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My Rhinoplasty with Dr. Allcroft
I had my rhinoplasty with Dr. Allcroft in 2016, in my late 20s. I've waited years to write this review, but a recent corrective surgery to address some of the damage from that procedure has finally prompted me to share my experience. The 2016 surgery left me devastated by my appearance, physically scarred, and with lasting health problems that impact my everyday life.
My surgery with Dr. Allcroft was actually a revision. The previous surgery had been when I was a teenager. It had softened a bump in my nose, but the original surgeon hadn't shortened the length, leaving my nose with what felt like an unnatural projection. Strangers sometimes commented on it, and I felt self-conscious, which was frustrating having already gone through one cosmetic surgery.
Dr. Allcroft was welcoming and reassuring. We discussed my goals: reducing the projection while maintaining my front-facing appearance, which I'd always felt happy with.
The surgery itself was unremarkable. There was pain and swelling, but nothing that felt out of the ordinary for rhinoplasty. A few days after surgery, when some of the clotting had subsided and I was able to clean the inside of my nose as instructed, I noticed something odd: a large bump or bone in my right nostril, so large it partially obstructed my breathing. Alarmed, I called Dr. Allcroft's office. He reassured me that it was cartilage, part of the surgery, and nothing to be concerned about. Though it hadn't been there before and felt a little unsettling and uncomfortable, I took a small comfort in knowing it wasn't visible from the outside.
Early in the healing process, I suspected something was wrong. My nostrils were extremely uneven, with the right side looking "collapsed" inward. On the tip of my nose, there was also now a bony indentation. The skin over the indentation looked taut and almost see-through, and added to the uneven overall appearance of the nose.
I brought these concerns to Dr. Allcroft. He told me that the swelling would continue to go down and this wasn't the final result; that I'd been looking at my nose in selfies, which would always distort the image; and finally, that my new nose was “beautiful.” I wasn't sure what to do with the word “beautiful.” The projection had been reduced, and the side profile looked shorter… but my front-facing appearance was jarringly different. Before, I had looked like a person with a long nose from the side. Now, I looked like a before photo of someone whose nose had been badly broken. I felt devastated, and gaslit by Dr. Allcroft's use of “beautiful.” It was a subjective word being used to describe something objective—a real and obvious asymmetry, a visible and high right nostril that people could see into from the side, and a painful piece of cartilage that obstructed breathing and frequently caused a foul odor in my nose, so bad that it sometimes woke me up at night.
I've since been to an ENT surgeon at Mass General, which is why I'm writing this review now. The surgery I got with her was covered by insurance and didn't address aesthetics. She simply removed the mass of cartilage (her medical notes state it served no purpose) and did slight internal work to support the nostril on the inside.
Finally, I want to share two additional things to show how deeply and negatively this surgery has impacted my life:
Since the surgery, I've had two internal stitches (the permanent ones they sometimes leave after surgery) come out through the skin of my nose. When the first one emerged, I thought it was a stubborn blackhead—what else could it be? I'd tried to get it out for weeks and finally went to an esthetician. She struggled to remove it with her tools, and when she finally did, she said, "I think this is a surgical stitch." I was absolutely horrified. Lucky(?) for me, the esthetician's office was in the medspa adjacent to Dr. Allcroft's. He was able to come in, and they refunded me the cost of the removal. There is a second stitch to this day. It hasn't come fully through but has stayed just under the skin. That's what I get to look at every day.
The odor I mentioned earlier has had an enormous impact on my life. It's one of the many concerns I brought to Dr. Allcroft over the years. He told me, when it’s bothering me, to wipe the inside of my nostril with polysporin. But it's there every day. The odor ranges from yeasty bread to a musty towel to something decaying. Writing this, I'm starting to cry. I don't want to live with that for the rest of my life. I'm terrified that other people can smell it, and it's a constant reminder of how deeply I regret this surgery, and how much I wish I could tell my late 20s self what was to come.
I have a good life. I have friends who care about me, and I'm lucky in so many ways. I'm fortunate that my surgery with Dr. Allcroft is my life's greatest regret. It could be worse, but it doesn't change that it’s the thing I regret most. I live not only with the aesthetic reality of it, but also the health complications, the daily work required to manage those complications, and a lasting concern that as I get older, these complications might get worse.
I hope that my photos speak for themselves. I wish I could go back.
My surgery with Dr. Allcroft was actually a revision. The previous surgery had been when I was a teenager. It had softened a bump in my nose, but the original surgeon hadn't shortened the length, leaving my nose with what felt like an unnatural projection. Strangers sometimes commented on it, and I felt self-conscious, which was frustrating having already gone through one cosmetic surgery.
Dr. Allcroft was welcoming and reassuring. We discussed my goals: reducing the projection while maintaining my front-facing appearance, which I'd always felt happy with.
The surgery itself was unremarkable. There was pain and swelling, but nothing that felt out of the ordinary for rhinoplasty. A few days after surgery, when some of the clotting had subsided and I was able to clean the inside of my nose as instructed, I noticed something odd: a large bump or bone in my right nostril, so large it partially obstructed my breathing. Alarmed, I called Dr. Allcroft's office. He reassured me that it was cartilage, part of the surgery, and nothing to be concerned about. Though it hadn't been there before and felt a little unsettling and uncomfortable, I took a small comfort in knowing it wasn't visible from the outside.
Early in the healing process, I suspected something was wrong. My nostrils were extremely uneven, with the right side looking "collapsed" inward. On the tip of my nose, there was also now a bony indentation. The skin over the indentation looked taut and almost see-through, and added to the uneven overall appearance of the nose.
I brought these concerns to Dr. Allcroft. He told me that the swelling would continue to go down and this wasn't the final result; that I'd been looking at my nose in selfies, which would always distort the image; and finally, that my new nose was “beautiful.” I wasn't sure what to do with the word “beautiful.” The projection had been reduced, and the side profile looked shorter… but my front-facing appearance was jarringly different. Before, I had looked like a person with a long nose from the side. Now, I looked like a before photo of someone whose nose had been badly broken. I felt devastated, and gaslit by Dr. Allcroft's use of “beautiful.” It was a subjective word being used to describe something objective—a real and obvious asymmetry, a visible and high right nostril that people could see into from the side, and a painful piece of cartilage that obstructed breathing and frequently caused a foul odor in my nose, so bad that it sometimes woke me up at night.
I've since been to an ENT surgeon at Mass General, which is why I'm writing this review now. The surgery I got with her was covered by insurance and didn't address aesthetics. She simply removed the mass of cartilage (her medical notes state it served no purpose) and did slight internal work to support the nostril on the inside.
Finally, I want to share two additional things to show how deeply and negatively this surgery has impacted my life:
Since the surgery, I've had two internal stitches (the permanent ones they sometimes leave after surgery) come out through the skin of my nose. When the first one emerged, I thought it was a stubborn blackhead—what else could it be? I'd tried to get it out for weeks and finally went to an esthetician. She struggled to remove it with her tools, and when she finally did, she said, "I think this is a surgical stitch." I was absolutely horrified. Lucky(?) for me, the esthetician's office was in the medspa adjacent to Dr. Allcroft's. He was able to come in, and they refunded me the cost of the removal. There is a second stitch to this day. It hasn't come fully through but has stayed just under the skin. That's what I get to look at every day.
The odor I mentioned earlier has had an enormous impact on my life. It's one of the many concerns I brought to Dr. Allcroft over the years. He told me, when it’s bothering me, to wipe the inside of my nostril with polysporin. But it's there every day. The odor ranges from yeasty bread to a musty towel to something decaying. Writing this, I'm starting to cry. I don't want to live with that for the rest of my life. I'm terrified that other people can smell it, and it's a constant reminder of how deeply I regret this surgery, and how much I wish I could tell my late 20s self what was to come.
I have a good life. I have friends who care about me, and I'm lucky in so many ways. I'm fortunate that my surgery with Dr. Allcroft is my life's greatest regret. It could be worse, but it doesn't change that it’s the thing I regret most. I live not only with the aesthetic reality of it, but also the health complications, the daily work required to manage those complications, and a lasting concern that as I get older, these complications might get worse.
I hope that my photos speak for themselves. I wish I could go back.
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