All my life i was unhappy with my nose. I always felt it was so wide and bulbous, especially when i smiled. In 2007 i had a rhinoplasty by a different doctor with mediocre results. I was still very unhappy about how i looked. My nostrils at the time of the rhinoplasty was never touched and i didnt even know there was a name for such a procedure! Anyway throughout the years i remained unhappy about my nose was thinking about it everyday. I finally decided it was time i do something about it!
I researched nostril reduction and came across alarplasty aka alar base reduction. I came across Dr J on facebook. I watched all his videos including the preop and post op which are very important if your going to have this procedure done. My biggest issue was when i smiled how wide my nose looked, almost like a totally different nose, i hated it. I also didnt like how i looked at rest. I felt my nostrils were throwing my face off balance. I still wanted to look like me but have more balance to my face. I set my consultation with Dr J through facetime bc i live in New york and his office was in New Jersey.
He answered all my questions and i felt so excited. Like finally i will have the nose i have been dreaming of. I booked my appt and my surgery was March 29. I got there early and was a little nervous! I opted to not have a xanax bc then i would not be aloud to drive myself home and nobody came with me. Being that i had surgery before i knew i could handle it. As soon as i saw the doctor i became very calm and knew i was in good hands. He gave me a mirror and i told him what bothere me about my nose. He agreed that i was a good candidate for the procedure but wanted to be very conservative with his approach bc this is irreversible. He was only going to take out a small amount on each side! I completely agreed. He did my vitals and marked me up.
The markings took some time but that was,as he said, the hardest part, trying to make it symmetrical and only take out the proper amount. I was brought to another room and a drape was placed over me and a monitor attached to check my vitals during the procedure. I was injected with lidocaine which was a little painful but after he was done injecting i felt completely numb. I was injected multiple times , i have very thick skin on my nose. Anyway the procedure itself was quick and i didnt feel a thing. When it was all over then came the moment of truth, the nurse handed me the mirror and i was in shock, my nose looked huge! Dr. j and the nurse assured me this was swelling and not to panic. They gave me two Tylenol and some ice packs and made sure i was ok to drive home. I felt great with some very minor pain. I was ready to hit the road within a couple minutes of being done. As i drove home the pain came on a little stronger! When i arrived home i looked in the mirror and could not believe how big my nose looked.
I went on real self and looked up alarplasty post op questions and answers and to my horror most if not all the doctors said you should see results immediately after surgery EVEN WITH THE SWELLING! I thought to myself what have i done,my nose looks bigger now then before the surgery. I iced and did my wound care as instructed by the doctor. When i woke up the next day my nose looked like a potato lol i thought to myself again how could my nose look this big. Lilly called me and i expressed my concerns to her. I was a little panicked. She put me at ease and said it was competely normal to be this swollen and it would be worst the day after surgery. Its hard to look at yourself like that. I stopped going online and looking at realself bc it made me feel worse. I was not seeing what they said i should be seeing. And thats one reason why i am writing this review.
This website is very helpful but if you were like me and not seeing the results immediately after surgery EVEN WITH THE SWELLING it could make you feel so depressed and upset! I knew i had to remain calm and just continue with my icing and wound care. Also dont take any pics of your nose your going to hate how it looks with the swelling. Its now the third day after surgery and when i woke up this morning something remarkable happend when i looked in the mirror, i actually started to see the results. The swelling has gone down dramatically. It is a world of a difference from the day prior. I feel so relieved and happy and i know there it still some swelling and will be for awhile but i can honestly say this procedure was the best decision i ever made. Its amazing how something so minor can make such a difference in your face. The surgery itself was only half the battle! Proper wound care and follow up instructions are crucial to getting the best result and i am sticking with it to a T. In addition to the prescriptions for the ointment and antibiotics i also started taking vitamin c and protein shakes to help with healing!
My suture lines looks so clean you can barely see them. I got absorbable sutures which will crumble away in a couple days! Like i said it is only day 3 so i have a while to go but i feel great! If anyone is thinking about getting this procedure i highly recomment Dr. Janjua. Not only is he professional with a great personality but he is honest! I really feel like he cares and wants to see his patients happy and feeling confident! Theres no better feeling than looking in the mirror and finally being so happy with what you see! Thank you so much for making me feel happy to smile again!
