Rhinoplasty with Dr Erkan Soylu

I travelled from England to Istanbul, Turkey on May 8th this year. I had my pre-op tests and appointment with Dr Erkan Soylu at the Medipol Hospital on the 9th of May, and then had my operation on the 10th of May.

I found out I had a deviated septum at my pre op consultation (which is something I had wondered about for years!) so Dr Erkan said he would repair that problem as well as make all the cosmetic changes (lift droopy tip, create symmetrical nostrils, curve the nose, make it shorter, remove boxy tip) to my nose that we had discussed.

All the staff I met at the hospital were lovely, and I have a special mention for Mohammad Joud who assisted me the whole time I was at the pre-operative appointment. Thank you Mohammad!

On the day of my operation, everything went well. I woke up with just a painful throat from being tubed whilst asleep - I barely had any pin in my nose at all! I stayed the whole day and night and was sent home the following morning. The care was great, my boyfriend stayed the night with me in the hospital and the Medipol premises itself is outstanding.

I spent the next six days cooped up in my hotel room. Had some headaches and just felt extremely congested as I had to have silicone tampons up my nose. But I was well to walk around. Talking and eating was a little difficult- every movement pulled on my nose which felt weird! So a bit of advice is to definitely get some food that is not too cheery for the first few days post op! And drink with straws!

Seven days after my operation day I went back to the hospital to have my stitches, tampons, cast and bandages removed which were all pretty painless. I saw my new nose briefly for a few minutes before I went through to see Dr Soylu. Unfortunately for me, I had a haematoma (sounds worse than it is - it’s when a bruise doesn’t re-absorb back into the skin like it should). Dr Soylu drained it for me with a needle and then re-taped my nose. I was told to leave the tape on for a further ten days (to help with swelling).

When I briefly saw my nose, I loved it (despite the bruise!) and Dr Soylu honestly did everything I asked him to do. It’s crazy how my nose looks so different but I still look like me!

I flew home the same night I had my bandages changed. No problems at the airport as I was provided with a letter from the team at the hospital that stated my details and explained I had had a rhinoplasty etc.

I am now nineteen days post op. My tapes are now completely off. My haematoma has gone but my nose is still swollen all over and it is very delicate and tender to touch. However, it’s still looks amazing and is completely different to before - it’s only going to get even better over the next few months as the swelling goes down!

I do have a little bit of white string on my nose tip. I am not sure what it is, but I have messaged the team to ask and will update this when I know.

I will post some photos to compare the before and after now.