There’s also my day-2 post-op review, so if you’re curious, check that separately too. Today is already my 10-day review haha
Honestly... I kept wishing and wishing for time to pass, because I didn’t look human. I’m really not exaggerating, I looked like... maybe around Homo sapiens? Now, ah, now evolution is complete and I’m human. Exactly one week, after just one week, I became human again. I worked hard to reduce swelling with pumpkin juice, cold compresses, warm compresses, and walks.
At the place where I had it done, as aftercare, I went every day until day 4 after surgery and they disinfected the area. Until then, my face and even inside my mouth were so swollen that I couldn’t eat anything except drinkable things. I had soup, ice cream, milk, and protein shakes (I didn’t even eat porridge). Then the person disinfecting my mouth praised me, saying the inside of my mouth was very clean. For reference, disinfection doesn’t hurt. The first time, because you have to open your very swollen mouth, you may feel it hurts a bit, but the surgical area itself didn’t hurt. For me, getting antibiotics every day was the hard part... I hate injections ㅠㅠㅠ
But seriously, from exactly day 5, my appetite came back like crazy. So I read every review I could find, and it was really half and half: people who ate carefully and people who only had liquid foods,,, But my appetite won. From day 5, I melted bread, chocolate, and snacks in my mouth, mixed a little rice into curry and swallowed it right away, mashed fish to eat it, and even just gulped down kimchi without chewing. After one week, a lot of the swelling inside my mouth went down, and without realizing it, I was chewing tofu too. I tried chewing a little bread as well. It didn’t seem to be a problem, so yesterday, for the first time, I cut up pizza and chewed it lightly little by little. After eating 2 slices like that, my jaw did hurt, but it seemed okay. I couldn’t chew thoroughly because I was scared... My eating speed is super slow haha. From week 2, I’m waiting to eat slightly stimulating foods too. No, midway I only had a little malatang broth, and it was extremely stimulating, and kimchi also felt really spicy... I’m in trouble, my mouth has become like a baby’s...
Ah! Most people talked a lot about blood-mixed phlegm and runny nose, but strangely, I only had a nosebleed about twice and that was it?? I did have phlegm, but there was no blood. There was nothing uncomfortable or unpleasant at all, so I wondered if I was the strange one. The nosebleeds weren’t pouring out either, so well... But the runny nose really did increase a lot. Until day 5, I basically lived with tissues.
The swelling is kind of rough until day 7. I went to work on day 8, and I wore a mask all day. I roughly melted bread inside my mask to eat too... Ah, I still haven’t opened up the mask... Now I think my face would be okay with the mask off, but the problem is smiling and eating... I can’t smile...ㅠㅠ The corners of my mouth won’t go upㅠㅠ My cheekbones are still swollen, so smiling feels awkward ㅠㅠ When will I be able to smile? Oh, and if I laugh too much, my cheekbones hurt. My cheekbones feel tight...
As for the change in my face, hmm, this is a bit ambiguous. On CT, my before-and-after difference is huge. And when I run my hand along my facial line, the lateral cheekbones are gone. But if you just look at me, I’m still peanut-shaped. Maybe it’s because the candy-like swelling under my jaw hasn’t gone down... I had cheek hollowing on day 3, but this seems to be disappearing over time. It’s already a bit fainter now. The 45-degree cheekbone also seems to have disappeared, but I already don’t have much facial fat, so my 45-degree angle really doesn’t look pretty. But right now, because of swelling, the 45-degree area is very round, so I kind of hope the swelling doesn’t go down... Anyway, I think I’ll only know the clear effect after more swelling goes down. Still, the contours have definitely become smoother. So then my jaw keeps standing out... Is this what addiction is... But I won’t do itㅠㅠ I’ll just get Botox...
Ah! Also, until days 5-6, if I wasn’t wearing the compression band, I really felt like the flesh around my cheekbones was slowly sliding down? Anyway, the tissue has to adhere well, right? So I wore the compression band diligently, and I still do, but maybe it has adhered a bit now, because even when I don’t wear it at work, I don’t feel that anymore. But that feeling is really awfulㅠㅠ It feels like the flesh and bone are separated... Now living with the compression band on feels more comfortable...
Well... This got long because I included everything I had been curious about and searched for until now, but the conclusion is: just hang in there for one week. Everyone with cheekbone surgery, let’s endure just one week! But after reading all the reviews, it does seem to differ by hospital too. Mine was a hospital that used an intraoral incision, and from the reviews of the hospital I went to, most people seemed to get better if they just held out for one week haha
Next time, I’ll come back with a photo review
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