3D Silicone Rhinoplasty

3D Silicone Rhinoplasty in Seoul at Le.J Plastic Surgery

Medically reviewed by Dr. Kim Ji Sun, M.D., M.S., Ph.D., Board-Certified Otolaryngologist · Le.J Plastic Surgery, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

3D Silicone Rhinoplasty raises nasal height and defines the bridge using a silicone implant, shaped and positioned around the patient's facial proportions. Within the clinic's rhinoplasty range it is the one procedure built around an implant rather than around the patient's own cartilage, which makes it the clearest alternative on offer and the one with the most specific set of risks to weigh. It is performed personally by Dr. Kim Ji Sun, the clinic's founder and Medical Director and the listed performing doctor for the parent Rhinoplasty specialty.

What Is 3D Silicone Rhinoplasty?

3D Silicone Rhinoplasty is nasal augmentation in which a silicone implant is placed to increase bridge height, definition and projection.

• The implant is the structural material — the procedure's name describes what is added, and the planning is about fit rather than about harvesting.

• Implant shape and position are customised to facial proportions, nasal anatomy and the patient's goals.

• Skin and soft-tissue thickness is a selection criterion, not a detail: it governs how an implant sits and how visible its outline becomes.

• Sedation anaesthesia, which the clinic also describes as sleep anaesthesia, is used.

• The clinic states a surgical duration of one to three hours, and the parent specialty's own range for tip techniques is one to three hours and up to one hour for non-implant work.

The surgeon reviews medical history, nasal anatomy, breathing function, skin and soft-tissue characteristics and the desired outcome, and photographs and imaging may be used when clinically appropriate. The clinic also identifies 3D CT scanning and high-resolution endoscopy as part of its assessment equipment, used when needed to examine internal nasal structures and support surgical planning. Benefits are stated in plain terms: increased bridge height and a more defined profile, with the result depending on anatomy, implant fit, skin thickness, healing and surgical technique. A specific shape or degree of improvement cannot be guaranteed.

Who Performs 3D Silicone Rhinoplasty at Le.J Plastic Surgery

Dr. Kim Ji Sun, M.D., M.S., Ph.D.
Board-certified Otorhinolaryngologist

3D Silicone Rhinoplasty is performed personally by Dr. Kim Ji Sun, the clinic's founder and Medical Director and the listed performing doctor for the parent Rhinoplasty specialty.

Dr. Kim is a board-certified otolaryngologist who earned an M.D., a Master's degree and a Ph.D. from Dankook University College of Medicine, completed internship and residency at Dankook University Hospital, trained as a Clinical Fellow in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at Asan Medical Center, and has served as a Guest Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine in the United States.

Dr. Kim served as Rhinoplasty Hands-on Course Director from 2020 to 2022 under the Korean Society of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, was an invited speaker on functional rhinoplasty at the Seoul National University Hospital rhinoplasty workshop in 2021, and lectured on non-incisional rhinoplasty at the 11th KSFPRS educational course in 2025.

Le.J Plastic Surgery is a single-doctor clinic, so the surgeon who assesses your nose is the surgeon who operates on it. That matters here for a specific reason. The clinic's other nasal procedures are built around autologous cartilage, so a surgeon recommending an implant is recommending the option that sits apart from the rest of the practice — which means the recommendation has to be argued from your anatomy rather than from what the clinic happens to do most of.

Who Is a Good Candidate for 3D Silicone Rhinoplasty?

Suitable candidates:

• Adults seeking nasal bridge augmentation who have suitable skin and soft-tissue thickness.

• Patients with realistic expectations and no medical contraindications, whose suitability has been assessed by a surgeon rather than assumed from photographs.

Who should be assessed carefully or postpone:

• Patients with an active infection.

• Patients with certain uncontrolled medical conditions.

• Patients with unsuitable nasal skin or soft tissue — this is the constraint specific to an implant, and it is the one most often underestimated.

• Patients with unrealistic expectations.

Thin nasal skin deserves a sentence of its own. An implant sits beneath the skin and is only as discreet as the tissue covering it, so skin that is thin or has been thinned by previous surgery raises the chance of a visible outline, a palpable edge or pressure on the skin above. That is not a reason the operation cannot be done; it is the reason individual assessment is essential, and why the choice between an implant and the clinic's cartilage-based alternatives is often settled at examination rather than at enquiry.

Across its rhinoplasty work the clinic applies the general conditions too: completed facial growth, physically healthy, non-smoking. Obstructive sleep apnoea requires special consideration. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons lists the same conditions for the category, and adds a positive outlook with realistic goals.

What to Expect: Procedure, Recovery, and Results Timeline

After anaesthesia the surgeon makes the planned incisions, prepares the implant pocket, places and adjusts the silicone implant, checks nasal shape and function, and closes the incisions. Exact steps depend on the surgical approach chosen for the case.

Stage	What the clinic states
Surgical duration	One to three hours
Anaesthesia	Sedation (sleep) anaesthesia
Swelling and bruising	Generally improve over 1–2 weeks
Recommended stay in Korea	Approximately 7–10 days
Flying home	Usually 7–10 days, subject to the surgeon's assessment
Final contours	May take 6–12 months to settle

The change in nasal shape is visible immediately after surgery, but swelling obscures the final contour for months — most visible swelling subsides over the following weeks, while final contours may take six to twelve months to settle. Common temporary effects are swelling, bruising, nasal congestion, mild pain, light bleeding and temporary numbness, with bruising usually improving within 7–14 days. Pain during surgery is not expected under anaesthesia; afterwards most patients report mild pain or discomfort manageable with prescribed medication.

The risks specific to an implant are the ones to read twice: displacement or visibility of the implant, capsular contracture, and extrusion. Alongside those sit bleeding, infection, swelling, scarring, breathing problems, dissatisfaction with the result and possible revision surgery. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons frames the category the same way in its account of facial implant safety — infection, nerve or vessel injury, shifting of the implant, unfavourable scarring and possible revisional surgery are the complications it names, alongside anaesthesia reactions and bleeding. The NHS notes that any operation also carries a small risk of excessive bleeding, a blood clot in a vein, infection, or an allergic reaction to the anaesthetic, and that nose reshaping can also occasionally result in permanent breathing difficulty, damage to the cartilage wall between the nostrils, an altered sense of smell, or heavy nosebleeds.

Aftercare follows the instructions for wound care, prescribed medication, dressings or splints and follow-up visits. Avoid pressure or impact on the nose and strenuous activity, and do not wear glasses resting on the bridge for the period the surgeon specifies — with an implant in place that instruction is about the implant's position, not only about comfort.

For patients returning to the United States, the recurring practical concerns are managing swelling on a long flight, protecting the nose during airport transfers, and arranging follow-up across time zones. The NHS, writing about cosmetic surgery abroad, is worth reading on the flight itself, noting that air travel and major surgery both increase the risk of a blood clot and recommending no flying for 7 to 10 days after facial cosmetic procedures. If something feels wrong after returning home, patients can reach the clinic's English-speaking counselling manager by phone or email.

Combining 3D Silicone Rhinoplasty with Other Treatments

Rhinoplasty may be combined with nasal-tip refinement, alar reduction, septoplasty or other procedures when clinically appropriate, and whether a combination is suitable depends on functional needs, anatomy and operative risk. At programme level, the clinic states that procedures can combine bridge and tip reshaping with dermal grafting or facial lifting where appropriate, and combined surgery changes operating time, recovery and the length of stay.

The more useful comparison is within the clinic's own range, because the five nasal procedures divide along different axes and are easy to confuse. This one is defined by its material: a silicone implant for the bridge. Non-implant rhinoplasty is its direct counterpart, reshaping bridge to tip with the patient's own cartilage and no implant. Cell Fix™ Nose is a nasal-tip procedure using finely processed autologous cartilage. Closed rhinoplasty is defined by its access route rather than by material. Alar reduction targets the nostrils and nasal base, and nostril retraction correction addresses excessive nostril exposure. Outside this range, cartilage grafting and other implant materials are the further alternatives, each with different indications, limitations and risks. Revision and complex cases are assessed individually by Dr. Kim Ji Sun at consultation.

Safety, Precision, and Clinic Standards

Le.J Plastic Surgery is a Registered Medical Institution for Attracting Foreign Patients, certified by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in compliance with the Medical Overseas Expansion and Foreign Patients Attraction Act.

The clinic has not published technique details specific to its own protocol for this procedure, and this page does not supply any in their place. What it does describe at specialty level is preoperative 3D CT scanning and nasal endoscopy when needed for assessment and surgical planning, and a postoperative care system built around wound care, disinfection and swelling management. Postoperative monitoring follows, and the clinic's recovery facilities include hyperbaric oxygen equipment.

The AAO-HNS Foundation's clinical practice guideline on improving nasal form and function after rhinoplasty is the category's own account of good practice, and is a reasonable yardstick when comparing surgeons in any country.

Le.J Plastic Surgery publishes neither case volumes nor complication rates for this procedure, and this page claims neither. Both are fair questions at consultation, as is the one worth asking any surgeon in this category: how many of these operations they have performed, how many involved complications, and what follow-up to expect if something goes wrong. For an implant procedure specifically, add one more: what happens, and who pays, if the implant has to come out.

The Bottom Line

• 3D Silicone Rhinoplasty raises bridge height and definition with a silicone implant, customised to facial proportions.

• Skin and soft-tissue thickness is a candidacy criterion, because an implant is only as discreet as the tissue covering it.

• The clinic states one to three hours of surgery under sedation anaesthesia, and a stay of about 7–10 days.

• Swelling and bruising improve over 1–2 weeks; final contours may take 6–12 months.

• Displacement, visibility, capsular contracture and extrusion are implant-specific risks that cartilage-based alternatives do not carry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why choose an implant over my own cartilage? Because the two solve the problem differently. An implant provides bridge height without a donor site and without the recovery that harvesting adds, and the shape is decided before the operation rather than built during it. Against that, an implant can shift, become visible, contract or extrude — risks that cartilage does not carry. The clinic offers both, and the choice follows your anatomy, skin thickness and goals rather than a general preference.

Will the implant be visible? That is what the skin-thickness assessment is for. An implant sits beneath the skin and is only as discreet as the tissue covering it, so thin skin raises the chance of a visible outline or a palpable edge. The surgeon assesses skin and soft-tissue characteristics at consultation, and unsuitable nasal skin or soft tissue is a stated reason to avoid or postpone the procedure.

How long does the operation take? One to three hours, under sedation anaesthesia. That is operating time; the appointment, preparation and recovery period around it are longer, and the figure says nothing about how long you should stay in Korea.

How long should I stay, and when can I fly? Plan for approximately 7–10 days in Korea for initial recovery and postoperative assessment, and expect to fly home at around the same point, subject to the surgeon's approval. The NHS recommends no flying for 7 to 10 days after facial cosmetic procedures because air travel and major surgery both raise the risk of a blood clot, so the clinic's figure and the general advice agree here.

When will my nose look finished? Not for months. The change is visible straight away, but swelling obscures the contour: most visible swelling subsides over the following weeks, and final contours may take six to twelve months to settle. Judging the result at two weeks is judging the swelling.

Does the implant last forever? It is intended to provide long-term augmentation, but results are not guaranteed to remain unchanged, and complications or revision surgery may occur. An implant is a long-term solution rather than a permanent one, and that distinction is worth settling before surgery rather than after.

Can I have this if I have had rhinoplasty before? It depends on what was done and on what the previous surgery left behind, particularly in terms of skin and soft-tissue quality. Previous nasal surgery requires medical evaluation before treatment rather than ruling the operation out, and revision and complex cases are assessed individually at consultation.

What should I tell the surgeon beforehand? Your complete medical history, medications and supplements, allergies, previous nasal surgery, breathing concerns and smoking history. Follow the instructions for medical tests and medication review; the surgeon may advise stopping smoking and avoiding medicines or supplements that increase bleeding risk. Do not stop prescribed medication without medical advice.

Book a Consultation at Le.J Plastic Surgery

3D Silicone Rhinoplasty at Le.J Plastic Surgery in Gangnam-gu, Seoul begins with an assessment of nasal structure, facial proportions and — for this procedure specifically — whether your skin and soft tissue will carry an implant well. Consultations run Monday to Friday, 10:00–19:00 KST, and Saturday from 10:00 KST. International enquiries are handled by the clinic's counseling manager, Park Somi, and English-language support is available. If you are travelling from abroad, plan around a stay of roughly 7–10 days and ask at consultation how the implant option compares with the clinic's cartilage-based procedures for your anatomy. You can use the clinic's contact page, by phone on +82-2-516-7153, or by email at info@lejplasticsurgery.com.

Disclaimer

This page is for general information only and is not medical advice. Individual results vary and cannot be guaranteed. Suitability for any procedure can only be determined through an in-person medical consultation with a qualified doctor.

Sources & Further Reading

• American Society of Plastic Surgeons — Rhinoplasty: Candidates

• American Society of Plastic Surgeons — Facial Implants: Risks and Safety

• NHS — Cosmetic procedures: Nose reshaping (rhinoplasty)

• NHS — Cosmetic surgery abroad

• AAO-HNS Foundation — Clinical Practice Guideline: Improving Nasal Form and Function after Rhinoplasty