POSTED UNDER Rhinoplasty Reviews
I have almost no airflow into my left nostril now
ORIGINAL POST
Breathing Issues and Poor Aesthetics
I've waited a long time to post this because the entire ordeal was very emotional for me. I had a primary septo/rhino with Dr. G in 2017 when I was 18. My primary concerns were my dorsal hump and droopy tip. I came to the consultation with pictures of noses I liked and things that I didn't like. He told me that those don't really help him since it's not my own nose/facial structure, but I also had a morph of my own nose on the printout that he said gave him the best idea of what I wanted.
He didn't do morphs, but did show with his fingers how my nose would look after. He told me he would also be doing tip refinement, deprojection, and alar base reduction. I didn't have any breathing issues really but my left nostril was smaller than the right and he said he would make sure I could breathe better out of that side. He also told me during the consultation that it would not be 100% symmetric after, but would be improved (my nose was pretty crooked!). This was fine by me. I did definitely feel rushed, but I was young and had flown all the way across the country so it was what it was.
Day of surgery, we talked a little prior and he was asking questions about what I wanted that he definitely should have discussed with me during my consultation (ex. do you want a supratip break or a straight nose -- I didn't know what that even meant at the time but I said I would like it like my morphed nose picture which was straight). This really threw me off and made me more nervous.
After the surgery, I was super anxious for the full 10 days (or however long) until cast removal. I could see my nostrils from the sides and the left one was noticeably flared, which it hadn't been before. Cast removal happened and I was already soo stressed out. I was definitely shocked by my nose -- it looked very different than before and I knew it would be swollen but it was still a shock to me. Overall, I didn't hate how it looked after cast removal, but the left nostril was still flared/retracted from the side, tip looked crazy crooked/warped, and nostrils were crazyyy looking.
I really loved my right side profile, and despite the left side looking flared, I loved the new projection and lift + no dorsal hump. My 3/4 view from both sides was veryyyy different but that got a *little* better as swelling went down.
The biggest thing that makes me regret this surgery is I have almost no airflow into my left nostril now. Inside, you can see the walls of my nose almost touching, which I brought up shortly after surgery but he said it was swelling. It never got better and has gotten far worse over the last 6.5 years. I notice it constantly and it completely impedes my daily life. I have to sleep on my left side and I'm constantly pulling at my cheek throughout the day because I feel like I'm suffocating. I can breathe fine out of the right side, but that nostril collapses when breathing deeply.
Aesthetically, there are some things that are better than before (the dorsal hump is gone, the bridge is a little wider, the tip is a little more narrow) but there's so many issues that I can't look past. Again, one of my biggest issues was how droopy my tip was, especially when smiling, and since the first month or two, it dropped sooo much and it droops just as much as it did prior to my surgery. This is so disheartening for me because I really loved how it looked and I feel like all his other patients look so pretty in their afters. I think he didn't lift it enough so it dropped too much after -- it looks like a lot of other patients are over-lifted at first, and mine pretty much was where I would have wanted it permanently right after cast removal. When not smiling, it still looks a little droopy and over-projected. Honestly, the only difference I can see from my before and after from the profile view is that the hump is gone.
My nostrils are more even than at cast removal, but the left one is still noticeably flared from the side. That's not the end of the world, but it sucks that that wasn't an issue before and it seems like it should have been preventable.
I'm doing a lot of research right now on getting a revision, but I get so anxious even thinking about it that I've put it off for so long. I really cannot afford to have it go wrong again, and it sucks feeling like you did your research and that everyone is getting beautiful, functional results and having this happen.
He didn't do morphs, but did show with his fingers how my nose would look after. He told me he would also be doing tip refinement, deprojection, and alar base reduction. I didn't have any breathing issues really but my left nostril was smaller than the right and he said he would make sure I could breathe better out of that side. He also told me during the consultation that it would not be 100% symmetric after, but would be improved (my nose was pretty crooked!). This was fine by me. I did definitely feel rushed, but I was young and had flown all the way across the country so it was what it was.
Day of surgery, we talked a little prior and he was asking questions about what I wanted that he definitely should have discussed with me during my consultation (ex. do you want a supratip break or a straight nose -- I didn't know what that even meant at the time but I said I would like it like my morphed nose picture which was straight). This really threw me off and made me more nervous.
After the surgery, I was super anxious for the full 10 days (or however long) until cast removal. I could see my nostrils from the sides and the left one was noticeably flared, which it hadn't been before. Cast removal happened and I was already soo stressed out. I was definitely shocked by my nose -- it looked very different than before and I knew it would be swollen but it was still a shock to me. Overall, I didn't hate how it looked after cast removal, but the left nostril was still flared/retracted from the side, tip looked crazy crooked/warped, and nostrils were crazyyy looking.
I really loved my right side profile, and despite the left side looking flared, I loved the new projection and lift + no dorsal hump. My 3/4 view from both sides was veryyyy different but that got a *little* better as swelling went down.
The biggest thing that makes me regret this surgery is I have almost no airflow into my left nostril now. Inside, you can see the walls of my nose almost touching, which I brought up shortly after surgery but he said it was swelling. It never got better and has gotten far worse over the last 6.5 years. I notice it constantly and it completely impedes my daily life. I have to sleep on my left side and I'm constantly pulling at my cheek throughout the day because I feel like I'm suffocating. I can breathe fine out of the right side, but that nostril collapses when breathing deeply.
Aesthetically, there are some things that are better than before (the dorsal hump is gone, the bridge is a little wider, the tip is a little more narrow) but there's so many issues that I can't look past. Again, one of my biggest issues was how droopy my tip was, especially when smiling, and since the first month or two, it dropped sooo much and it droops just as much as it did prior to my surgery. This is so disheartening for me because I really loved how it looked and I feel like all his other patients look so pretty in their afters. I think he didn't lift it enough so it dropped too much after -- it looks like a lot of other patients are over-lifted at first, and mine pretty much was where I would have wanted it permanently right after cast removal. When not smiling, it still looks a little droopy and over-projected. Honestly, the only difference I can see from my before and after from the profile view is that the hump is gone.
My nostrils are more even than at cast removal, but the left one is still noticeably flared from the side. That's not the end of the world, but it sucks that that wasn't an issue before and it seems like it should have been preventable.
I'm doing a lot of research right now on getting a revision, but I get so anxious even thinking about it that I've put it off for so long. I really cannot afford to have it go wrong again, and it sucks feeling like you did your research and that everyone is getting beautiful, functional results and having this happen.
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