Before surgery<Before surgery>After<Day of surgery>After<Day 6>After<Day 7>After<Weeks 2-4>After<Month 2>After<Month 3>After<Month 6>After<Month 12>Hello. I used to get masseter Botox occasionally because my face looked wide in my everyday life. Since it is a surgery that involves shaving bone, I thought about it for years, and decided that if I was going to do it, I should do it before I got any older. I also had a slight asymmetry, so I wondered if I should get double jaw surgery, but during the consultation I was told that doing too much would not be good, and I was recommended contouring triple surgery, so I went ahead with that. I looked up plastic surgery content on YouTube, Babitalk, Gangnam Unni, plastic surgery cafes, and other places, and went around for contouring consultations. The reason I chose Yuigucho Hospital was that, rather than only a plastic surgery clinic, it also let me look at it from a dental perspective, the oral and maxillofacial surgery department specializes in double jaw surgery, and among the doctors' careers, Dr. ㅇㅅㅈ also served as head of the double jaw center, so I thought it was excellent in terms of safety, which is why I chose it.
<Before surgery> During the consultation, they took a CT scan, explained things, and checked whether the surgery was possible in various ways. The day before surgery, I thought it would be hard to brush my teeth afterward, so I got oral scaling in advance. I fasted for about 8 hours and went in for surgery. For the pre-op items, besides the things the hospital advised, I also prepared swelling-related things at home after looking at community posts: pumpkin juice, swelling medicine, a C-type charger, neck pillow, hemorrhoid cushion, hot and cold packs, and oral spray.
<Day of surgery 7/15> After arriving at the hospital and changing into patient clothes, I was scared once I actually went in, but as they said it would be over when I woke up after sleeping, when I opened my eyes, it really was over. They reassured me that there was no bleeding and the surgery had gone well. When I had gone around for consultations at hospitals, I had heard that people who are good at contouring finish in 2 to 3 hours, and when I heard the surgery was done in 3 hours, I thought they were really skilled. The hospital let me use the hot and cold packs, neck pillow, and hemorrhoid cushion they had there, so I was able to use them comfortably. More than the discomfort of the drain, bandages, and such, what was really hard was having to stay awake for a long time after the anesthesia wore off and waiting until I could even drink water. Even when it was time to sleep, because I had a mild fever, I kept waking up after about an hour, so until discharge the next day I just waited for time to pass. I kept going to the bathroom often, and even when I kept pressing the emergency bell to call them, the staff were kind, so I felt both sorry and grateful.
<Day 1 7/16> I met the doctor around 10 a.m., and after the drain was removed, my condition was so much better that it felt like the previous day had been a dream. I got my prescription for the surgery medicine, picked up the medicine at the pharmacy, and went home by a friend's car rather than public transportation. On the day I got home, I mainly did cold compresses and stayed still. Because the runny nose was uncomfortable, when I blew it, a bit of blood would come out. Whether it was lucky or unlucky, my period also started the day after surgery, so I spent the time bleeding both above and below.
<Day 2 7/17 ~ Day 3 7/19> I went to a salon to have my hair washed and set back, and although I was originally the type who doesn't swell much, until day 2 I did cold compresses, and on days 3 to 4 I alternated cold and hot compresses depending on how I was doing. From day 3 I did hot compresses, and I made sure to go for a walk for at least 30 minutes a day. I survived on only Newcare, drinks, thin rice gruel with no solids rather than regular porridge, and the medicines the hospital gave me, and even when sleeping I kept sleeping while sitting up. Even so, the swelling got worse on day 3.
<Day 4 7/20> I took 3 days of summer vacation plus 2 weekend days, so I rested for 5 days and went back to work. Since the dress code was flexible and it was office work, it didn't interfere much with my job. As for food, I was also only eating Newcare, drinks, and thin rice gruel without solids rather than regular porridge, so I craved food and bought a piece of cake to eat with milk. I regularly used the prescribed gargle rinse.
<Day 5 7/21 ~ Day 6 7/22> That day I also went to the salon after a long time to have my hair washed, and I was told that the swelling had gone down a lot. Until day 6, I just repeated the same routine.
<Day 7 7/23 - Hospital visit> I went to the hospital, had the stitches removed from the sideburn area, received swelling-laser treatment, and had my mouth disinfected before leaving. They said they were worried about inflammation in one side of the stitches, and I heard that in summer it is better to replace DuoDERM every day. I bought extra DuoDERM, and I plan to change the Fucidin and DuoDERM every day.
The difficult parts I felt through the first week after contouring were a bit of discomfort when pronouncing words, and although the swelling had gone down, there was still pain. If I didn't wear the compression band and just wore a mask and a hat, nobody knew I had surgery. When I took off the mask, my lips were swollen because of the lower-face swelling, but considering how early it still is, I think the surgery really went very well!
And to briefly summarize weeks 2 to 4, after contouring surgery the aftercare was removing the side zygoma stitches at week 2, and removing the intraoral stitches at week 4. Every week when I went in during weeks 2 to 4, I got swelling-management laser treatment. At week 4, they also took another CT scan and checked the surgery results to make sure there were no issues after surgery! From the reviews I read, it seems most hospitals are similar! At this point, overall self-care only needs attention until the intraoral stitches are removed, and the only inconvenience is not being able to eat certain things. After they are removed, it becomes much more comfortable because brushing teeth and eating are much freer. Because the swelling was so minimal at the beginning, there wasn't much visible difference until the stitches were removed. After the stitches were removed, it felt like the swelling had gone down a bit more!
The lip swelling has gone down now, but there still feels like there is swelling inside the mouth, so it is still uncomfortable. I still can't open my mouth very wide, so I can only eat things that are cut into small pieces, but other than that I can eat everything now. Still, I have to be careful, so I am not eating hard foods yet. The amount I can open my mouth is suitable for eating something like grapes or Home Run Ball snacks.
From the photos, the hospital staff said that around one month after surgery, due to swelling, the face can look about the same size as before, so I am waiting for time to pass quickly! Friends who saw me in person said that after some of the swelling went down, it looked like I had lost a lot of facial fat, and that my impression became softer. For sure, people around me have been saying that my face looks smaller in person than before! Haha.
<Month 2> Right now the swelling has gone down quickly, but it seems that the unnatural feeling around the mouth needs A-E-I-O-U practice, and the compression band should be kept on continuously at home except when going to work. Still, I can eat almost everything now. I was also able to go out with friends for plans without worrying. The reaction is that it looks like I only dieted away facial fat and my whole face became less flat, but one friend who isn't interested in cosmetic surgery said it looked natural and they couldn't tell, and another said I looked much prettier than before and asked if I had gotten Botox. What everyone says in common is that if my image used to strongly feel like a mischievous kid, my overall image has become more mature and feminine. And I think I really made the right choice by doing it, and everyone around me keeps saying I did well too haha
<Month 3> At 3 months, I can definitely feel that as the swelling gets closer to the 3-month mark, it becomes a bit thinner. You will know what I mean by the feeling of being thinner. It is a time when saying it has become thinner is closer than saying the swelling has gone down. Now I am just waiting for the 6-month mark so it can show even more clearly. After the intraoral stitches were removed early on, daily life really became completely fine, and subjectively I feel there is nothing special I need to be careful about. And I still have some discomfort around the jaw and lower face, but it isn't because the surgery went wrong; rather, as the jaw narrowed, the inside of the mouth feels narrower too, so I think I mistakenly thought the swelling hadn't gone down. The best part is definitely that the sharp, angular feeling softened and my impression became gentler, and because my satisfaction is high, I like taking photos more, and lately I also look more refined, so taking photos makes me feel good for no reason lol
<Month 6> Now that half a year has passed, opening my mouth is as comfortable as before surgery, and I don't think there are any uncomfortable points left! The only thing worth worrying about is maybe a little concern about sagging? My face was never extremely large to begin with, but after surgery, people definitely said my face got smaller, and the sharp ones asked if I got Botox or what I did. It really does seem that once the facial shape got organized and the cheekbones disappeared, that is how I look, so I'm relieved. People say bone work is a big surgery, but from my experience it wasn't that painful and was manageable, so I almost think that if I had known it would be like this, I should have done more or gone for double jaw surgery lol They said I still need to wait until 1 year, so for things like being careful, I am just waiting for time to pass. Before, I thought wearing my hair down looked better, but maybe because my facial lines became softer, tying my hair up feels more confident now!! People who got contouring will probably really relate to this!!
<Month 12> About a year later, my mouth opens completely well now, so it has become comfortable. I eat and live just as well as before surgery. Maybe because I don't have much facial fat, I don't feel any sagging or loss of elasticity at all. I'm glad I did it quickly. People I know also say the surgery turned out naturally well. And recently I went for the 1-year follow-up after the 6-month check, and at 6 months my face looked half its size, but little by little it seemed like the area got wider?! Depending on the angle... so I wondered if something was wrong, but when I asked the doctor why, and we checked with CT, the bone was still the same and there was no jaw sagging, so the surgical result was good. They said that if after surgery I chew hard foods, grind my teeth, or otherwise make the jaw muscles work even while sleeping, the muscles can develop and make the face look wider. I think I need to beat up my jaw muscles now hahahah Anyway! It is truly a contouring surgery that I am satisfied with and have no regrets about, so I am happy, and I think it is such a relief that there were no side effects!
That is my review summarized up to 1 year! I hope my review helps even a little! Thank you for reading such a long post!
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