When I first entered the clinic, many photos of the director, including personal photos and photoshoots, were displayed throughout the facility. Personally, I had not had good experiences at clinics that heavily emphasized the medical staff’s image, so it initially felt a little unfamiliar, but I decided not to judge the clinic based on that alone. Without a consultation with the director, I paid for 5 cc, and the treatment manager recommended 5 cc, saying that my temples were very hollow. I paid about 2 million won. Naturally, I thought the director would personally examine my face before the procedure and make the final decision about the amount actually needed. However, I went straight into the procedure room without a separate consultation and saw the director for the first time only immediately before the procedure. I had already paid for 5 cc, and in the end all 5 cc were injected.
During the procedure, the director talked a great deal. Personally, I wished the director would focus a little more on the procedure, but at the time I thought it was perhaps intended to make a nervous patient feel comfortable, so I did not say anything. Until then, I actually thought the director was friendly and treated patients comfortably.
Three weeks later, the surface was still bulging and uneven. From immediately after the procedure, I could see raised areas around the temples and unevenness on the surface. At first I also thought it was swelling. When it remained the same after a week, I contacted the clinic. They explained that there could still be swelling, so I believed them and waited longer. But even after about three weeks, the raised areas remained, while other areas looked sunken. Because of this, I ultimately traveled from another region back to the clinic.
At the return visit, the response felt quite different from the first visit. I kept explaining which areas looked strange, but it felt as though the director did not regard the areas I considered problematic as a problem. The director pressed the raised areas with a hand and remodeled them. I asked about something I could not understand. I asked, “If you press the raised filler with your hand and spread it out, wouldn’t it occupy a wider area? Then could the filler spread into areas that did not originally need it? I also wonder whether too much filler was injected in the first place.” The director explained that this absolutely would not happen because no dissection had been performed. When I continued asking because I still did not understand, the director said, “If you put it that way, I have nothing more to say.”
I cannot judge the medical principle involved. From my perspective, however, it was difficult to understand the explanation that pressing a concentrated raised area flat with a hand would not make it spread around. I only wanted to hear by what principle the volume that had been bulging became flat. But the more I asked questions, the more it felt as though the director was uncomfortable with the conversation itself.
In the end: “The limitation of filler.” Even after remodeling, one temple still looked bumpy and wrinkled to me. When I kept mentioning this, the director explained that it could happen because of the limitations of filler and said the only thing more that could be done was to dissolve it. The director also said, “Isn’t it still better than being sunken?” But before the procedure, I was never told that the surface could look bumpy or uneven after filler injection, or that this was a possible limitation of filler treatment. If I had heard that beforehand, I would first have considered whether to accept that possibility before deciding to receive filler. In particular, I do not think it is for the practitioner to decide on my behalf that it is better than being sunken. Whether to leave slightly hollow temples as they are, or to accept the possibility of an uneven surface after filler, is something the patient should choose after receiving sufficient information. I was personally very disappointed that only after the result appeared was it explained as a “limitation of filler.”
An employee pressed the area the director had remodeled. Something else upsetting happened during the filler remodeling. Because I still was not satisfied with the result remodeled by the director, an employee beside them pressed the area with a hand. They may have intended to help. But I had paid expecting the director’s treatment and remodeling, so I was taken aback seeing another employee press the area the director had already remodeled. When I asked, “What are you doing now? Why are you pressing the area the director touched again?” I personally saw the employee throw the cotton swab they were holding toward a trash can some distance away, as if offended. It could be called merely throwing away a cotton swab, but given the flow of the conversation, the behavior felt extremely unpleasant from my perspective.
Afterward, one side continued to bother me, so I spoke to the director again. I asked, “I’m not talking about whether there is too much or too little volume; I’m talking about the wrinkled surface. Did you understand what I said?” The director replied, “Why are you talking like that?” and, during the conversation, took off the gloves they were wearing and threw them down. I had not cursed or shouted. I was explaining and asking questions about something concerning in the result, so this reaction was very upsetting and unpleasant.
“I am making time in my busy schedule to see you.” During the return visit, the director also said something to the effect that they were making time from their busy schedule to see me. But from my perspective, I had not simply gone for an additional consultation; I had returned from another region because of the initial treatment result. Hearing this made me feel uncomfortable, as though I had taken up a busy person’s time by raising an unnecessary problem, rather than feeling cared for as a patient. Most of all, the director had seemed friendly and relaxed during the first visit, but when I returned to ask about the result, the tone, word choice, and way of answering questions felt very different.
What disappointed me more than the result was the aftercare response. Results can vary from person to person, and I am not trying to conclude that the treatment itself was necessarily improper based only on my experience. However, for a procedure costing about 2 million won, I wish I had at least had the opportunity to consult the director directly beforehand and make an informed decision after receiving sufficient explanations about the appropriate amount, the limitations of filler treatment, and the possibility that the surface might look uneven afterward. Of course, it was disappointing that the result differed from my expectations. But personally, the most disappointing part of this experience was the response I received while raising concerns about the result and asking for explanations.
I wrote this review based on what I personally saw and heard while accompanying my parent to the procedure. I am currently considering dissolving the filler and personally have no intention of returning to this clinic. If someone close to me said they were considering the same procedure at this clinic, I would tell them about the process I experienced and advise them to research it thoroughly before deciding. Another person’s review says they are tired just from looking at the pink interior, and that since the owner’s attitude is like that, the staff are a mess too.