Rhinoplasty: My story. by: A 20 year old female patient
As a teenager I hated my nose. It was the one thing that I really wanted to change about myself. I was extremely self-conscious about my profile because of how far my nose protruded from my face. I constantly avoided pictures that might capture the largeness of my nose, and I didn’t feel comfortable with people even looking at me from the side. I began expressing my dislike for my nose, telling my friends and family that I wanted a nose job. Most of them just laughed and replied with something like “Oh my God, you’re ridiculous! You don’t need a nose job, you’re beautiful the way you are!” But it was what I really wanted.
During my first year of college was when I really started researching plastic surgeons. I would spend hours at a time going from one plastic surgeon’s website to another, looking at their before and after rhinoplasty pictures. I found that I didn’t even like a lot of the “after” photos on these websites, and I told myself that I had to like every single before and after nose job picture in order for me to even consider that doctor.
I came across Dr. Majmundar’s website and loved all of the “after” noses. I was also very impressed with the awards and accomplishments that were posted on the website, like being named one of the top doctors in Atlanta. He had an office location that was very convenient too, but what really sold me was that he is a facial plastic surgeon. To me, that was extremely important because that meant he was more specialized in nose jobs than regular plastic surgeons.
I scheduled a consultation with Dr. Majmundar (the only doctor I had a consultation with). He told me that I had internal issues with my nose, including a deviated septum and enlarged turbinates, which he would fix with a septoplasty so that I could breathe better (I was always a mouth breather). He then told me what he thought would be necessary in order to fix the looks of my nose, like filing down the bump and lowering the tip just a tad. Since the end of my freshman year of college was just a couple months away, I scheduled my surgery for the first week of summer break.
I was more excited than nervous on the day of surgery, and my operation went well without complications. The recovery process was the part that I wasn’t looking forward to. Surprisingly, the pain wasn’t that bad at all. For most of the week I just took an over-the-counter non-aspirin pain reliever, but I did take half of the prescribed pain killer during the first couple days. I felt sore and uncomfortable for the week but it was nothing extreme. On day two the swelling and bruising around my eyes was at its peak and my daily entertainment was looking in the mirror. By day seven the major swelling on my face was gone and the bruising was just a slight yellow, which I easily covered with makeup.
The most exciting part was getting the splint removed. After being inside for over a week, I was ready to get out of the house and see my new nose! Now, over a year later, I am so happy with the results. Not only do I feel better about myself, but I can breathe better too. My advice is to do what makes you happy, but choose a doctor who you trust and believe will give you the results that you want. Also, don’t worry about judgment from others because my theory is this: those who are self-conscious about their noses will understand your decision, and those who aren’t insecure might not understand, but those who love you will support you either way!
