3 months after male rhinoplasty at BT Plastic Surgery in Korea
Hello Everyone!
First time posting here about my experiences with BT Plastic Surgery for my rhinoplasty operation. I was provided an incentive to write this review about in no way was I instructed to provide any sort of favorable or biased review.
First off - How I chose BT
Honestly, I wasn't even looking to do a full rhinoplasty. I was in search for some sort of facial contouring procedure instead to slim my face plus a minor alar reduction. My main source of research for clinics was via reddit, purseforum + unni app. I had reached out to so many of the popular ones like Eight, DA, Fresh etc. As with any clinic I found that there were both positive and negative reviews which kind of lead to a decision paralysis/overload of information.
What initially swayed me towards BT was the amazing service, communication and English staff. To preface, i'm not Korean nor have I had any experience doing plastic surgery in Korea. I read I could hire translators for surgery but didn't want to hassle with that and pay extra. At BT, Christine who was my coordinator was fantastic in that her English was native level, her response was also so quick and willing to jump on a phone call and lastly, she and the doctor entertained all my questions no matter how silly they seemed in hindsight.
As I researched BT more, I saw some truly amazing results from their other doctor who specialized in rhinoplasty and was an ENT. The main thing here though was that I was looking for a natural look, ironically so that the end result could not be noticed by anyone except myself. Wanted something super subtle and my nose shape to overall remain the same. So I thought more and decided, why not if I was going to be recovering anyways, perhaps add a rhino into improve the areas I wasn’t fond of.
The whole process from when I messaged them until I paid my deposit was 2 weeks. Christine never pressured me to pay the deposit or use any upselling tactics. Just responded to what I had asked usually within a day. Paragraphs long I'm telling you which I felt really reassured since I was overseas and couldn't go in for an in person consultation.
1 Day Before Surgery
Landed in Seoul 2 days before the actual surgery day. Went to the clinic which was very modern and clean in a nice and convenient area in Gangnam. Now this part furthered my trust with BT and this is another reason why I recommend them so highly. I first met with the facial contour doctor. No hint of arrogance at all, super friendly and spoke English at all. After doing a CT face scan, to my surprise and initial disappointment, he said there was nothing needed for my face to be done from a facial contouring perspective. The structure was good and he didn't want to take my money. Since I came all the way to Korea for this, I was persistent in asking him what if I insisted SOMETHING, ANYTHING such as zygomatic reduction or facial liposuction.
He confidently and nicely assured me for zygomatic reduction, he does not recommend as the rest of my face would sag and I had no issue there. He then said for lipo, nothing much to lipo and it'd be a waste. I then even said what if I paid extra for lipo just so he does it as I felt irrational convinced i had alot of face fat but he politely declined. He could've easily taken my money but didn't so respect for that. WHat he did offer me was botox for masseters at COST which I really appreciated. Overall I do not blame the doctor here as he couldn’t have known my structural bone shape until the in person consultation.
Next I met the ENT nose doctor. Again super, super approachable and gentle. We went over the areas of my nose he'll do. All in he straightened the bridge, reduce the bulbous, reduced the alar and fixed my slight deviated septum. Never would I have thought I was going to do my nose but I thought ah why not i'm all the way here and he seemed like a great doctor. I went ahead and paid the rest of the deposit. Went to do bloodwork with Christine after and went home. That was when it really hit me that this was for real. Had my doubts back and forth but ultimately just told myself to relax and that i'm in good hands.
Surgery Day
Next day, went to the clinic at 9:30AM having fasted for over 8 hours. Standard stuff like washing my face, taking pictures etc. Went into the operation theatre and before you know it, I woke up with the procedure finished in one of their resting rooms with a bed around 5PM. Nothing initially hurt but my throat was EXTREMELY dry but I couldn't drink anything for another hour. Another thing I didn't realize is that after rhino, you cannot wear glasses. In hindsight this seemed obvious but I was not informed. I don't wear any contacts but luckily can still sort of see so just took a taxi and went home.
Days 1-3 Post Op
First 2 days were an intense amount of discomfort I've never obviously felt before. Since I had stents inside my nose, I couldn't breathe through it at all. Had to constantly breathe through my mouth which made it super dry all the time. This also lead to trouble sleeping. I couldn't take as well first 2 days because of how dry it was that it felt a bit painful to talk. Didn't have much appetite and certainly did not want to go out although you're advised to walk around to reduce swelling. Thankfully I had a private balcony in my Airbnb so I got fresh air there. Not much else to say honestly except I was just dying from boredom and discomfort. You have to be prepared to be mentally strong.
Day 3 I got the stuff in my nose removed which greatly helped breathing obviously. There was still a lot of blood and mucus coming out of my nose so had to constantly wipe. Showering was still an inconvenience since your nose cant get wet at all. Bruised alot around my eyes and face as you can see from the pictures below. Communication was great though still with Christine. Some clinics I hear after they take your money and do the operation, the service completely drops but thankfully it was not the case here.
Throughout the next few days, everything got easier day by day. Day 7 I got these plastic things in my nose removed which was sitting on the roof of my nostrils and the cast removed. I didn't even know they were there to be honest but that furthered the relief. When I took off the cast like many others, I honestly didn’t recognize myself and had like a 5 min anxiety attack where I was like what have i done. THIS IS NORMAL and obviously now 2 months out, I don’t regret it.
POST OP CARE
Some people say the post op care is equally as important to prevent scarring and complications. BT offered daily red light recovery treatment which I declined since I was lazy. If I HAD to criticize one thing about BT and it’s not even major, I felt the aftercare could be slightly improved. After surgery is done, you have to go by yourself to get all of the meds. Since I felt exhausted and I looked like a freak right after surgery, it would’ve been nice if the meds could be bought beforehand so that this part can be skipped. Instructions were also slightly unclear at times but again, thankfully Christine responded right away to all the post op questions I thought of.
I left Korea by day 10. See my recovery pictures below and let me know if you have any questions. Overall, had a positive experience with BT but I don't think I can go through a rhino again lol. If you guys have any questions just send me a dm or something.
Before Surgery:
After 1 week
After 1 month
After 2 months
