nauseous and dizzy, like you do before you faint, but they passed pretty quickly and I easily wolfed down an amazing three course dinner! Mr Ion also kindly popped in to see how I was doing and to check on my bandages etc.

Before I got discharged, I was given some medicines (including painkillers and antibiotics) and some injections to do at home (this package was about £50 extra). Once I got home things were pretty smooth sailing. I think I was quite lucky with recovery - I've been taking the supplements Mr Ion recommends  (Flx and Probiotics from beyuna.co.uk) for the past three months so maybe that had something to do with it, plus arnica a week before the op and until two weeks after (I have also started taking Multi from Beyuna post op). I only had a little bruising but there was quite a lot of swelling on the lower half of my face - the swelling started to decrease from about day three post op. The pain was really low and I didn't have to use many of my pain killers. It was more uncomfortable than painful and at first I found it hard to sleep upright until I cracked the perfect combination of how to pile my pillows ha! I also found the cast quite annoying - not because it was uncomfortable but it just felt a bit restrictive and it made me not really want to go outside to do things (I didn't feel like putting up with any stares!) so I went a bit stir crazy. I definitely felt like the man in iron mask for a bit ha! Also don't worry about the injections, they come completely pre-prepared so all you need to do is take the cap off and then you can put them in (my mum actually did them for me as she has loads of first aid training - plus it felt a bit weird sticking a need in myself!). You also only have to do one a day for about a week.
 
Anyway, I got the stitches out and cast removed last Tuesday and it wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be, the stitches stung a bit but nothing extreme, plus they come out pretty quickly.  Plus the nurse, Rosie, is really lovely and she makes you feel really calm about it all. Even though it didn't hurt, I felt weirdly light headed but Rosie told me to take my time and not leave until I felt better. She also got me a nice up of tea with a biscuit to help with the dizziness!  She also told me how to do any post op after care (how to clean it, tape it at night and do the pressure massages - you also need to use Neilmed Sinus Rinse twice a day).

In terms of how it looked, I wasn't actually very keen at first as I thought it looked really piggy-ish. However, this didn't really worry me as I've read a lot of reviews where people said they felt the same when they first got the cast off, but once the swelling improved, they really loved it. I also really trust Mr Ion, his before and after pics are so amazing, and of course he has a load of amazing experience and qualifications.

Now I've had a couple of days to get used to my new nose (I think some of the swelling has gone down too) I am already starting to love my new nose! I still think it looks too upturned, however, a lot of people have said the tip is supposed to drop over time, so I'm not too worried about that yet. Please have a look at my new before and after pics and let me know what you think. I don't think you can really see the upturn in the pics as I've purposely chosen my favourite pics where it's not so visible haha. I especially love the smooth curve I now have in replace of what was before a massive messy bump!!

I've got a check up with Mr Ion in mid September so I'll do another update then. Fingers crossed it's all going well! Come on tip please drop a bit haha.

Thanks for reading! Hope everyone else's rhino journey is going well :)

x

Hey guys!

Hope you're good. I'm about 6 weeks post now so I thought I'd do another update. Things are still going well and I'm really happy, I definitely feel I made the right decision with going through with this operation. I'm conscious though that the healing process can taking many months, so I just hope things carry on smoothly.

I had my first follow up appointment with Mr Ion this werk and he was pleased with my progress. He said there is still a bit of swelling towards the bottom of the nose but not too bother with steroid injections unless I felt conscious about it (which I definitely don't!). I have another appointment in six months to see how things are going. Mr Ion seemed really pleased when I told him how happy he was, you definitely feel he genuinely cares about his patients and their results.

Anyway I've posted quite a few more pics. Some of them are more pre and post op before and afters, others are 11 days vs 6 weeks. Hope they help! I don't think there is a huge difference in the 11 days vs 6 weeks one but I do think there has been a subtle tip drop which is what I was hoping for :)

That's it for now and best of luck to everyone going on their own rhinoplasty journey x

Forgot to upload this one before. It's just one more pic that shows the front angle at 11 days and six weeks a bit more clearly :)

Hey guys!

Sorry to anyone i havent replied to, i havent been on Real Self in a while! I will defininitely try to get back to everyone this week.

Also now that im about 3.5 months post, I thought I'd post some new pics. Generally im really happy with how everything is going, i love my new nose! Im so happy i got it done, i cant tell you nice it is to not feel self conscious or critical every time a pic is taken of me, or if someone is looking at me from a certain angle. It's definitely given me a confidence boost!

Anyway please shout with any questions and i hope everyone else's rhino journey is going well! x

Hey guys,

Hope you're all well. I realised I hadn't updated my review in a while, so thought I'd post a few new pictures. Sorry some of them aren't great quality, my phone camera isn't that great! I'll try to upload some more when I get better ones.

So I'm about 8 months post now and I'm still really, really happy. It was one of the best decisions I ever made, my one regret is that I wish I'd had it done sooner!! All those years of feeling self conscious about my nose and spending ages analysing pics of myself whenever I thought it look paticularly bad. Ergh!! I guess at least I'm here now :)

One very small thing to note is that I do feel my nose has some slight asymmetries when you look at it from the front. However, I don't think it's noticeable unless you're looking for it, and even then I think it's fine. Plus, all faces have natural asymmetries anyway!

I couldn't speak more highly of Lucian Ion and his practise. I am so pleased with the results he has delivered, and the whole service from start to finish has been professional and easy. I've always felt I was in safe hands.

I actually had my check up with him a few days ago and he said there is still a bit of swelling to go down, and a bit more definition to come through. So I'm going in for another review in the middle of August. I also met some lovely ladies in the waiting room, who, if you're reading this, best of luck with your rhinoplasty journeys if you decide to proceed :)

That's it for now, thanks to everyone for their support and lovely comments

X