<2-Week Review> [Deliberation & Reasons for Choosing the Clinic] I originally had a long, retruded chin with a weak-chin appearance (see photo), so my profile was not very flattering, and from the front my lower face looked long and blunt. I had always been dissatisfied with it. While looking up various surgery-related videos on YouTube, I liked Note's videos the best, so I chose them. (What I liked was that they explained not only weak-chin correction but also lower-face length adjustment in detail, which really appealed to me.)
There were also many reviews and the overall reputation was good, so I had a consultation at the end of April and scheduled the surgery that very day. I visited a few other places as well, but this place, which had initially attracted me through the videos, was still my favorite in person. Even with a rough explanation, they pinpointed exactly what was bothering me and tried to solve it, which gave me confidence.
[Surgery] Originally, I was only considering chin advancement, but I wanted not only to improve my weak chin but also to reduce the upper-to-lower vertical length of my lower face. I was told that, to do that, the square-jaw area that extends downward along the sides also needed to be contoured in order to reduce the length attractively, so I decided to have both procedures.
It was not very noticeable visually, but on the CT scan, the vertical length of my jawbone below the ears was quite long. I had surgery as the first case on August 28. The upper-to-lower vertical length was reduced by 5 mm, the chin was advanced 6 mm, and the square jaw was reduced more than I expected. They showed me CT comparisons from before and after. The bone area has clearly been reduced, but because of the swelling, it is not noticeable externally at all. In fact, it is so puffy that it may look larger than before surgery, so you really need to manage your mindset at this stage. You may think you had the surgery for nothing, but I think it is best to make that judgment at least one or two months later.
Still, it looked very nicely contoured on the CT, and I was extremely satisfied with the shape. I like both the amount of advancement and the reduced length. I just want all this swelling to go down quickly so I can see the final result.
[Progress] It has now been two weeks. The major swelling from right after surgery has gone down considerably, but swelling remains in the lower face, especially around the chin tip and lips, making them look blunt. As I mentioned above, I think an accurate before-and-after comparison will probably be possible from around week four. At present, it is similar to the residual swelling after wisdom-tooth extraction or root-canal treatment. So far, I have not had any side effects.
I have never been in pain after surgery; it has just been uncomfortable. It is hard to open my mouth, I can only eat liquids, and I get very hungry. It is uncomfortable because I cannot turn onto my side while sleeping, and during the first week I could not even wash my face; washing my hair was difficult too. There were truly countless inconveniences. But if you endure just one week, it becomes fairly manageable afterward.
One week after surgery, the compression tape attached to my face was removed, and after two weeks, the stitches inside my mouth were removed. They also provided skin and swelling care at that time. They were attentive and kind, so I felt that not only the surgery but also the service was excellent. Compared with other people's reviews, my swelling seems to be going down slowly, so I hope time passes quickly.