I had double-jaw surgery, and also had my cheekbones and jaw done. My asymmetry was very severe and my facial bones were also well-developed, so I had a serious complex about it since I was young. I told myself that after finishing military service, I’d save money and definitely get double-jaw surgery, and in the end I told my parents too and went through with the surgery.
I thought side effects like cheek hollowing and sagging couldn’t really be helped, and I felt that dealing with those side effects would still be better than living with my old face for the rest of my life, so I wasn’t scared of surgery at all.
I just wanted it to look natural, not like I’d overdone plastic surgery, and to correct the asymmetry well. I thought that would be enough. So when I was looking into hospitals, I wanted a doctor who had the skill to correct asymmetry and seemed trustworthy.
I think I looked into 2 places? 3 places? One plastic surgery clinic, a dental clinic said to be famous for double-jaw surgery, and this place.
This hospital said they make a report before surgery, analyze everything, and plan how to cut and how to fix everything in place, so somehow I felt I could trust them and chose it.
When I saw the bone images after surgery, I was honestly shocked... My old face was big, angular, and the two sides didn’t match at all, so it was a mess, but after surgery, even though it was just a bone image, the shape looked so pretty.
But after surgery, you have to keep some kind of splint-like thing in your mouth and wear rubber bands. I think it’s probably to fix the positions of the upper jaw and lower jaw. Anyway, that splint was thin on one side and thick on the other. At first it fit my mouth well, but after some time passed and I took it out, within about 1-2 weeks things had moved enough that the splint no longer fit. And you’re not supposed to clench while wearing it, but without realizing it, I kept putting force into it. Maybe because of that, now it feels like one corner of my mouth is lifted to one side...
Another issue is that because they shaved the sides of my cheekbones, the part where the bone starts near the ear sticks out, and it bothers me so much... Even when getting my hair done, when trimming around the sideburns or combing, it keeps catching on that protruding bone, so I feel like it makes the surgery obvious. Now that the swelling has gone down a bit, it doesn’t feel as protruding or as easy to catch on things as before, but it still bothers me. Honestly, cheekbone surgery itself doesn’t reduce the width of the face; it shaves the cheekbone, so I think there’s no way around it for people whose face width itself is large.
Anyway, as the swelling went down a lot over months 1 and 2, I heard a lot that my impression had changed. For the first time in my life, I even heard people say my face was small. In the past, when I took photos, they were honestly hard to look at, but now I feel like, isn’t this at least okay?
Now I don’t have any pain anywhere at all, and I have no discomfort eating. I can even yawn with my mouth really wide open. And as for whether the surgery is noticeable, I thought relatives who see me every year, or at least every 2 years, would know, but except for two people, they haven’t noticed... I don’t know if they’re just not saying anything or if they really don’t know. Even a middle/high school friend I saw for the first time in 3-4 years only said I’d lost weight. From my perspective I definitely changed a lot, and a huge amount of bone was cut away, so it’s fascinating that people don’t notice.
But seriously, human greed has no end. After surgery, because the swelling made my facial fat look uneven, I spent another 2-3 million won on lifting and injections... On top of that, I’m preparing to get nose surgery, and I’m also worrying about how much money I’ll spend at dermatology clinics in the future and whether I should get my eyes done or not. That’s what scares me.