What do you all look for during a consultation? A detailed consultation? A director and consultant who tailor things to me? Surgical method? Hospital facilities? Price? Read this and leave your opinions.
This clinic wasn’t originally on my list to visit, but an acquaintance strongly recommended it, so it was the last clinic I went to. Based on the many previous consultations I had, I went in thinking I would need incisional double eyelid surgery plus epicanthoplasty/upper epicanthoplasty (one or both), and ptosis correction. But here, they said it was pseudoptosis and that simply cutting away skin through incisional double eyelid surgery would make my eyes sufficiently bigger, so I liked that they didn’t seem to recommend excessive procedures. (Honestly, I’m not sure about my eyes, so I’m planning to go to an ophthalmology clinic today or tomorrow to get tested for ptosis.) The line they designed for me was fairly okay too… Since this was the only doctor who said I didn’t need ptosis correction, just that alone put this clinic among my final choices out of the places I visited: ㄷㅌㄹㅁ (single-doctor clinic), ㄱㄹㅂ (Park), ㅎㅌ (Song)…
I had heard that the doctor clearly tells you what is possible and what is not, so I knew that going in. But I brought in a photo of Irene’s eyes and asked if mine could become like that, and he said yes. But then he said getting double eyelid surgery doesn’t mean I’ll get Irene’s eyes, and he kind of laughed as if mocking me? It felt really unpleasant. It’s not like I said I’d become Irene just by getting double eyelid surgery, so why suddenly? I know it’s not possible…ㅋ I showed the photo because I thought those eyes were the best example of what an in-out line could look like, and I wanted to ask whether that line was possible, but it felt off. Maybe it was because I went alone as a minor, but it was kind of rude. (My parents made the appointment for me, but they didn’t have time, so I went alone with their consent.) If the atmosphere had been cheerful and we were joking around, I might not have minded, but the mood was dry and cold. I was just saying yes, yes while listening and asking questions, and then he said, “Getting double eyelid surgery doesn’t mean you’ll become Ireneㅋ,” in a tone that felt somewhat dismissive…
And I asked, “Could I possibly see cases of double eyelid surgery on eyes similar to mine..?” At that point, again in that dismissive tone, he said, “You should look that up yourself. It’s not like I remember every single case one by oneㅋ,” and embarrassed me. I was really embarrassed and ashamed. I just said okay there. If everyone is wondering why I asked instead of finding examples myself… The way a doctor sees my eyes and the eyes I judge and find myself could be different, right? So I wanted to ask directly for his opinion. Like, where those eyes were similar to mine, and how they improved with this kind of surgery…
After the doctor consultation, during the consultant consultation, they showed me before-and-after photos from the website, but none of them looked similar to my eyes… They recommended epicanthoplasty, but I have a nasal bridge, and another clinic’s doctor said my eye spacing was already just right. I also didn’t think the spacing was wide, so I thought if they cut more from these eyes, they would look too close together. When I said that, they said they would do 1.5 mm on each side, but when I looked it up, 3 mm is considered a lot to cut. Anyway, that’s not the important part. Look: the photos they showed me while saying, “See? They had canthoplasty but don’t look too close together, right?” were all photos where, even to my eyes, the preoperative eye spacing was really, really, extremely wide, and then improved after canthoplasty. Anyone could see their eyes were far apart… There wasn’t a single example like mine.
Conclusion - I trusted them because they didn’t recommend excessive surgery, but the doctor is more forceful than gentle, so if you haven’t been to many consultations or it’s your first one, it might be a bit difficult.