Plastically Prettified: Part IV - Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty, commonly known as a "nose job", may be by far the most common facial surgery done in the plastic surgery history. This has been what I've always wanted, to have a nose that is sharper on the tip, and for my nostrils to face downwards, not flared. I mean I knew I was never ugly to begin with, I just didn’t like the idea of flaring my nostrils at the camera. (Lol)

As I mentioned, I always toyed with the idea of getting a Rhinoplasty but never really set a timeline to it. I guess my interest only heightened when my girlfriend went for ps and I saw how simple it was and not scary like how everyone had imagined to be.

I started doing research on ps; like who has done what, what celebs have done, the nice & ps-gone-wrong kind, reading on how certain procedures were done, watching videos of faces being cut up by ps surgeons.. etc. Naturally after awhile, I became subconsciously observant towards people who have sharp or defined features. Well, I don't quite judge at the first look, but we all know that most asian women have softer features, or I would say Singaporean ladies generally do not have very defined features compared to other asians like Taiwanese or Chinese. When I see girls (or guys) with very sharp features, I tend to have the suspicion that they have underwent some "job/s". Of course I have nothing against anyone who has done or even thoughts about going thru ps, my observations are purely just a cause of curiosity. Well I guess so long as one doesn't get infatuated by it,  it's a real cosmetic advancement this current technology has in store for us. *winks*



My Research Process

To be honest, I was really a noob when I first started with my research. I didn't know the type of nose I liked/wanted, all I knew was just that I wanted a nicer nose. Why do I say noob? I only knew I wanted a nicer nose, but if you asked me to describe "the nose"I wanted, I don't think I could answer in a detailed description.

I looked at pictures of the few common people known for their ps; Dawn Yang, Xiaxue, Angelababy, Peggy Heng, etc, as well as celebs I thought had nice small noses like Fann Wong, and some other Korean stars. I think the one esp helpful for me was Xiaxue's blog about her ps, plus her FAQs video on rhinosplasty, guess that was the one that really gave me the idea of how I wanted my nose to be like, and I even learnt about words like "septum", "columella", and "dorsum"(it's really interesting, thanks Xiaxue!)

After seeing Korean Rhinosplasty techniques, I came up with a conclusion that even though I wanted to get a nose job, I would really much prefer to go the direction of a having a natural look. I really disliked my upturned nose (as previously mentioned), and also I noticed that noses with very high nose bridge looked pretty fake so I decided I didn't want any raise to my bridge area. So that’s it; natural look, longer tip (almost 90 degree from side profile), slight curve on dorsum, and no raise from bridge/ start of bridge from middle of eye intersection, basically I was trying to go for the "Korean nose"look.



Deciding on Doctor & Country 

I have a few friends who had their ps done in Thailand, some Bangkok, others Hatyai. Many approach surgeons in Thailand often because ps prices there are much more affordable (may be dirt cheap to some). I myself ever considered getting my nose job done in Thailand (wanted to save money lah), but because the prices are so good, I was often afraid that it may be too-good-to-be-true. Of course my friends who gotten their nose jobs done in Thailand came back with satisfactory results. I did notice that the type of "nose"they came back with was typically similar. And one thing in common was that those friends didn't have upturned noses before, all of them had the same idea of wanting a higher nose bridge only. Basically what I'm trying to say is that I have different needs as theirs (I wanted something like the Tiplasty, to lengthen the tip of nose), and I think that most doctors there does very generic nose jobs like only adding an implant on the bridge of patient's noses and not the more complicated jobs (thats why its so cheap). Because of this assumption, the only place I would go to for rhinoplasty is Korea.

So I made up my mind, but I was broke; couldn't afford the hefty price tag for a Korean doctor, the airfares and hotel expenses, so same thing happened, nothing.......

Then one day while I was surfing online on ps, I stumbled across a website about a Vietnamese doctor who went to Korea (Seoul) to learn the Korean ps skills and got certified, he also had Korean implants imported back to Ho Chi Min where he practices. The clinic even provides patients with a 10-years warranty card where patients could return to the clinic should anything happen to your "job".
It was time! Lol! I was so sold on his whole profile, I emailed him on some enquiries I had, booked a slot, and flew to Ho Chi Min City within a week.

Prior to that, I haven't heard of any friends who been to Vietnam for ps nor did I come across anyone who done their surgeries in Vietnam. I chose to go to HCMC mainly because of the Doctor who learnt Korean technology/skills + he imports Korean implants, as well as the affordable price tag. I done my rhinoplasty with silicon implant + ear cartilage (for lengthening my nose tip) at approximately SGD$2k (inclusive of one night stay at the hospital and company of a female staff). Im guessing for the same procedure if done in Korea should cost at least 3-4 times more, and that's not inclusive of airfares & other expenses. So it was definitely a win-win for me!

Just give you an idea of what I meant by my earlier description of my ideal nose...

And that is what the clinic called; S Line Nose...

-start of bridge from middle of eyes intersection

-curve line from forehead to bridge to nose tip

- nose tip lengthen to create an almost 90 degree side profile

-slim, sharp nose tip

And I showed the Doc this pic for reference.....

(Actually I didn't know who this lady was before apart from the adverts she has as a Laneige ambassador. Just looked up, her name is Song Hye Kyo. Like her natural looking-defined nose.)

My Experiences in Vietnam- Ho Chi Min City

I flew to HCMC alone on one of the budget airlines (can't remember, its either Tigerair or JetStar which costs approx. $200ish for a round trip). Was there for a total of 8/9 days. (Sorry can't remember the specific details as this post is super overdue!)

I touched down in HCMC late noon/early evening, the airport was small and not well developed.
Got out and took a cab from the designated airport taxi counter and went straight to the hotel.

I booked the hotel Hong Vy, which was walking distance from the clinic (according to my estimation from looking at the map. Its quite like a budget hotel, simple with all the necessary things you need (eg toiletries, slipper, mini bar), and also comes along with free breakfast buffet.

By the time I got to my hotel room and settled down, it was almost time for dinner. So I went out to do abit of reece-ing (hehe). Saw Banh Mi (a friend of mine recommended it to me, its Vietnamese sandwich using baguette bread), grabbed one and headed back to my hotel. There was not much downstairs, and I didn't dared to walk too far off alone as I was afraid of getting lost.. Anyway a few days later I went out again and there were small convenient shops along the same stretch so it wasn't too bad, as in I had other food options. :P

(This is the "photography" version of Banh Mi)

(How the actual road side stall looks like)

(and this is me pigging out.. hehe)

So right after the Banh Mi, I had to start fasting... till the next morning for surgery. I could only eat after the surgery was completed. I think this is so because my surgery was done under GA (General Anesthetic), and if I had food in my stomach I may throw up during the surgery causing complications. (see link: http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1019.aspx?CategoryID=69&SubCategoryID=692)



To Hanquoc Clinic for Pre-Op Consultation

Morning came, excited for what's to come; my new nose! :D
I changed into something comfy, packed my backpack and moved off to Hanquoc Clinic (didn't check-out of hotel, just left it empty for a day while I was at the hospital). I walked for approx. 10mins using google map, but couldn't locate the clinic. Had to seek directions from a dental nurse (in the dental clinic) along the way.. then took another 10 minutes to get there (so I guess my map estimation was pretty bad, lol!). It's pretty easy and quick to get there, just that there's really alot (alot!) of motorcycles on the road during rush hour. And if you're not a fan of walking, you could cab to the clinic and get there in approximately 5 minutes.

Arrival at the clinic, from outside the clinic looks pretty presentable (much better looking than those cheap clinics in Hatyai). Its tucked slightly off the main road that leading into a smaller road. 

          

          

          

I stepped in, met this guy (I suppose it's the surgeon's assistant) and was taken into the consultation room. He asked me the usual questions like my concerns and what my expectations were. After listening and understanding, he took pictures of my face in different profiles in preparation for the 3D Vectra program. It's basically a program that let's the doctor play with "shaping" any part of your face and showing patients how he or she would look like.

Here's an example of how the Vectra 3D machine looks like.

(Picture taken from: http://www.egrari.com/about-us/about-technology/vectra-3d/ )

(the actual machine at the clinic)

Here's an example of how the Vectra 3D application looks like when comparing before and after, so you can have an idea of how you look like in your ideal description. In this case, this illustration is showing the women's nose before and after straightening of her nose bridge.

(Picture taken from: http://www.facialplastics.info/blogs/the-new-plastic-surgery-app.html )

(their collection of implants)

(haha.. was playing with boob implants. the one im squeezing is an example of the older types of implants which are not recommended, and the ones on the right are the newer types of implants)

To be honest, I didn't really like how I looked in the "After" picture...I do not know if I looked weird or I just wasn't used to the change-of-nose look. I stared at the screen for a while and after 10 minutes, I told the surgeon's assistant "let's do it" (well since I already flew all the way there, I thought it would be a waste if I went home looking the same). 

There was a big white car (quite nice and clean looking) that picked me up from the clinic, together with one of the female clinic assistants, to the hospital. The ride took about 15-20 minutes.

          

At The Hospital

To cut things short, after I was registered I was taken around the hospital for some basic checks eg. blood pressure and weight, etc. then given a set of surgical gown to change into. I sat in one of the rooms and waited, then got to see Dr. Nam (the surgeon who learnt the Korean ps techniques) for the first time. We spoke a little, told him what my wants were, showed him a picture of the Korean celeb, confirmed my procedure and off he went for preparation for the surgery. Dr. Nam is pretty much a person with few words, he seemed like a patient & gentle doctor... (in my own opinion)

Time check; 12ish-pm.....

I was sitting on one of the beds in a "recovery room"where other patients who had their surgeries done were resting. All of them seemed like they were in their sleep, they look like they just got their surgeries done (bandaid up) and were still in sleep due to GA (General Anesthetic). 

Lying on the ops theatre bed..... 

Feeling nervous..... The surgeons (looked like there were 2. I suspect one as the main surgeon and the other was the assistant surgeon) and male nurses (all in the room were men) were busy walking around preparing all the ops tools and making sure everything's in place before the surgery began. The assisting surgeon then smiled at me cheekily as he was saying some thing to his nurses (he looked like he was telling some kinda joke to his nurses assisting him), guess I was too stressed at that point to make out what they were saying and in fact that relieved me of some stress though I couldn't quite understand(lol). He applied the GA and shortly after I was gone..................

Time check; 3 o'clock in the noon.

I opened my eyes, and I felt like I was spinning and definitely felt terrible.. felt really nauseas... couldn't move as I was feeling too much discomfort... closed my eyes.... goner again....

(Okay.. this post is way overdue, it has been 8 months since my surgery... I'd have to admit I can't quite remember the exact details of where I woke up etc etc immediately after my surgery. So I guess I'll just have to give you guys the details best of what I can remember. Pardon me!)

The thing/sensation I MOST remembered was that I felt terribly nauseas all night long, and what made it worse was that I couldn't breathe!! (because thick cotton buds were stuck into both my nostrils to keep blood from dripping, but they were so thick they completely blocked my breathing passage thru my nose) That was pretty Sh*tty.. I threw up all night and I think its due to the GA.. I was practically throwing up gastric juices (empty stomach for too long) and some bitter substance which I guessed was the medication from the GA (think so?). Lucky there was this female assistant (think she's some customer service rep that was sent by the clinic to keep my company and take care of me for the night) with me to help me when I threw up (change of plastic bags & getting new tissues) or get down the bed to the toilet. She was nice but couldn't speak or understand english (she's Vietnamese). I couldn't sleep because it was really difficult to sleep with mouth open and breathing thru my mouth as there were times i would have accidentally closed my mouth and then choke myself awake gasping for air. I just had to bear with all that till the next day....

(Me... right after I woke up in my own room in the hospital)

(my 2 bags of vomit, and bloody tissues)

Dawn came.. I was still feeling sh*tty because of the blocked nose, but what made me feel better was that I probably threw up all the GA medication and I no longer felt nauseas (*yay*consolation..*rolls eyes*). The lady who accompanied me thru the night gave me a bottle of milk (those concentrated and expensive kind you buy from the hospital) and I drank with a straw. Drinking or eating with a complete blocked nose was no fun... it can get pretty tiring trying to gasp for air, chew, swallow, and maintain the adequate amount of air consistently...which goes to say, it felt really exhausting everytime I drank (needless to say eat, bleh).

I washed up my dirty face (from blood & puke), changed back into my casuals, and was discharged from the hospital. The female assistant sent me down to take a taxi back to my hotel. And I asked her for a place where I could buy more of the "hospital milk" as I knew I wouldn't be able to eat properly for the next 2 days. There was a little store just right outside of the hospital, they sold the milk in packs of 6 (bottles) which didn't cost much (can't remember exactly but I would think it didn't cost more than a dollar each). Btw, the milk is reaalllly sweet... if you're not too much of a fan of sweet drinks, try drinking some first then add water into the bottle. Or alternatively pour the milk out into a glass and add water. Thats what I did, mixed the milk with water for a taste less sweet and one bottle could last me 2 servings. Remember no seafood, chilli, dark soy sauce, alcohol after surgery (at least for the first 2 weeks). And definitely no smoke!! Im not joking! Keep the woulds clean and fresh. Im speaking from experience. If you've read my previous post about my epicanthoplasty, you would know that I've already warned.

(Day 1: Swollen face; around the nose area. Photo taken when I first got back to my hotel room)

(The "hospital milk", lol)

Road To Recovery

(Day 1 Dinner: horrible room service; some asparagus soup... bleh.. I took a mouthful and remembered I shouldn't be taking seafood, there were bits in the soup that tasted like crab meat..)

(Day 1 Breakfast: Buffet.... so difficult to eat without breathing... :/ )

(Day 2 Breakfast)

(Day 2 Lunch + Dinner + Snacks)

(Day 3 Breakfast)

(Day 4 Breakfast: Best comfort food.. Porridge)

(Can't remember which day this is, but its pretty obvious the swelling has went down by alot)

(Semi-side profile)

I travelled to HCMC alone, but I had a friend join me on the 5th to 8th day.

So on the 6th day, we checked out of Hong Vy Hotel, and we went to another hotel closer to the market area; The White Hotel)

(Dinner on the 4th day post-op: Finally my friend arrived, rescued me by taking me out for proper food. By then I regained my breathing by 80%.. So happy I had my tastebuds back.. Muahahahahaha!)

(See see... Dinner was yummy.. The Pho was gooood!)

(Checkng into The White Hotel, very white hor. lol)

(Rooms very clean, small, and cosy.. not bad for a budget hotel)

(The cafe right across our hotel. Went thee for coffee after checking-in)

(If you are a coffee lover, you should really try their iced-coffee sold by road side stalls.. very very thick!! Kopi Gao!! lol)

(View from inside of ShiBuYa Cafe)

(Night view: Street of HCMC)

The Post-Op Appointment 

So this is the day of post-op appointment, which is exactly a week since the surgery. Was feeling excited to remove the cast and have my nose cleaned up 'cuz t hasn't been cleaned since the day I did my surgery!! I was secretly afraid that there would be mould or pimples on my nose since its so dirty, lol!

(*Jiang-jiang* - I know, i look horrible with my humongous nose)

(Show you how the back of my ear looked like. It wasn't really painful, it just felt like a hole when I touch it. Photo was taken by the nurse who was cleaning my wounds.)

(Before & After: Front profile)

(Before & After: Right profile)

(Before & After: Left profile)

(This picture really shows how swollen my nose was... it made my eyes look weird..)

(Breakfast from The White Hotel....erm..)

(Our dinner at some cafe nearby.. And no, the la-la wasn't for me)

(Day 7: Pedicure after post-op appointment)

(Tea at ShiBuYa Cafe again)

(You know what that is? Camomile flowers.. HCMC has many stalls selling teas & flowers. You can see them around markets)

Back In Singapore

Haha. Please bear with my selfies... Was trying to snap selfies daily (or few times a week) to document my recovery progress. So the following are pictures since June 2013 to Feb 2014. 

(First night back home. Nose still HUGE)

(HUGE)

(Can cucumbers make them de-swell? lol. nah. I was trying to soothe my irritated skin)

(June 2013)

(My nose looks so prominent now. Colleagues say I look Korean. lol.)

(July 2013: On my way out for an airline interview)

(Bare-faced to Tampines Central)

(Back to office)

(August 2013: Heading out for interview)

(Last quarter of 2013)

(Jan 2014 - Selfie: After my 1st time getting eyelash extensions)

(Jan- CNY Eve 2014)

(Feb 2014)

I am happy with how I look now, much more defined nose than before thats really natural looking 'cuz its not overly small & sharp. Many of my female friends like it too. I am still waiting for the size of my nose to go down (hopefully) as I read from others online saying that the nose could take a year or more for the swelling to go off completely. So Im just hoping that mine could go down just a little bit more. Heh.

That's all folks (for now, hehe). I hope you enjoyed reading my blog and hopefully sharing these experiences can help you better decide on what you really want. Please feel free to leave comments and I'll try my best to answer them. Cheers! ;)