From “the vulture” to a new nose

The history

At the age of twelve Silvia H. had an operation on her nose because of a boil — a purulent inflammation. In the course of it the cartilage on the right side was removed. Over the years the tip of her nose dropped, which made a nasal hump particularly pronounced.

“You're ugly,” her mother said, “you have an ugly nose.”

And others mocked the girl, and later the woman, too. Because of her pronounced hooked nose she was taunted as a “vulture” or a “parrot”.

Over the years Silvia H. considered having her nose operated on several times. But on the one hand health insurance did not pay for the procedure — and on the other she found no surgeon willing to take on this demanding operation. For decades her self-worth suffered because of her nose. After her fellow pupils, her colleagues mocked her more or less openly.

“I have a pretty face — and yet because of my nose I felt I had to hide.”

On a ten-point scale, where 1 is very low and 10 very high, her self-worth before the operation stood at 3.

The decision

In the autumn of 2015, when she was 54, she decided to “have the flaw put right”. In a demanding four-hour operation her nose was corrected, with the missing cartilage having to be grafted. Her excitement was considerable on the day the dressing was removed. Dr Kuzbari warned her and said that the swollen nose still looked like a potato.

“I saw the swollen nose with its crusts of blood and knew: now it is lovely.”

The result

The corrected nose matched her own image of herself — it was as she saw herself.

“I was happy and grateful from the very beginning. The operation saved my soul.”

Six months after her nose operation she places herself at level ten on the satisfaction scale.

To this day Silvia has told only a few people about her nose operation and is surprised that hardly anyone notices it. She receives compliments and hears that she looks good — yet even her friend of 40 years has not noticed the operation. Perhaps this phenomenon comes down to congruence: to the agreement between her face in public and her inner image of herself.

Her husband, from whom she lives separately, says: “If only I had met you like this earlier. Now you are more beautiful still.”

Her recommendation

For Silvia H. the operation was a considerable investment, but one that has fully paid off:

“I would do it again and can only recommend it to anyone who suffers from a flaw like that.”

At the same time she warns against cheap operations abroad: “A friend had hers done in Poland, and it went completely wrong.”

Silvia's life has improved fundamentally: “I am what I am.” And she has since forgiven her mother too.