Reason for surgery: I worked hard on dieting and exercise in my own way, but strangely, fat came off while the wrinkled, crepey skin around my navel would not go away at all.. It felt as though the skin itself had stretched T_T. I also looked into thread lifting and lasers, but seeing that people with concerns similar to mine eventually ended up choosing abdominoplasty, I began looking into it too.
Mini vs. full abdominoplasty: Before the consultation, I went in lightly thinking I would have a small incision and get a mini procedure. But the doctor even performed an abdominal ultrasound while explaining, and from the middle of my upper abdomen, my rectus abdominis muscles were widely separated.. The doctor said a mini procedure would not be nearly enough to properly secure everything (because a mini procedure only treats the lower abdomen below the navel, its improvement would be limited..) and that I needed a full abdominoplasty T_T. On top of that, I had not realized that my pubic area was also significantly sagging, so a pubic lift was added too T_T. My abdominal condition was far worse than I had thought.. Still, because the explanation was evidence-based while viewing the ultrasound, it did not feel like overtreatment. I thought it must be surgery I needed, so I cleanly decided on the double plication as well.
The early swelling explosion and painful period: Immediately after surgery, even a slight cough made me feel as if my abdomen would split open, so I worried by myself that the incision site might rupture (the doctor reassured me that would absolutely never happen, lol). The hardest part was the swelling: my legs became hugely swollen. I weighed 46 kg before surgery, but I gained nearly over 10 kg, so I was devastated, thinking something had truly gone wrong.. But it was all swelling. After three weeks, it rapidly went down enough that I could noticeably feel it!
Current condition: Now that I am entering my third month, the previously crepey abdominal skin has become taut as if it had been ironed flat! My navel, which had been buried in fat and invisible, is now beautifully visible again. The incision scar I worried about most is completely hidden inside my underwear, so no one knows I had surgery unless I tell them, lol. I had my procedure with Dr. Na Ok-ju at [Clinic A]. I was initially a little taken aback because I went from planning a mini procedure to a full one, but looking at the results now, I am glad I fixed everything thoroughly with the full procedure!!