This is a complete guide to Rhinoplasty (nose jobs) in Korea. Rhinoplasty is one of the most popular plastic procedures in Korea among Koreans and foreign patients.
To have a successful one there are a few things you should look out for while in Korea for it. This guide will have everything you need for a stress-free journey to a Rhinoplasty in Korea.
We will go over everything you absolutely need to know before getting a nose job in Korea, including:
- How much does a Rhinoplasty in Korea cost
- Is Korea a good destination for a nose job
- How to find the best plastic surgery clinic for Rhinoplasty in Korea
- Much, much more…
To start off, let’s first quickly go over what exactly a Rhinoplasty is and the different kinds of them.
The definition of a Rhinoplasty is simple, it’s any kind of plastic surgery procedure with the goal of changing the shape or look of the nose.
There are many different kinds of Rhinoplasties so let’s quickly breakdown some of the most common types of nose jobs.
Types of Nose Jobs
In order to understand the costs and process of Rhinoplasties in Korea, you have to understand the different types of Rhinoplasties.
These are the 6 types of nose jobs that represent 99.9% of all Rhinoplasties:
- Standard Rhinoplasty: A typical nose job where the primary goal is to reduce the width or hump of the nasal bone.
- Alarplasty: A nose job where the goal is to reduce the size or width of the nostrils by surgically removing a part of the alar.
- Rib Cartilage Rhinoplasty: A complex type of Rhinoplasty where a patient’s rib cartilage is used to reshape their nose.
- Rhinoplasty Revision Surgery: Any type of nose job where the goal is to enhance or fix the previous Rhinoplasty procedure.
- Tip Plasty: A less invasive nose job where the surgeon removes a part of the cartilage in the tip of the patient’s nose to enhance the look and make it more defined.
- Osteotomy Rhinoplasty: A nose job where the primary goal is to make the nose less wide by cutting into the nasal bone.
Should You Go To Korea For Rhinoplasty
With over 500 plastic surgery clinics, Seoul is worldwide famous as the plastic surgery capital of the world.
However, is going to Seoul/Korea for a Rhinoplasty a good idea? Are the results that much better and you save that much money?
Let’s answer that by comparing Rhinoplasties in Seoul with Rhinoplasties in other countries on factors such as success rate, costs, and clinic experience.
Rhinoplasty Success Rate
Rhinoplasty have an 85% sucess rate at the top Western plastic surgery clinics.
This means that 85 out of 100 patients are happy with their results and the other 15 will require a revision surgery to achieve their desired look. These revision surgeries cost a lot more money and bring in a lot more recovery time.
However, in Korea, Rhinoplasties have a whopping 93% success rate. So that means that 93 out of 100 patients are happy with their nose job results and 7 will need a revision surgery to get their desired look.
Twice as many people need revision surgeries in Western plastic surgery clinics compared to Korean plastic surgery clinics.
Keep in mind that these are just average numbers in Korea, when you take a look at the success rate at the top Rhinoplasty clinics in Korea, they get even better! We will go over the best Korean Rhinoplasty clinics later in this guide.
Cost
We’ll talk about the exact costs of all different types of Rhinoplasty in Korea later in this guide but for now, let’s compare the difference of price between Korean plastic surgery clinics and Western clinics.
A Rhinoplasty procedure in most Western plastic surgery clinics costs two times as much as the same procedure in Korean clinics.
When you consider the much better success rate of Rhinoplasties in Korea coupled with the much lower (40-50%) price, Korea already becomes an obvious choice.
Experience
There are over 1,000,000 plastic surgery procedures performed in Seoul every single year. A large part of this number are Rhinoplasties.
Because of the sheer amount of Rhinoplasties done each year, Seoul has some of the most experienced Rhinoplasty surgeons in the whole world.
Korean clinics also have an incredible track record with Rhinoplasty revision surgeries and more complex types of nose jobs like Tip Plasty or Rib Cartilage Rhinoplasty, etc.
In fact, a lot of people fly into Korea every year to get revision Rhinoplasty done. These patients had bad experiences with Rhinoplasty clinics in Western countries and decided to get the revision surgery in Korea where the clinics have much more experience.
Not only that, some plastic surgery clinics in Seoul specialize specifically for nose jobs and have such world-class experience that many celebrities go there for their Rhinoplasty procedure. We’ll talk more about this later in this guide.
Rhinoplasty Revision Surgery In Korea
A Rhinoplasty Revision Surgery is a type of Rhinoplasty where the surgeon fixes or enhances the previous Rhinoplasty procedure in order to achieve the desired look.
These are a lot more expensive because the previous work done on the nose makes the whole procedure far more difficult for the surgeon. Because of this, a plastic surgery clinic needs to have very experienced surgeons in order to be good at Rhinoplasty Revision Surgeries.
Typicall prices for a Rhinoplasty Revision Surgery are around $4,000 (5,520,000 KRW) in Western clinics and about $2,900 (4,000,000 KRW) in Korean clinics.
Note that the above prices are for the most basic revision. More complex ones can cost up to $10,000 (= 13,800,000 KRW) in Korea.
Not only that, Korean clinics are much, much more experienced at Rhinoplasty Revision Surgeries than Western clinics.
In fact, a lot of people who end up being dissatisfied with their Rhinoplasty procedure in the West due to an only 85% success rate fly to Korea to get the results that they are looking for.
To avoid revision surgeries, feel free to contact us at info@seoul.clinic. We have tons of experience regarding plastic surgery in Korea can can help steer you the right way.
You can also read more about revision Rhinoplasty in our guide to revision Rhinoplasty in Korea.
What To Expect After Rhinoplasty In Korea
You need to know some things about the post-rhinoplasty stay in Korea.
Rhinoplasty is not the simplest procedure, and you will need a few days to recover. However, you can explore Seoul and enjoy some free time afterward.
Here is what the timeline after Rhinoplasty in Korea usually looks like:
- 2-3 hours after, sometimes an overnight stay: released from the clinic
- 2-3 days after: swelling, bruising, and slight bleeding
- 3-4 days after: returning to normal activities (avoid drinking, smoking, and intense exercise)
- 7-10 days after: removing stitches
- 10-14 days after: you can leave Korea and return home
After you return from Korea, you will still have to care for your nose. Typically, full recovery takes 1-3 months. It all depends on how you are feeling and caring for your nose.
You can do most check-ups at your doctor of choice in your home country. However, we do recommend squeezing a few appointments in while in Korea.
Rhinoplasty Recovery Checklist In Korea
Although recovery after rhinoplasty in Korea is similar to other places, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Our first recommendation is that you remain in Korea until your stitches are removed. This will be anywhere from 7 to 10 days.
Secondly, try to fit in at least one or two appointments at the clinic. This is so they can track your progress immediately after Rhinoplasty.
After a few days, you will most likely get a green light from your doctor to return to daily activities.
This brings us to our last recommendation. Explore Seoul as much as possible. Use your time in Korea to try and see things you cannot do elsewhere.
What To Do In Korea After Rhinoplasty
As we said, after a few days, you will have a green light to explore Seoul. You will have quite some time to see and do as much as possible.
However, you will still have to take care of your nose after surgery and avoid some things. Don’t do anything physical, and avoid touching or applying pressure on your nose.
That being said, we recommend you check out some local markets in Seoul. You will find amazing street food there as well as great deals on clothing and souvenirs. Go check out these three:
- Namdaemun market
- Dongdaemun market
- Kwangjang market
If you enjoy shopping at malls, don’t worry because Seoul has plenty of options. From local Korean brands to well-known global brands, there is something for everyone. You can check out shopping malls here.
Seoul is a city full of must-see sights, ranging from historic landmarks to modern architecture that showcases the city’s vibrant personality.
We recommend you check out some must-see sights in Seoul here. Try and visit as many as possible. You won’t regret it.
While in Korea, follow your surgeon’s instructions and take time to enjoy Seoul.
Rhinoplasty Cost In Korea
Like we mentioned at the start of this guide, there are many different types of Rhinoplasties and they vary widely in price.
With over 500 plastic surgery clinics in Seoul, there’s a lot of competition between them and that makes the prices very affordable.
A standard Rhinoplasty with the goal of reducing the width or removing the hump will cost anywhere between $2,100 (2,800,000 KRW) and $3,500 (4,700,000 KRW) in Korea.
The same procedure would cost between $4,000 (5,300,000 KRW) and $8,000 (10,600,000 KRW) in Western plastic surgery clinics.
The exact price depends on many factors such as the amount of work needed, nose swidth, age, potential previous work done, etc.
Other different types of nose jobs have different prices but they all end up being a lot more affordable (up to 50% more budget friendly) in Korean plastic surgery clinics.
If you’d like to know the exact prices of all different types of nose jobs in Korea and easy ways to save money when getting a nose job in Korea, read our guide to pricing of Rhinoplasties in Korea.
One important thing to keep in mind about getting plastic surgery procedures done in Korea is that if you’re a foreigner you’re eligible for a tax refund at the airport once you’re leaving Korea. This is an easy way anyone can do to get 5% of your money that you spent on the procedure back.
Best Rhinoplasty Clinics In Korea
One of the most important things when it comes to getting a Rhinoplasty done is choosing a good plastic surgery clinic. This is true in all countries.
With over 500 clinics in Seoul, this can be a very overwhelming decision. However, it’s important that you don’t just pick any clinic because it can be a difference between a successful result and a nose job that you aren’t happy with and will require a revision surgery.
There are many factors that you need to consider when choosing a good plastic surgery clinic for Rhinoplasty.
We recommend you choose one of our recommended Seoul clinics for Rhinoplasties. These are the best Korean plastic surgery clinics that we personally verified to have an amazing track record in nose jobs. We interviewed their patients, visited their facilities, researched their track records, etc.
Here are two of the main factors that we were looking at:
Real Reviews
One of the most important factors when deciding for any plastic surgery clinic, including in Korea are the reviews.
Make sure to only look for Rhinoplasty reviews. If a clinic has a ton of great reviews for certain procedures but all of their nose job reviews are average, it’s definitely not the best choice.
Above is a good example of a review about FacePlus Plastic Surgery, one of the clinics we recommend for Rhinoplasty. Although short, it gives you a lot of information about the procedure at this clinic.
A good review should have at least some of these:
- Description of the experience with the clinic
- Information about how they treat patients
- Satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the results
- Aftercare treatments available
Also, make sure to keep an eye out for fake reviews. These have sadly become very common as some clinics are trying to do everything they can to get new patients.
We like to look at Google reviews and try to contact the patients via email to give us a deeper understanding of their experience with Rhinoplasty at a certain Korean plastic surgery clinic.
Rhinoplasty Specialization
Another very important factor that we really focus on is the specialization of the clinic.
There are a lot of clinics in Seoul and most of them offer a huge variety of different procedures. However, if we look closely at the reviews, contact previous patients, and go through the track record and the experience of their surgeons, we can quickly see what types of procedures a clinic is best at.
For example, JK Plastic Surgery Clinic is a massive clinic in Seoul that offers almost every single procedure that you can think of. However, when we take a look at all the previously mentioned factors, it’s obvious that they are the best at eye plastic surgery procedures like double eyelid surgery, for example.
Now, let’s take FacePlus Plastic Surgery as an example. They are a small clinic in Seoul with only one surgeon. However, based on their surgeon’s specialization and review, they are a go-to clinic for Rhinoplasty.
Another recommendation for Rhinoplasty is NANA Plastic Surgery. They are a larger Korean clinic with surgeons specializing in Rhinoplasty and consistent reviews.
Of course, they also have good experiences with other procedures but their track record with eye surgeries is so good that we can say that they specialize in eye plastic surgeries.
Korean plastic surgery clinics that have an incredible track record with Rhinoplasty can be considered to be specialized in nose jobs and are a safe pick for your procedure.
Conclusion
In conclusion, getting a Rhinoplasty in Korea is a great choice for many diffrent reasons. Most importantly, they have sone of the highest Rhinoplasty success rates in the world, much higher than Western plastic surgery clinics. In fact, a lot of foreigners fly to Korea to fix their bad nose jobs that they got in other countries.
Also, nose jobs are around 40% cheaper in Korea due to the amount of competition between Korean clinics. Not only that, you can also get a 5% tax refund at the airport if you’re a foreigner.
Now that you’ve read this guide you know everything you need to know about getting a Rhinoplasty in Korea. Most importantly, make sure that the Korean clinics you choose is reputable and is specialized in Rhinoplasties.
FAQ
Is it worth going to Korea for a Rhinoplasty?
Korean plastic surgery clinics have a much higher success rate with Rhinoplasties than Western clinics and don’t have nearly as many unhappy patients.
Not only that, due to the fierce competition between Korean clinics, the prices for nose jobs are 40%-50% lower than in Western countries.
Because of those two reasons as well as many more, Korea is the best choice for Rhinoplasties and it’s definitely worth going to.
What is the success rate of Rhinoplasties in Korea?
The average success rate of Rhinoplasties in Korea is 93% compared to 85% in Western countries.
Keep in mind that these are just average numbers, great clinics that specialize in Rhinoplasties have even better numbers!
Is getting a nose job in Korea safe?
Korea is one of the safest places in the world for getting a nose job. Their plastic surgery clinics have some of the most experience nose job surgeons, some of the best facilities and technologies in the world.