Open Septorhinoplasty

Hi all,

I'm seeking advice (and/ or being told to calm down) from folks who have had similar procedures. I'm getting a functional open septorhinoplasty due to the following issues:

• my septum is deviated to the left, blocking the airway more on that side
• my inferior turbinate on the right side is bigger than the left and blocks airway
• My nasal bone goes slightly to the left, probably from a fracture when it was broken as a kid

While my main goal is an improved quality of life, I'm scared about looking different after. The surgery is going to be pretty major and will involve the following:

• re-breaking my nasal bone to straighten things out
• turbinate reduction
• septal flap incision, bringing back skin of nose, cutting out the cartilage that's bent and crooked and using that to make grafting to re-strengthen the nose
• splints sutured inside the nose

I spoke with my surgeon about this concern and she said my nose should look "similar but straighter, but there's no way to know what it will look like after." Her office doesn't do any draw ups of what it might look like after since the purpose is not cosmetic.

In case it's important, I should also mention that there will be fellows or residents conducting "non-critical" parts of my surgery (septal flap dissecting, turbinate reduction, opening the nose) under my surgeon's supervision. She was firm that this was not up for discussion or change.

I'm mainly worried that my nose will be wider or otherwise look significantly different-- essentially that I would no longer look like me. I'm sure this sounds like a silly worry since I will (hopefully) be able to breathe better, but there's just so much being done to fix my nose that I know, objectively, it will look different after. I'm fine with it looking straighter and /or if the bump is gone, but I just really hope that's the only change.

For anyone who's had an open septoplasty, rhinoplasty, or both for functional purposes, how different did your nose look afterwards?

Additionally, how noticeable is the scar under your nose? I imagine most of the time no one notices except for loved ones/ people who are around you constantly?

Am I going to be miserable, forever doomed to live in a cave as a social outcast so no one has to witness the atrocity of my face? (mostly kidding)

tl;dr A lot is being done inside my nose to fix breathing issues, and I am hoping someone will slap some sense into me and say it will probably be fine lol