I’ve been thinking for years about getting a nose job but I don’t know anyone in person who’s had the surgery. For me, it’s partly because I don’t breathe well through it, and also it’s crooked and looks more like a beak than a nose from the side.
I’m not so much curious about the procedure itself, but more how you felt afterwards. Did it help you noticably breathe better? Did people look at you like you were a different person afterward? Does your voice sound different? How much did you end up paying out-of-pocket? And most importantly, are you glad you did it?
And don’t worry, I have no intention of getting a “Michael Jackson” anti-nose. In fact, the first question I plan to ask any doctor is, “Do you think M.J. looks decent?”.
I had a bone spur removed in 1977. It was done by two plastic surgery fellows in their last year. It was free. They also did a blepharoplasty to take care of the loose skin freed up by debulking the nose.
(One of the surgeons is now the head of the burn unit at Harborview in Seattle. The other is in private practice.)
I was awake for the whole thing. The local was quite painful. The only other pain during the procedure was when they swabbed the cut end of the bone with cocaine to control bleeding.
At the end, they packed both nostrils with gauze that stayed in for two days. Removing the gauze was quite painful. I had a small complication that caused some bleeding and discomfort for several weeks after. It was a rare thing.
It helped my breathing a bit, not as much as they expected. It didn’t effect my voice.
30 years later my nose is still straight. Most people tell me I look much younger than my age.
BTW, MJs nose is the result of having multiple procedures.
I had a non-cosmetic septoplasty about 18 years ago.
No change to the outward appearance of my nose, but my septum was full of twists and bone spurs - the CT images resembled a roller coaster.
It helped with some chronic sinus infections - things were able to drain better, but I am still susceptible to infections.
No change to voice.
Mine was done under general anaesthesia. For a week or two, I felt like I had ten pounds of stuff crammed in my nose. Getting the sponges out wasn’t particularly painful, but it really felt weird.
My health insurance at the time picked up 100% of the charges. I really miss that coverage - EVERYTHING except pharmacy was covered 100% with no copay, and prescriptions were a buck each. On my current coverage, it would cost about $8,000-10,000 for the copay.
Here’s some anecdotal advice for you - I love big noses. I think it’s a crime when people take a lovely, large nose with lots of character and turn it into a silly-looking button. For what that’s worth, anyway.
“He has lots of character in his face.” I always thought that was a nice way of saying, “He’s ugly”. Kind of like when guys say a girl looks exotic. (My apologies to any girls here who’ve been called exotic.)
Thanks for the responses so far. I don’t think I’d opt for a button nose, just my nose but straight, breatheable, and not quite so…, erm, honking.
“Exotic” is an instant point a half to two points on the coveted male “graduated babe scale”. This makes it roughly equivalent to double-jointedness, or four tequila shots.
For women, we say things like, “Well, she’s nice!” and we kind of draw the i out into two syllables. “She’s exotic” means she looks like something way too hot and unique to sleep with you. (not you, personally)
If you’re rockin’ the beak and uncomfortable with it, I say go for a change. Your nose is one of those things you really should be comfortable with, since it’s, you know, right smack dab in the middle of your face and all.
I only know one person who has had a nose job and I must say, it improved her appearance and she seemed pretty happy with the results. I’d also like to call for before and after pictures, if you decide to go through with it.
I’ve had three “nose jobs”. One to fix problems and two to fix the problems resulting from the first. If you can search, I’m sure the threads about it are still around.
The end result however is pretty nice. The down side is my nose got larger because I’ve got bits of cartledge from my ears holding it together now. The healing took some time and, I’m not going to lie, hurt. The first procedure, which had a fair amount of septum work, really hurt.
The plus side is I can smell and taste and breathe. Problems with my ears and sinus have been reduced by 80%.
There is a forth surgery I can have which would be cosmetic to trim a bit of the cartledge back and make it looka little nicer. I haven’t decided if I’m going to bother or not.
I think for all three I was out of pocket around $2000-3000 with my insurance.
A big nose can make a guy look handsome, but only if it’s in proportion to the rest of his face. Al Pacino, for instance, has a pretty big nose, but very few people would say he wasn’t handsome. If it’s out of proportion with the rest of his features, though, it can make him look really awkward. Some people think Adrien Brody is very attractive but he’s definitely one of those guys who’s “unconventionally” attractive and who a lot of people also think is very odd looking. Gareth Keenan, from the Office (the British version,) also. I’ve heard women say they thought he was cute, but I think most would agree that he definitely looks strange.
I’d say, if your nose is really causing you breathing problems, AND you could also improve the shape of it while also fixing that, go for it, I guess.
I had a nose job at 26 because I had a terrible profile (large nose overhanging a chin that wasn’t strong enough to match it) and also I hate to fuss over my appearance - I wanted to be happy with the way I looked without having to worry about having the right hairstyle or blush to emphasize/minimize various features.
But I really think it is difficult to justify the expense purely for vanity. So, I found myself a doctor who did a lot of pro bono work fixing cleft palates. That way, I felt like I was helping to fund his good work. Also, he was a pretty decent guy, and recoiled from the idea of giving me a Barbie nose. We agreed that all he would do was to make me look less like an anteater in profile. That’s what he did, and I’ve had numerous physicians tell me it is one of the best nose jobs they’ve ever seen - meaning, the size is proportionate, but I ended up with the nose of an individual, not a cookie-cutter nose, and you can’t tell I’ve had rhinoplasty, it looks so natural.
The first few hours after the nosejob were pretty unpleasant - I was woozy and so dried out that I couldn’t even swallow. But that passed quickly. It took about a year for the final shape of my nose to emerge, and I’ve heard similar reports from others.
Even though it is a bit embarrassing to admit I had it done, I have always been glad. I spent about $2000 in 1985 to do it, and have spent virtually no money on make-up or hairstyling since then (of course, I have gotten a few haircuts, but I don’t do fancy salon stuff), because I’m satisfied with the way I look. I figured I’ve saved well over $2000 in time and money over the past 23 years because I pay so little attention to my appearance.
Oh, one funny thing - I could literally see more after the surgery. My nose had blocked my right eye from seeing anything off to the left, and vice versa. When that wall was removed, I got to see more with with each eye, to the point where my brain really picked up on the change. Now THAT was odd.
I just wanted to clear up that the Exotc = Ugly thing was meant as a joke. I originally thought it was a Seinfeld reference so most people would get it without explanation, but I just searched to find it was actually a Newsradio quote.
And yes, if I do go the nose job route I’ll be glad to post before and after pics for your amusement. I assure you I’m more Adrien Brody than Al Pacino schnoz-wise.
