Before before before / after after after Reason I decided to have surgery: Since I was young, I often heard that my face looked like a full moon, and I knew my face was on the larger side. I have almost no facial fat and fairly defined features, but I had a lot of facial blank space and my chin was long and droopy, so my image was strongly androgynous. Because facial contouring is a major surgery, I couldn’t easily decide to do it. I tried Botox and small-face facial massage and everything, but in the end, since the bone doesn’t shrink, none of it worked. Meanwhile, getting facial massage every week was really so painful that I thought if I was going to hurt every week like this, it would be better to hurt once. After a long time thinking, I decided to have the 3 facial contouring procedures: cheekbones, square jaw, and chin. Hospital: I had surgery on April 8 at S.S.Y. I was very nervous on the day of surgery, but the director personally explained things right before surgery, after surgery, and until just before discharge the next day, and guided me kindly, so I felt at ease. The director is really so sweet.... And before and after surgery, I had a lot of questions, so I contacted the consultant often, and she always explained things kindly and quickly, which was great. After surgery, I visited in week 1 for sideburn stitch removal + cooling care, and in week 2 for intraoral stitch removal + swelling care. Originally in week 2 I was supposed to have a CT scan, progress photos, and a consultation with the director, but his surgery ended late, so I decided to see him during swelling care at 1 month. Then the director personally called me. He said there were no issues with my progress and the surgery went well according to plan, and asked whether I had any questions. He was really meticulous, so I felt I made the right choice doing it here!!!
Diet range: In case the bones might not fuse, I’m mainly eating foods I can swallow while chewing as little as possible. * Surgery day ~ day 1 _ I couldn’t eat anything from the day of surgery until the afternoon of day 1. Honestly, I was in pain and the anesthesia hadn’t fully worn off, so I had no appetite and didn’t feel like eating.. * Evening of day 1 ~ day 5 _ On days 2–3, even drinking water was hard, and until day 4 the swelling was so severe that it was hard to open my mouth enough to fit even one finger The area under my lower lip was very tight and lumpy, so drinking was uncomfortable. I used a dessert spoon to eat Almond Breeze + multigrain powder, and I asked Bonjuk to blend the porridge completely so I could eat it as thin rice gruel. It’s hard to open your mouth, and hard to eat without chewing, so in reality you can’t eat much. Also, I normally like sweets, so when I couldn’t hold back, I melted chocolate, Homerun Ball snacks, and ice cream in my mouth and ate them. * Day 6 ~ week 2 _ Now I can open my mouth enough to fit one finger! Still, using a dessert spoon (child-size spoon) is comfortable. For meals, I ate soft tofu, steamed egg, Almond Breeze + multigrain powder, porridge without large chunks, and Baekje rice noodle soup using only 1/2~2/3 of the noodles, cut finely with scissors and eaten with a spoon. For snacks, I mainly melted and ate custard cakes, Homerun Ball snacks, chocolate, and ice cream. Sattobap and custard cakes soaked in milk are really good for swallowing without chewing. I’m eating a little more than before, but I still can’t eat much, and because I mainly eat foods that digest easily, I get hungry often. I’m currently recording my lowest weight of this year..
Swelling: * Surgery day ~ day 4 _ From right after discharge until day 4, I swelled up so much that I wondered if it was possible to swell this much. Everything down to under my chin/neck was swollen, so I couldn’t recognize my original face. * Day 5 ~ week 2 _ It’s amazing because I can visibly see the swelling go down every day. Just in case, I took photos almost every day and compared them. Whether in photos or in the mirror, I can see my face changing daily. Now at week 2, I think it looks about the same as my pre-surgery face.
Satisfaction: Even though I was very swollen right after surgery, I could see that my chin had become shorter, so I liked it! When I turn my face left and right, the line definitely looks more feminine and softer. I thought a lot of the swelling had gone down, but when I had a CT yesterday, the swelling under my chin was still extremely severe~ For now my face size is about the same as before surgery, so I’m not 200% satisfied yet... but thinking that all the swelling will go down makes me very excited.
Reactions around me: On day 7, I was extremely swollen, so people said I looked cute like a Snow baby filter was applied, but they were amazed because they could already clearly see that my chin had become shorter. Now at week 2, I’m swollen to about my pre-surgery face, but the line is already visible, so I’m hearing that the surgery went well. After seeing me do it, quite a few friends suddenly want to do it too and are asking in detail about the surgery and review.
Activity range: * Day 1 ~ day 4 _ I really only stayed at home. On days 3–4, I was too swollen to go anywhere, and the director also said not to overdo it and to start with walking at home, so except for going to the salon to shampoo my hair, I stayed home. * Day 5 ~ day 6 _ I heard moving around helps reduce swelling, so on days 6 and 7, I walked in front of my house for about 20–30 minutes. * Day 7 ~ week 2 _ I took one week off work and started commuting from day 7. There are still many restrictions on eating, so it’s hard to go around many places, but I can go alone briefly to see exhibitions or performances. Because the swelling visibly goes down every day, after my sideburn stitches were removed, I’ve been going around without a mask or hat. Now at week 2, there is still discomfort in my jaw and face and eating is uncomfortable, but there is no problem at all with activities. However, I was told not to apply impact, so I can’t run, and I’m avoiding crowded places in case I bump into someone. On public transportation, I also stand where I can avoid contact with people as much as possible. Care: I already knew my face swells easily, so before surgery I bought three types of tea famous for reducing swelling, one month’s worth of each. From day 2, I drank three types a day, and from day 7, I added one type of swelling pill, so I took four types a day. I also walked at least 20–30 minutes a day. I don’t know if it was thanks to the swelling tea, but considering I had swollen really a lot, the swelling went down quickly, and when I went to the hospital at week 2, they said I wasn’t very swollen. Until week 2, I couldn’t brush my teeth, and they said I needed to gargle well to avoid infection, so I paid attention to gargling. They also said it’s good to sleep with the head higher than the heart, so I bought a Zinus wedge pillow and slept sitting at an incline. For fast recovery, I tried to follow the hospital’s instructions as much as possible.