Pick another Surgeon - trust me

As of writing this review it has been just over a year since my Rhinoplasty with Dr Shoab. I have had time to really reflect on my experience with the clinic and the initial excitement of a new nose has worn off. To put it simply, I hate my new nose and the service I received.

For a quick overview, this is the nose I am left with one year later: 1. A sloped bridge despite me being very clear that it was the ONLY result I DIDN'T want. 2. A bumpy and lumpy nose bridge that you can see and feel. 3. Breathing problems - I can not breathe with my mouth shut comfortably, and I have a lot of strange puss-like balls in one of my nostrils that bleed when irritated. 

It also feels like he narrowed my nasal passages as I can't breathe properly even when my nose is completely clear. 4. Pockets in my nose - There are almost little shelf-like areas inside my nostrils that trap mucus and cause very irritating build-up. 5. My nose is still as wonky as before. 6. It is so unbelievably unsymmetrical from the side. My left and right profile look like completely different noses. Even my nostrils are different.  7. A slight bulbous tip (which I never had before).

Below is my full experience: I had your typical southern Italian nose: over projecting, beaked, large hump and slightly crooked from the front. I am a very self-conscious person and a rhinoplasty has been on my to-do list since I was in my early teens. I prepared an edited photo of my desired nose for the doctor which basically consisted of shaving the hump to be straight, reducing the tip size ever so slightly and re-straightening the front.

He agreed that everything I wanted was realistic for my nose shape and that he would be able to give me the result I wanted. My final request was that I did NOT WANT A SLOPED NOSE! No ski slopes, no dips. I was very vocal about wanting purely a straight nose as it suited my face and would have helped me hold on to at least a little of the cultural history of my nose.

Anyways, I was happy with him and felt he understood my vision and so booked my surgery for 2 months later (much better wait times that some other surgeons)  The day of the surgery is where it all starts to go downhill.  The nurses were absolutely lovely and I felt very looked after. Upon waking up from the GA, I had about 10 minutes to come back to reality before I was being rushed out of the door.

I mentioned to the nurses that I felt like vomiting and they issued me an anti-nausea tablet and shoved me in the uber. Unsurprisingly, 5 minutes later I was sick in the backseat and from then onwards my nose was throbbing all the way home.  4 days into my recovery I could see a strange puss ball forming in one of my nostrils, the nursing team assured me via WhatsApp that it was nothing, and would start to dissolve over the next month.

After a week I went to remove my splint and was surprised to find the location was a random office (not the clinic) where I had to wait about 40 mins to see someone. Awful service and no apology. About 2 months into healing, the puss ball was still there, it's was bleeding and causing me breathing issues.

Spoke to the team and got the same response - nothing to worry about. 4 months in, I finally managed to get an appointment with the Dr (he kept cancelling last minute).  I expressed a few concerns to him and he was very dismissive. Particularly glossed over my breathing issues as "too early to tell", and that my nose looked sloped because it was still swollen.

I'll be honest, at this point, the swelling didn't look too bad (better than my unswollen nose does now) and I was happy with the general appearance. The swelling was hiding the bumps that I could feel when I ran my finger down my nose, and the asymmetrical appearance was a lot less obvious.  Unsurprisingly, he completely dismissed my concerns about the mysterious puss ball lump and said that it would go away eventually. 

At about the 10 month mark, I started to experience bleeding and the mysterious puss lump was now twice the size and oozing a thick black substance. I immediately reached out to the team and received a very dismissive and cold email suggesting I use a hydrogen peroxide nasal spray.

I passed this onto my chemist who proceeded to look at me in horror and refused to formulate such a spray for me. She was surprised that doctors were still recommending them. (it is literally diluted bleach and the nurses did not even recommend me a percentage). They then issued me a course of antibiotics which seemed to do the trick but failed to explain why this was happening.

To this day, I experience nose bleeds occasionally and have to be very cautious when blowing my nose so as not to aggravate the puss ball that IS STILL IN MY NOSE.  AVOID THIS DOCTOR AND CLINIC AT ALL COSTS. I would hate for another insecure girl to have their self-esteem completely destroyed by the nose this man leaves you with

They are so quick to get feedback from you when the swelling is hiding all the problems, and when they know you will be too excited about the concept of a new nose to see the flaws in their service.