I've been really unhappy with my nose for a long time. - Rhinoplasty - New York, NY

Like everyone else writing rhinoplasty reviews, I've been really unhappy with my nose for a long time. I had an accident when I was little where I apparently fractured and "chipped" a piece of bone off the bridge of my nose. As I grew up, the bump in my nose became more pronounced and it's always bothered me. I avoid pictures of my profile as much as possible, hate talking to people sitting next to me (knowing they'll be seeing my profile the whole time), etc. ... it's just always a nagging concern in any social situation. I feel completely comfortable looking at myself/pictures from straight on, but when it comes to my profile it's like I'm a totally different person!

So after quietly thinking about rhinoplasty for years, and discussing it with my boyfriend (now fiance), I decided this past year to finally schedule some consultations about getting it done. I did a TON of research online for doctors in NYC and NJ and contacted at least 8 offices to make appointments. Surprisingly, only a few ever got back to me, which seemed like an OK way to start narrowing things down. I didn't want to go to an office where communication was poor or untimely.

In the end I met with two doctors who seemed very skilled and reliable based on all of their reviews/online images/credentials/etc. The first doctor I went to made me comfortable right off the bat. His office is great and everyone on his staff is super sweet and quick to answer questions. His surgical style is very natural which is what I am going for. He took photos (from many angles) and did some computer morphs that looked fantastic. He was careful to say that these weren't guaranteed results, which I understood, but that the end result would be very close. He also ordered a CT scan to get a better look at what was going on inside my nose - he thought I had a deviated septum and the scan confirmed it. This was news to me, but ultimately not that surprising since I always seem to have sniffles and sometimes feel like I'm not getting the best airflow... I just never figured there was anything to weird about it, haha. The second doctor I went to didn't do pictures/morphs, which I found a little disappointing. He seemed like he would also do a very good job, but we just didn't "click" as much as the first doctor. He said his office was going to contact my insurance to see about reimbursement and get back to me... but they never did. I thought about following up, but by this point I had pretty much made up my mind to go with my first doctor and decided to let it go.

So after working out the finances and time off from work, I scheduled the surgery for March 9th. I was mostly excited the weeks leading up to it, just wanting time to pass quickly so I could get it done already. I took arnica montana and vitamin C and also started avoiding vitamin E, per my doc's recommendation.

The day of surgery, my mom met me at the doctors office since I was having the operation done in his office operating suite (which was very nice/comfortable, by the way). I spoke to a nurse, the anesthesiologist, and finally the doctor. We went over some pictures again, confirming that I wanted a very natural looking nose (only a very slight, feminine slope - no ski jumps please!). He wasn't doing any tip work since we both agreed it wasn't necessary, just taking down the dorsal hump and fixing my deviated septum.

The surgery itself seemed like it was over in a blink of an eye. I did have a few very uncomfortable minutes in the recovery room. I think the combination of anesthesia and fasting was too much for me... my head started throbbing in a "I'm going to faint way" and I had intense nausea along with just feeling very weird/uncomfortable. I was literally writhing in the recovery chair and shaking with chills. Thankfully my mom brought up that I don't handle fasting/low blood sugar well at all (typically faint) so they gave me some IV fluids and I felt better in minutes. After that passed I got to hang out a bit longer talking to the very nice nurse before I got dressed and went home.

I spent the rest of the day on my mom's couch, eating a little (yogurt, smoothies) and icing my eyes/cheeks as much as I could. The pain meds did their thing and I felt fine. The next two days were a little more uncomfortable. I couldn't breathe out of my nose at all and my eyes/cheeks swelled quite a bit. I felt like I just wanted to drain my face, if that makes any sense! I also had a pretty decent amount of bruising, despite all my prep beforehand. Who knows, if I had done nothing before surgery I guess it could have been much worse.

Three days after my surgery I came back to my apartment. The change of scenery (and even the drive) was a nice change of pace. My swelling and bruising continued to subside (I've also been using an arnica gel which I think has helped speed the process).

As I write this, I'm 5 days post op (not including the day of the surgery). Tomorrow I get my splint off! I must say I'm excited and nervous. While I have complete trust in my doctor, in my time off/boredom I've read a LOT of reviews and seeing some of the negative/"not worth it" ones have scared me a bit. I know tomorrow my nose will be swollen... I just hope that the shape I can see will confirm that my bump is gone and healing is going well. I'd hate to have scar tissue build up where I had the bump shaved down!

I just want to say thank you to everyone who's posted reviews. I wish I had found these reviews before my surgery - it would have been nice to have people to talk to about the whole process before and during the recovery. Hopefully I can be of some help to anyone now looking into this/going through the process themselves! I'll update with more pictures once the splint is off. Oh, and on that note, I was trying to find good samples of photos of my profile to upload here... and well, I had already deleted them all! Haha, I guess it's a show of just how much its always bothered me. I'll ask my doctor to send me his before pictures so I can include those as well.