Maybe because I don’t swell much, my facial contour already looks pretty, and I want to show it off soonㅠㅠ First, my face was on the short side, with protruding cheekbones and a protruding square jaw, and overall it was a round face. I had asymmetry, so the bone on one side was really big. I just got the surgery thinking that since I’m young, I’d recover quickly. I’m in my very early twenties by Korean age this year! And actually, I got it without my parents knowing...ㅎㅎ At least I paid for it with my own money, so that’s the filial part of being unfilial..?
I’ll start from the consultation. Actually, I’m not someone who went to a lot of consultations.. I’m really reckless and planless, so I’m someone who booked surgery at the first hospital I went to and then canceled all the consultations after thatㅎㅎ... During the consultation, it went consultant-director-consultant like this! When consulting with the director, he explained while drawing over my CT images. He especially asked which areas bothered me, and when I said cheekbones and square jaw, he explained it as 2-part contouring. But I thought, if I’m going to do it, wouldn’t 3 parts be better? so I asked about 3-part contouring. Then he said that if I wanted a stronger front-view effect, he would recommend doing all 3 parts including the chin tip! So I did 3 parts, and for the chin tip it was a T-osteotomy. I absolutely hate a sharp V, so I went for a slim U shape and slightly lengthened it, since my chin is a bit shortㅎㅎ... Finally, when consulting with the consultant, there was zero pressure to book, but I wanted to book anyway, and I had heard a lot that same-day booking gets a discount, so I asked more about how to get a discount and the maximum discounted price. Then I got a pretty good discount through same-day booking...! After that, the tests included ECG, blood tests, etc. These are only done at the hospital where you’ll have surgery. They collect the information needed for anesthesia!
From the day of surgery onward, this is based on my diary, so there’s a lot of chatter. On the day, I went earlier than the surgery time and prepared for surgery. I met the director and went straight to the operating room. But I wasn’t nervous..? Even lying on the operating room bed, all I thought was that the operating bed was more comfortable than I expected... And after the respirator was put on, I had no memory. I woke up about 3 hours later, and the nausea was really severe.. I didn’t have pain. Instead, even in the hospital room, I kept feeling nauseous and thought I was going to die. They say some people get nauseous from general anesthesia plus antibiotic administration, and that was me. Fortunately, I didn’t have facial pain or feel like my throat was being torn apart. Still, for about 12 hours, my voice didn’t come out at all! I also coughed up bloody sputum. Even so, the throat pain was just about like a sore throat from a cold? In the morning my voice did come out, but it was definitely not my normal condition, and I couldn’t talk for long.
I was nauseous until the next day, and because of that I couldn’t sleepㅠㅠ I saw the director in the morning, and even after going home I still felt nauseous. But the director said I had no bruising and no swelling. I felt kind of proudㅎㅎ I had no pain related to the surgery at all, but since the pain-control injection was gone, I thought it would hurt a lot, so I stocked up on Tylenol and trembled with fear, but I just didn’t hurt at allㅎㅎ It was just occasionally stiff and throbbing, and after my stomach settled, it was to the point where I thought, huh, did I really get my bones shaved properly?
On days 2 and 3, I focused only on ice packs + compression band + sleeping with my head elevated + gargling every 2 hours! And I only drank New Care and soy milk, and took the hospital medication properly! Make sure to get New Care. In the early stages after surgery, the only things you can eat are liquid foods, but protein and nutrients are really important for recovery. There’s nothing like New Care. I took the compression band off once in a while when my face felt too tight, and until day 3 I wore it even while sleeping. The swelling was a little more than on the day of surgery. Since I’m asymmetrical, the side where more bone was shaved swelled more. It made me laugh every time I looked in the mirror.. I just washed my hair by myself.
From day 4, I stopped using ice packs, wore the compression band for 1 hour then rested for 30 minutes + didn’t wear it while sleeping, and started taking swelling medication (Banosin, Tripline). Also, I usually have a habit of drinking a lot of lukewarm water, so I kept that up! I didn’t know at the time, but looking at the photos, the swelling started going down from this day. I only took a 40-minute walk that dayㅎㅎ Walking is such a hassleㅠ My throat fully recovered, my voice became completely fine, and I could talk for a long time. I kept the humidifier on the whole time, and it definitely helped a lot.
On days 5 and 6, I wore the compression band for 1 hour and rested for 30 minutes, no wearing it while sleeping, and focused on gargling every 2 hours. From then on, I couldn’t beat my hunger, so I ate ice cream, chocolate, porridge full of shrimp, jangjorim, and condensed milk bread. Definitely until day 4, my mouth wouldn’t open, so even if I wanted to eat I couldn’t, but from then on it was possible with a baby spoonㅎㅎ So I also started brushing my teeth, which is originally allowed from day 4. Once your mouth starts opening, using a baby toothbrush seems good! I used toothpaste and brushed really carefully, like gently sweeping.
Today, day 7, I went to the hospital, and they said my cheekbone area hadn’t healed enough, so they wanted to remove the cheekbone stitches 4 days later. They only removed the taping. The tape stuck more firmly than I expected, so it hurt like waxingㅎㅎ.. They said my intraoral care was good. Today I ate salmon sashimi, and every time the salty soy sauce touched the incision inside my mouth, it throbbedㅠㅠ My mouth opens better than yesterday, and I can feel that the swelling has gone down a lot compared with yesterday! When I touch the front chin, it’s still numb, but occasionally it feels itchy and tingling, so I think sensation is coming back smoothly.
Additionally, I had it done at a large hospital, and the most important thing to me was safety. Having a full lineup of anesthesiologists and an established system seemed safe to me (CCTV is obviously essential; if there isn’t any, whether they mention anesthesiologists or safety, you should be wary of shadow doctors!!) Above all, I really liked the director’s consultation, so I focused only on the director. But that doesn’t mean I like large hospitals themselves. First, if you don’t mind personally taking care of your own service, speaking up for yourself, and waiting, a large hospital is okay. But if you want them to take care of everything for you automatically, you should probably go to a private clinic. Of course the latter would be betterㅎㅎ There are many good directors at large hospitals too, so if you’re okay with the former, large hospitals seem fine too. I won’t bother writing what I didn’t like about the large hospitalㅎㅎ;; I can think of about 3-4 things, but even thinking about them annoys me..ㅎ Anyway, if you’re considering facial contouring, everyone choose carefully!