BEFORE & AFTER
Low, humped and deviated nose — before and after at 6 days: a straight, gently curved line built with autologous rib cartilage, without an implant
Rib-cartilage rhinoplasty · Low nose · Hump nose · Deviated nose · Deviated septum · Autologous rib cartilage · Implant-free rhinoplasty
Outcomes and side effects vary from person to person. Bleeding, infection, swelling and asymmetry may occur. Please consult our medical team before making a decision.
These KOWON Plastic Surgery rhinoplasty before-and-after photos were taken 6 days after surgery. Unlike the photos taken right after surgery, they compare the side and 45° views with some swelling present, so you can see how the look of the nose in everyday life has changed.
Hello, this is Dr. Kim Hyung-taek of KOWON Plastic Surgery.
This is a patient I introduced once before with photos taken right after surgery; this time I would like to show before-and-after photos taken from the side and at 45° on the sixth day after surgery. Right-after photos are good for seeing the line because there is no swelling yet, but what patients actually want to know is “what does it look like while it’s swollen?” and “does it look natural not only from the side but also at an angle?”
This patient’s concerns were a low glabella, a hump in the middle of the bridge, and a nose bent to one side so that the nostrils looked uneven. The patient hesitated about silicone, so in the end the surgery was done with the patient’s own rib cartilage alone, without a single implant.
Changes seen in the side view
Before surgery, the nose started low at the glabella, rose into a bump in the middle of the bridge and then dropped weakly at the tip — a curved, uneven line. In the photo 6 days later, the glabella has been filled, and the dorsum now runs from the forehead to the tip in one smooth, straight-to-gently-curved line.
What is worth noting here is that the hump was not shaved down; the glabella was filled so that the hump blends in. For people who have a hump on a low nose, shaving the hump makes the nose even lower, so raising the starting point of the nose with finely diced autologous cartilage in the glabella, as in this patient’s case, is often the more favourable approach. The dorsum looks smooth rather than bumpy despite the swelling because cartilage particles, rather than a hard implant, settle softly under the skin.
The tip was set forward with autologous rib cartilage so that the line starting at the glabella continues unbroken to the tip, and the nasolabial angle was filled without an implant so that the transition from the tip to the philtrum also flows naturally. The slightly protruding look of the mouth in the pre-surgery photo has also eased, which is the effect of this nasolabial angle correction.
Changes seen in the 45° view
For patients with a deviated nose, 45° is often the most revealing angle. Even when the deviation is hard to see from the front, at an angle the bridge line can look bent or one nostril can look larger.
Before surgery, in the 45° view, the low dorsum made the area between the eyes and nose look flat, and the tip leaned slightly to one side so the nostrils looked uneven. In the photo 6 days later, the dorsum has gained height, creating a natural shadow between the eyes and nose, and as the tip has returned to the centre, the nostrils have become similar in size.
This change comes from straightening the septum that was bent inside the nose. With a deviated nose, working only on the outside often lets the nose drift back to its original direction as the swelling goes down; in my long experience, deviated-nose correction without septal correction tends not to last. Because this patient’s tip was built on a septum that had been straightened, the tip is expected to stay in the centre after the swelling subsides.
How much swelling and bruising is there at day 6?
The yellow bruising visible under the eyes in the photo is a normal part of recovery commonly seen around 5–7 days after surgery. When the septum is corrected and cartilage is placed at the glabella, bruising can spread down around the eyes; once it has passed from purple to yellow, it usually fades within two weeks. Swelling of the nose itself is most pronounced at this point: the dorsum settles over 2–3 weeks, and the tip takes a little longer.
Because tip muscle correction was done as well, the tip no longer pulls down when smiling as it used to, but the muscles need a little more time to get used to their new position. As the swelling goes down, the tip should look smaller and more defined than it does now, and the bridge should come down slightly and settle closer to the face.
[OP PLAN]
- Diagnosis: low nose + hump nose + deviated nose (deviated septum), nostril asymmetry, sunken nasolabial angle
- Patient’s requests: improve the low nose and hump, correct the deviation and nostril asymmetry, be cautious about using implants
- Approach: open rhinoplasty (open incision), no implants used
- Septum: deviated-septum correction
- Tip: tip set up with autologous rib cartilage + tip-cartilage suturing
- Bridge: diced cartilage graft to the glabella – raising the starting point of the nose to smooth the hump line
- Tip muscle: tip muscle correction
- Nasolabial angle: nasolabial angle correction without an implant
- Photos taken: 6 days after surgery (side and 45°)
See this patient’s photos taken immediately after surgery
Day 6 after surgery is when swelling and bruising are most noticeable, yet it is also a point at which you can see that the new line and direction of the nose have already settled in.
KOWON Plastic Surgery starts from natural-looking change, but aims beyond a result that simply doesn’t show — for a “natural-glam” rhinoplasty that brings out the flow of the line and its details.
As the swelling subsides and the tissues stabilise, the bridge becomes a little lower than it is now and the tip more defined, settling into a softer, more natural shape overall. The mark on the chest where the rib cartilage was harvested fades over time and does not interfere with daily life. Rhinoplasty results can differ with each person’s skin thickness and cartilage, and the settled final result can be seen after a sufficient recovery period.