Read this before you get a nose job.

Today, I decided to write about something that I feel strongly against:

Plastic surgery.

Personally, I really am anti-plastic surgery (mainly the invasive procedures which require surgery) because I have seen a few of my friends either suffer from post-surgery infections or embark on a string of endless procedures which leaves them looking less than natural.

You see drastic before and after photos on korean websites, I'm sure. Like this, I'm sure.

Today, I am going to talk about nose jobs, medically referred to as rhinoplasty.

You see korean people go "oh, it is painless and I recovered very fast, and I'm very happy with my nose right now".

You see bloggers try out nose jobs and give you a real-life depiction of their first-hand experience.

Now, I'm not saying that people are lying and it is actually super painful. I give these individuals the benefit of the doubt when they say that it is hardly any pain.

But, do you really know what goes on during the hours of surgery you are subjecting your nose to?

Nicole and I decided to brave through surgery videos to show you a step by step illustration of the procedure. Believe me when I say this was not an easy task. We were backing our chairs as far away from the screen, covering our nose (in protection) and sometimes eyes because it is so horrifying.

If you know us, you know that we are scientists, and we have done animal surgery before. I cannot stress enough how DIFFICULT it is when you are looking at a human face, just like yours.

I really wish that they make it a mandatory practice for people who opt for the surgery to first view the video of the procedure before they sign on the dotted line.

For those who have a weak stomach, you might want to sit this one out.

  First, they cut the bases of your nose.

They then cut up to your nose tip and separate your skin from the nose tip.

 They then cut through the muscle surrounding your nose tip to get to your nose cartilage.

Exposing the nose cartilage which they hold on with a pair of pliers.

  They try to cut some of the cartilage off with the scalpel.

 That only takes away a small portion of the cartilage. In order to remove the rest, a hammer (the grey big object in the left foreground) is used to break the nose bridge.

 Then begins the sewing back of your flesh.

In order to heighten your nose bridge, they put in an artificial implant.

Continue sewing back.

 In order to add a nice sharp nose tip you know and love in korean movie stars, they cut out a piece of cartilage from your ear.

 And put it on top of your nose tip.

Centering the cartilage to sew onto the rest of your nose.

And the rest is basic sewing back the rest of the nose.

For those who wants to see the video (I have to warn in advance that these doctors are NOT gentle. There are some violent pulling and hammering), here's the link on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAq2PLDTcHo

Ultimately, you are voluntarily cutting up your nose. No one has hurt you, you did not require reconstructive surgery, you volunteered to be sliced up like a fish on the operating table. Why?

And not to mention the risks of post-surgery infection. When you cut up your nose, you run the risk of allowing bacteria to enter your sinus passages. Which is why they offer antibiotics after surgery, you would say?

But what happens when the wounds did not heal completely and there is a microscopic hole that allows entry into under your skin? It happens more than you think, and every time you have a sinus infection, and sneeze and snort, you run the risk of allowing passage of bacteria into under your skin. Several terrible things can happen at this point. You can either have the bacteria under your skin multiply and take over, with your face blown up and swollen like a balloon, or you can run the risk of having the bacteria travelling to your eye and consequent blindness. Don't believe me? Read the link of a medical journal of a 24 year old who had her left eye blinded after a rhinoplasty.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23402932

And I quote from this scientific paper:

"Intravenous administration of antibiotics did not halt the rapid progression of this infection. On the sixth postoperative day, the patient underwent left-orbital evisceration to prevent the spread of infection to other organ systems."

So antibiotics did not cure you? I thought antibiotics cures EVERYTHING. And you had to cut out your left eye to prevent the spread to other organs? Great.

And guess where this report stems from? Korea, the great land of plastic surgery.

If you are saying right now "Yea, but that's ONE person, it will not happen to me", think again. According to the medical journal Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, ONE in FIVE of patients receiving an alloplastic implants (if you want to heighten your nose bridge) in rhinoplasty suffer from infections. If you are not getting an implant, you still have a rough rate of 5% infection rate (which is excluding unreported cases, cases where people could be bribed to keep their mouths shut for the sake of the surgeon's reputation).

So please, think twice before you cut yourself up. 

Plastic surgery more often than not, turns into a compulsive habit. People rarely stop at one procedure because it is rare for them to stop before they obtained "perfection" in their own eyes. Think about all the botched up hollywood actresses with too much surgery. They started at one surgery, too. 

If our stomaches will allow it, we will continue next time with other popular procedures like jaw shaving, brow lifts, face lifts.