Tip of my Nose Looks Bigger, Lost Its Shape, and Moves Around After Septoplasty - Los Angeles, CA

I had septoplasty done exactly one year ago in Los Angeles by an ENT at Good Samaritan Hospital which was fully covered by my PPO. My doctor throughly explained the surgery and ASSURED me the appearance of my nose would NOT change. I had a deviated septum and often found it hard to breath out of my nose. My deviation was on both sides, but more significantly on my left side. My nose looked normal and I liked it for the most part, no form of rhinoplasty was done on my nose, or so I have been told.

Two weeks after my surgery, I noticed that my nose looked a bit shorter and that my nostrils looked bigger. I could also see the hairs in my nostrils which never in my life could I see them before. The biggest difference was when I smiled. My nose looked bigger and the definition on my tip was completely gone, it looks like a blob of a tip. My face no longer looked relaxed, it almost looked like I was scrunching. I told my doctor during a follow up and she was satisfied with the results and said she didn't feel it looked swollen, I figured it was though.

It still looks the same. A few weeks later when I touched my nose, I could feel the tip move around, it pops a bit if I just move it lightly with my finger. It doesn't hurt at first, but sometimes the tip can feel bruised. I find it interesting that my tip moves around and looks different. I went to see my doctor again, I told her about my concerns and she just said that my nose looked exactly the same. Of course she was going to say that, she never took before pictures because my nose wasn't supposed to look any different. She said it wasn't normal that something would be moving around and didn't even touch my nose to feel the popping.

I felt crazy, but months built up and I had now become ashamed of my nose and taking photos. I finally wrote my doctor a detailed letter along with including several before and after photos. She met with me and admitted that from looking at the photos, my nose DOES look different but she honestly didn't know why it would look different. She explained the entire procedure and the only conclusion she came up with was that maybe the cartilage that shapes my nostrils pulled a bit and healed that way... If that makes any sense at all? It still doesn't explain why something is moving around. Again she did not touch my nose to see feel the popping and moving around of the tip... She looked up my nose with a camera, but didn't personally touch it with her hands, only her tools.

She said that if I were to get it fixed, I should find a good doctor who specializes in working on tips. I was shocked when she said this and because she is my doctor and I trusted her, I felt vulnerable and just said okay. Shouldn't she be the one to fix it? Shouldn't she pay for it? I've never felt so ugly and can't afford rhinoplasty or a lawyer. Can my insurance do anything? I think I'll try to report it. I really just don't know what to do or what the problem is. My doctor is board certified, went to a great school, is really nice and explains everything, so I hate to put her down, but this should have never happened and I am disappointed she doesn't know what she did wrong and just sent me home without ever checking up.

Any suggestions would be invaluable to me. I am going to seek a second opinion, but is there a way to see my nose in an x-ray to see if there is something loose in my nose? Should I go to another ENT or a plastic surgeon for an opinion?

If anyone has had the same experience or similar, I would love to hear what you did or your theories. Although the deviation was fixed and I am breathing well, I feel like I lost part of my identity and ethnic characteristic. I used to call my nose my little button nose, I never considered it to be big.. Now I have a bigger nose. It's just so confusing.

Thank you!

It's been a sad journey. I have consulted with 3 top rhinoplasty specialists in Los Angeles and a surgeon at UCLA and they all agree that my nose tip was shortened due to a bad septoplasty job. Unfortunately, to correct just my nose tip alone is about 10k.

Shortly after I post this, I met with my septoplasty doctor Leah E. Mintz of Los Angeles Ear, Nose , and throat. She looked at the pictures and admitted she saw a difference but said she followed procedure and does not know what could have happened... But every other doctor had an idea of what went wrong. After meeting with her, I turned 26 and lost my health insurance, so unless I want to go the legal route (which I'm sure I probably signed something being aware of the risks) then I have to save up and hope that when I do have surgery, that doctor can just give me my old nose back. It wasn't a perfect nose, but at least it was mine and I felt okay to look in the mirror. It's just so depressing that my doctor never offered to fix it after admitting it looked different. My whole face looks different. My eyes are different.

My nose tip still looks bigger and swollen and because my tip was shortened, creases developed under my eyes and my eye shape has changed. When I barely pinch my nose, the lines disappear and the shape goes back to how it was before... I had beautiful eyes. They had a bit of an S shape when I smiled and now they're just bunched up. I cry a bit as I write this, I guess I have no other outlet. I just want to feel beautiful again and my doctor took that away from me. I feel ashamed of my face.

The tip even pops a bit when I barely tap it... Which it had been doing since the day I got home from surgery.

I reccomend anyone looking to do this surgery make their doctor take before and after pictures even if they say the appearance won't change. My doctor assured me my appearance wouldn't change and it did.

I'm still poor due to student loan debt, so I haven't been able to afford a nose job or an attorney. BUT I finally have been able to identify what happened. The middle part of my nose used to dip slightly making it look smaller. My doctor must of raised the middle part of my nose to make it straight (my guess is she thought it would look better), but it actually shortened my nose and widened it making everything look bigger. Here are some new pics... I'm still working on the situation. I've struggled with deep depression because of it and hope one day soon this issue will be resolved.