Hi, I wrote a post around week 2 after lateral canthoplasty + lowering the outer corners, and now that I’m at week 3, I’ll post a more detailed review.
To summarize in one line: unless you’re someone who truly needs lateral canthoplasty + lowering the outer corners, absolutely don’t do it ㅠㅠ
1. First of all, I had previously only had epicanthoplasty. I was left with scarring, but I didn’t have any other side effects, so I went to get lateral canthoplasty + lowering the outer corners too.
I have sunken eyes, but my eyes were uneven: they were small and narrow, and the lower part of my left eye curved upward and covered the eye, so they said I would see a big improvement.
The surgical method was partial incision + periosteal fixation, and it wasn’t lateral canthoplasty to lower the outer corners as one procedure; they did lateral canthoplasty and lowering of the outer corners separately. For anesthesia, I heard there are many cases where the white of the eye gets poked during sedation anesthesia, making chemosis worse, so I did it under local anesthesia. (But the anesthetic injections really hurt so much ㅜㅜ)
2. Right after surgery, my left eye was overcorrected, so when I smiled, my aegyo-sal got distorted, and the vision in my right eye dropped sharply. I didn’t really have chemosis or redness, but that still happened...
On top of that, I bruised badly, so I couldn’t really go about daily life properly for about 2 weeks. Still, the bruising is all gone now, and the overcorrected aegyo-sal on the left is gradually coming back. My eyes also got bigger in a subtle way, and the asymmetry was corrected.
3. Even so, the reason I don’t recommend lateral canthoplasty + lowering the outer corners is because I can feel that my eye health has gotten worse ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
When I first got the stitches removed, my eyes throbbed so much that I felt dizzy, and my dry eye became really severe. I originally had dry eye because I had LASEK, so I think it’s even worse for me.
And by the afternoon, my eyes feel as tired as if I hadn’t slept for 20 hours. I can’t focus well on things nearby, and the vision in my right eye, which dropped, is barely recovering. I also developed slight binocular double vision.
I wondered why this was happening when they didn’t even touch my eyeballs, but apparently double vision or decreased vision can happen even if only the muscles near the eye are touched. Honestly, it was a side effect I hadn’t thought of... Daily life is so uncomfortable, and my quality of life has dropped so much. Since the vision in both eyes is different, I feel dizzy ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
The inner tissue still hasn’t fully recovered, and these side effects are gradually getting better, but I’m so anxious that they might not completely go back to normal. It’s also hard having to live this uncomfortably until they recover...
Thankfully, I didn’t develop entropion, so I’m not undoing it for now, but if it’s still like this after the two-month mark, I’m thinking about having the stitches removed.
4. I didn’t know before doing it either, but the side effects of lateral canthoplasty + lowering the outer corners are much more serious and varied than I expected. I was only worried about not being able to smile with my eyes, but now that my vision is blurry, I don’t even care that my left eye looks pinched ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
For reference, the clinic where I had surgery is absolutely not a clinic that overcorrects. It’s a clinic where the biggest downside is usually that there’s no difference before and after... I’m saying this didn’t happen because I went to a clinic that opens the eyes excessively. I don’t have severe problematic side effects like the gray line rolling inward or the outer corner sticking in a C-shape, and I don’t have any pulling sensation either. But it’s still like this... Clinics that supposedly open the eyes even more dramatically than this place would probably be worse, right?
I did it because my eyes were really narrow and closed-looking before, but if the clinic says you might not see even a slight improvement, absolutely, absolutely don’t do it. Seriously, it can ruin your eye health, and the recovery period is longer than you think ㅜㅜㅜ I’m also planning to go to an ophthalmologist soon and get a proper exam.
I’ll keep watching it and write another review after about a month. I hope everything is okay by then.. Everyone, please avoid lateral canthoplasty + lowering the outer corners if possible, please.