Rhinoplasty in Thailand – Fixing a broken nose
Thailand has for many years been well known for its quality cosmetic surgeons and in this article, I give an open and honest review of my experience undergoing Rhinoplasty and Septoplasty to improve my broken nose in a private clinic in Phuket.
This article may be beneficial to those seeking plastic surgery in Thailand or anyone that would like to know the experience of having a broken nose repaired years after the injury.
My accident back in the year 1998 (When my nose broke)
Rhinoplasty is not something I would have even thought about undergoing as a young man growing up in Australia. In fact, the stigma surrounding any kind of cosmetic surgery for a man was quite looked down on in my country but one unfortunate drunken incident as a young teenager would later result in me having to undergo surgery.
At the age of 16 I had received a punch to the face which instantly broke my nasal bone, on that unfortunate night I lost a lot of blood and crawled home to nurse my wounds. With no real understanding of what had happened, I did not seek any medical assistance to correct the break and as life went on my nose became more deviated and my breathing more compromised.
Getting punched in the nose may or may not have looked something like this
Seeking out the best surgeon
Undergoing a major surgery like rhinoplasty is not something to take lightly, you need to do extensive research on your surgeon and clinic to know that without a doubt that you are making the right choice.
When I moved to Thailand in 2014 I started researching and contacting surgeons and it wasn’t until 6 years later I would be meeting with the man that performed this life-changing surgery for me.
Dr. Piyapas Pichaichanarong and Jungceylon Clinic
I had come across some videos of Dr. Piyapas conducting surgery on 2 Australian fitness models, one was a male in his early 20’s named Jackson Johnson who had experienced a similar broken nose trauma to myself. His review and results of the surgery were very promising and after Googling Dr. Piyapas name many times over I could not find one single bad review about him. In fact, just many positive reviews about the great work he had done. Dr. Piyapas also had many high level qualifications to his name and I believe he is the only surgeon in Thailand that is part of the The “Rhinoplasty Society of the USA”.
I found Dr Piyapas to be very calm and confident about the whole procedure, after all he has done it thousands of times before and is very experienced.
Having a consultation at Jungceylon clinic in Phuket with Dr Piyapas Pichaichanarong
My preparation for the surgery
It is important to go into your surgery both mentally and physically prepared. You need to be aware that what you will see in the mirror while recovering can be quite confronting and also the fact that your desired outcome may not be what you wished for. So being in a weak and vulnerable mental state before surgery is not recommended.
For my physical preparation I ate a diet high in raw plant foods and juices, I was exercising regularly and getting sufficient sleep. Mentally I felt ready, I was no longer obsessing over my nose as I had when I was younger and I just really wanted to get it over with and move on with my life.
How good or bad is the surgery experience?
I won’t lie, I was terrified at the thought of surgery. The anxiety was there and on the morning of the surgery I just wanted to run away and back out of it.
But with the support of my girlfriend Tida and the kind staff at the clinic, I knew I was going to be taken care of.
After all my checkups – blood pressure and final talks with the doctor I was wheeled into the operating theatre heart pounding and nervously shaking. But I was happy to see a team of people surrounding the doctor all ready to assist him and make the process as comforting for me as possible.
They put me to sleep pretty quickly and before I know it I was waking up with my face covered in bandages hearing the doctor’s voice saying something like “wow, you are so strong, well done. you made it. everything went really well.”
In this moment of waking I felt drowsy and disoriented but I can’t remember feeling any great deal of pain.
Post-surgery at Jungceylon with my girlfriend Tida by my side
Dr Piyapas and staff checking up on me post-surgery
The Recovery
As important as the surgery itself was the next phase, the recovery. This was the most difficult part for me, there were times I felt like I was in a lot of discomforts. Sleeping was particularly difficult as I had to sleep with my head elevated, I would use a travel pillow to support my neck.
Eating was not easy especially large food, so I kept most of my dietary intake to small soft pieces of fruit, green juices, soup, cereal and yogurt.
My face was covered in bandages with a hard plaster cast over the nose, it became itchy
Bandaged for 2 weeks following surgery
The End Result
At the time of writing this article, I am 2 years post-surgery and very happy with the result. I wouldn’t say it looks perfect, that is likely because we are always going to be the hardest critics on ourselves. But it has greatly improved my quality of life, my breathing especially has made my sleep better and I no longer get headaches when exercising. The look of my nose is more attractive therefor giving me better self confidence in every day life.
2 years after the surgery
