I’m in my early 50s and live in the U.S.,, I planned about 20 days this time to get lower blepharoplasty in Korea. I chose 5 clinics in advance by KakaoTalk or phone and made appointments from the U.S. beforehand, I arrived over the weekend and went to all 5 clinics today, Monday. I don’t have much under-eye fat, but I have severe triangular hollowness, and I do have some tear trough/Indian band area, nasolabial folds, and bulldog-jowl wrinkles. My eyes are not severely sagging, but there is some phenomenon where I open my eyes using my thick eyelids and forehead? They said it would be considered revision surgery because I have had eye surgery twice at a university hospital for thyroid eye disease.
1. I-One Plastic Surgery From my preliminary searches, it seemed like they did eye surgery most naturally, including uneven eyes and double-eyelid revision surgery. I saw reviews where they successfully operated on sausage eyes and other cases that had failed at multiple places, and because the doctor has the nickname “Apgujeong sewing machine,” they say the surgery is meticulous and there is relatively less bleeding or swelling at the surgical site. What I liked was that A/S is possible for 3 years. It is small and cozy, but there are quite a lot of clients. The consultation fee was 10,000 won, and the consultation time was very short, about 5 minutes. KakaoTalk consultation from the U.S. was not possible, and it was hard to get an appointment, so I explained my situation and barely managed to reserve 3-4 weeks in advance from the U.S. Before seeing the doctor, they took photos first, and soon after I met the doctor. The doctor looked calm but tired, and after looking at me, he said not to do lower blepharoplasty but to fill only the deficient areas with under-eye filler. The filler cost was 220,000 won just for the hollow under-eye area. The manager recommended that even if I get glabellar Botox somewhere cheaper, I should definitely get under-eye filler from the doctor. - -> Somehow I felt he would also place filler well and it seemed simple, but in my opinion I thought I needed a more active surgical approach than that, so I skipped it.
2. Zell Plastic Surgery, Director Kang Min-jo I sent photos from the U.S. and had a KakaoTalk consultation, and they said the surgeries needed for my face were lower blepharoplasty, forehead lift, and facelift, and they first recommended lower blepharoplasty. The clinic was clean and there are 2 directors. I thought they were a husband-and-wife doctor team, but they said the female director opened another clinic as a dermatologist and is no longer there,, Most of the consultation staff also felt kind. Consultation fee 10,000 won,, I arrived earlier than the appointment time but waited a long time. The surgery was not finished, so after a long wait I finally met the doctor, and he said it would be better to do the forehead lift first. They said another director had to consult for lower blepharoplasty, but because of my next clinic appointment I couldn’t wait any longer, so I said I would visit again and left. - -> I did not get any particular impression, and I wanted to consult about lower blepharoplasty, but they brought up forehead lift first, so I skipped it..
3. Idea Plastic Surgery, Director Kook Gwang-sik For Idea, the search results had mixed likes and dislikes, and there was a Missy review about a failed case with Director Kwon among the 2 directors, so I skipped that doctor. Among the reviews, there were good reviews about Director Kook, so I chose Director Kook. I had a photo consultation by KakaoTalk from the U.S., and they recommended doing lower blepharoplasty together with a midface lift. The estimate I received in advance was 2.8 million won. I didn’t know what a midface lift was, but afterward I learned about SOOF lifting and Endotine midface lift and suddenly became interested, so I had high expectations. Consultation fee 11,000 won. Director Kook was very confident, and I trusted him a lot. He explained in detail about the midface lift, which cannot be solved with lower blepharoplasty alone, and why it was necessary for my face, etc., which was good. They said surgery was possible tomorrow at 3 p.m., and with a deal for doing it together with a friend in Korea, 2 people, it was 2 million won. He showed trust that he would work separately on the skin layer, muscle layer, and fat layer during surgery, so there would be no eye turning outward or things like that. He expected the surgery time to be about 2 hours. - - -> I liked both the price and the doctor very much. In the end, I decided to have surgery here.
4. White Plastic Surgery There were not many community reviews and the like, but I saw good reviews on Missy, and they seemed good at eyes, so I asked a friend and had 2 friends in Korea consult there first, and my friends’ satisfaction was very high. I had a hard time booking the consultation from the U.S. Consultation fee 10,000 won. There seemed to be many middle-aged and older cosmetic surgery clients who looked wealthy, and it looked very busy. The doctor seemed to have a calm and serious personality. He recommended lower blepharoplasty, said he would slightly correct the difference in thickness of the aegyo-sal, and said it would be good to do Ulthera for the Indian bands, etc. When I asked why he did not recommend a midface lift, he said there could be a part where the cheekbones rise and look bigger, and later there could be sagging as a lump like a Hahoe mask.. (This is so different from Idea’s midface lift explanation, so I’m really conflicted.) He said it was not yet time for a forehead lift. The price was harsh: eyes 3.19 million won, Ulthera 600 shots 3.8 million won, but because my friends visited first and had negotiated a little, with a cash deal plus glabellar Botox service, the cash-deal price was 5.8 million won. - - -> Ulthera 1 hour, surgery about 2 hours, total about 3 hours required. It was very expensive, but I considered doing it here. Since lower blepharoplasty requires an under-eye incision anyway, I thought getting lower blepharoplasty and midface lift together would mean no revision surgery 10 years later, so I went with Idea, where I could do the midface lift together..
5. The First Plastic Surgery, Director Lee Sang-jun I chose him because among the 2 directors on YouTube, he seemed a little calmer. The doctor was very calm, and the consultation proceeded gently and at length. Consultation fee 20,000 won. He said that because of the surgeries I had previously at the university hospital, I might not be satisfied with the outcome of lower blepharoplasty.. He recommended a forehead lift first. Lower blepharoplasty 6.89 million won - - - - > I skipped it because the doctor who would perform the surgery seemed unconfident.