I had 3D contouring + cortical shaving + muscle reduction surgery at the clinic on March 24.
The clinic counted the day after surgery as day 1, and they checked my progress on days 3, 8, and 14, then at 5 weeks, 2 months, and 4 months. They removed the cheekbone stitches on day 8 and the intraoral stitches on day 14. Also, I could receive postoperative care up to 7 times within 2 months.
> Days 2-4 I had heard that swelling from contouring peaks on days 3 and 4, and for me too, I was not very swollen on days 1 and 2, but on days 3 and 4 my face was really swollen to the point it looked like it would burst. Especially my lips were so swollen that the wrinkles disappearedㅋㅋㅋ The bruising was generally yellow around the temples, eye area, and around the mouth, and there was reddish bruising along the jawline. I was supposed to take my medication every 8 hours on the dot, and from around days 2 to 5, whenever it was time to take the medicine and its effect was wearing off, the pain was quite severe. Since I also had cortical shaving and muscle reduction, the square-jaw area in particular hurt a lot, then felt better again after I took the medicine, and this kept repeating. When the medicine was working, I was fine as long as I stayed still, but if I touched the cheekbones, square jaw, or chin area, it hurt even when I touched them gently. At that time I could barely open my mouth even to the width of one finger, so I only ate bland things that I could let slide into my mouth without chewing, such as porridge, ice cream, soft tofu, and liquid foods like Newcare, using a baby spoon. I had heard that using a straw for liquids can put pressure on the intraoral suture site and is not good, so I used paper cups. At the clinic, they said to disinfect the inside of the mouth with the clinic mouthwash after meals, and even if I was not eating, I should rinse with water once every hour. Honestly, I only used the disinfectant after meals, and then once or twice with water between breakfast and lunch, and lunch and dinner. Still, because I had braces, I think I tried to be extremely thorough each time I rinsed. Also, since this was early on, when I rinsed I tried not to puff air in and out of my mouth; instead I moved my head around so the sutured area would be irritated as little as possible. The mouthwash used in the first week was okay at first, but as time passed the smell became nauseating and it got a bit hard every time I rinsedㅜㅜ Because I had to go back to the clinic on day 4, I washed my hair on the evening of day 3. The clinic said there was a waterproof Mediform? dressing on the cheekbone incision area, so even if it got wet it would be fine as long as I dried it well, but I was worried about the incision area too, and if water got on the taping it would come off, so I washed my hair with my head tilted as far back as possible to keep water off my face. They said walking for about 1 to 2 hours a day is helpful, but there were many days I did not even leave the house, and I hardly walked at all...ㅎㅎ The clinic recommended wearing the chin strap for a week after surgery, including while sleeping, except when eating, so I wore it diligently except during meals. That said, if I wore the chin strap for too long, I sometimes got a headache, so there were times when I did not wear it as much around meal times. Up to day 3, I used the cold packs the clinic gave me for 20 to 30 minutes at a time, two or three times a day, and after my visit on day 4 I switched to warm compresses. For the first week after surgery, the clinic said it was okay to sleep lying down as long as my head was higher than my heart, but I kept sleeping almost completely upright. Even while I was awake, I had intermittent nosebleeds, runny nose, coughing, and phlegm, and saliva would leak out too. It was the same while sleeping, and since I could not blow my nose for a month after surgery, I kept waking up and falling asleep again while wiping my nose and mouth with tissues. # Day 4 visit I had surgery on Thursday, so day 3 was Sunday, and I came in on Monday, day 4, for a progress check. When I arrived at the clinic, the manager first removed the taping and dressed the cheekbone incision area, and the clinic manager is also a nurse there. Then the surgeon checked the intraoral suture site, asked whether I had any questions, and answered them. After that I had a CT scan, and the surgeon explained the surgical result while looking at the CT. At that time, because of the swelling I could not visually confirm the result, and I was very curious and anxious, so seeing for myself that the cheekbones and chin were firmly fixed in place and that the square jaw had been shaved correctly while avoiding the nerves as I wanted was incredibly reassuringㅎㅎ I do not clearly remember whether I received postoperative care that day or not, but I think I did...! The postoperative care consisted of about 40 minutes of radiofrequency, a pack, and swelling laser.
> Days 5-8 I had heard that if you just endure 5 days after contouring, life really becomes manageable. Sure enough, once day 5 passed and day 6 came, everything became much more comfortable in terms of swelling, pain, and eating. In particular, I had been bothered by how hard it was to breathe because of runny nose and phlegm, so because that improved a lot, it felt even better. Of course, looking back now I can see that there was still quite a lot of cheekbone swelling at that time, but as the swelling gradually moved downward and subsided, it did not look strange when I wore a mask. My cheeks were still puffy, and in particular my upper lip was still very swollen. Still, from day 6 onward I could feel the swelling dropping day by day, and when I came in on day 8, the manager said that perhaps because I was young, my swelling was going down quite quickly. The yellow bruising had also faded a lot, but there was still bruising overall, and the reddish bruising along the jawline seemed to disappear the last. There was almost no pain if I stayed still, and sometimes one side of the cheekbones hurt or there was a sharp twinge in the chin, but they said this was the bones, muscles, and nerves returning to normal during recovery, so I was not too concerned. Even so, if I touched the cheekbones, square jaw, or chin area, it hurt even with gentle contact. My mouth seemed to open a little better, but only very slightly, so I was still mainly eating porridge with a baby spoon. Still, by the time the first week was nearly over, I even ate boneless soy sauce fried chicken cut into very small pieces. I think if anything is cut into small pieces and is not too stimulating, trying carefully is what helps you recover faster and gradually eat more! I kept rinsing diligently, and since I could not brush my teeth, I had worried about bad breath and feeling gross, but because I was eating mostly bland porridge and liquids, it was not as bad as I expected. The mouthwash still smelled awful, though... Similarly, there were days I did not leave the house, and I hardly walked at all, to the point that even when I did walk at night in the cold air it was only for up to an hourㅎ The chin strap was listed in the postoperative instructions the clinic gave me as something I should wear diligently for a week after surgery, including while sleeping, so I wore it almost all the time except during meals. Also, just like the cold compresses I had done up to day 3, from day 4 onward I kept doing warm compresses for about 20 to 30 minutes at a time, two or three times a day with the packs the clinic gave me. For sleep, I put a stuffed toy behind me and slept while leaning back. After day 5, as I mentioned earlier, the nosebleeds, runny nose, and phlegm were less severe, so sleeping became easier than before, and I think I woke up much less often. # Day 8 visit I came in on day 8 to have the cheekbone stitches removed. When I arrived, the manager removed the cheekbone stitches, and there were many reviews saying cheekbone stitch removal does not hurt at all, but even though I am fairly good at tolerating pain, it felt a little stinging to me. It was bearable, but it was not completely sensation-freeㅎㅎ After removing the stitches, they applied not Mediform but some tape to prevent the wound from opening, and the manager showed me how to apply it and gave me the tape too. After that, the surgeon again checked the condition of the intraoral incision site, answered my questions, and I left after receiving postoperative care. If I remember correctly, I think I also had another CT scan that day and checked the progress with the surgeon while looking at the CT.
> Days 9-15 During the second week after surgery, the swelling went down so quickly that it was clearly visible day by day. The cheekbone swelling had gone down to the point that I wondered whether it had almost all gone away by then, and by the end of the second week the swelling had gone down so much that, except for a slight fullness in the front cheek area like I had a candy in my mouth, other people probably would not have noticed even if I was not wearing a mask. I had wanted a straight cheekbone line, and I could see that my cheekbones had become straight too. The front effect of the square jaw was also clearly visible, so even though there was still swelling, I could feel that my whole face had become smaller, and I was happy with the face shapeㅎㅎ Of course, my family still said my cheeks were quite swollen, and when I looked back at the photos from the second week, I could see that there was still quite a lot of swelling left. The yellow bruising had completely disappeared overall, and the reddish bruising along the jawline had also faded a lot. Pain, as before, was almost nonexistent if I stayed still, and sometimes one side of the cheekbones hurt or there was a sharp twinge in the chin. Still, if I touched the cheekbones, square jaw, or chin area, there was pain, though less than in the first week. My mouth opened much better than in the first week, but it was still only about one finger wide, so I kept using the baby spoon. At this point, after eating mostly thin foods and liquids for more than a week after surgery, I had severe diarrhea, so I started eating regular meals while taking the medication prescribed by the clinic together with antidiarrheal medicine. I ate porridge without asking for it to be made thin, and mainly ate foods like seaweed soup or galbitang with the meat cut into small pieces, with rice mixed into the soup. Also, in the first week I had not chewed at all, but in the second week I could chew very carefully, so I did eat foods like kimchi or jangjorim, which were a bit seasoned, after cutting them into small pieces, but I did not eat anything extremely spicy or salty until the intraoral stitches were removed. I also think I ate a lot of soft breads like sliced bread, sandwiches, and donuts after cutting them up! From the second week onward the mouthwash changed to a different disinfectant, so it did not smell as awful, but since I was eating a more varied range of seasoned foods than before, my mouth felt unpleasant, so I think I rinsed even more diligently. I still tried to keep up with the chin strap and warm compresses, but because of discomfort and laziness... I could not do them as diligently as beforeㅎㅠㅠ I think I wore the chin strap for about 1 to 2 hours at a time, almost twice a day. During the second week I slept lying flat on my back, and I think I slept well with almost no waking. I usually sleep on my side, so I was worried because I often woke up lying on my side, but the surgeon said that was fine because the cheekbones had been fixed with pins, so I felt reassured. # Day 15 visit Normally the intraoral stitches are removed on day 14, but I came in on day 15 for intraoral stitch removal. I had been a little worried because I heard intraoral stitch removal hurts a lot, but perhaps because I was more relieved at finally being able to get away from the discomfort and because I was looking forward to eating delicious food, that feeling was strongerㅋㅋㅋ When I arrived at the clinic, the manager removed the intraoral stitches, and to my surprise, the intraoral stitches were not as painful as I had seen in reviews and were bearable. There was still swelling inside my mouth, so they could not remove everything completely that day, but the remaining ones either came out as I went about daily life or were removed bit by bit by the manager at later visits. That day I did not see the surgeon; the manager answered the questions I had, and I left after receiving postoperative care. I had thought that once the intraoral stitches were removed I would immediately be able to eat a lot of spicy food, but I did not do that because I was worried I might accidentally cause inflammationㅎㅎ
The questions and anxiety that came up during the two weeks after surgery were well handled because the managers and the surgeon checked my progress often and provided postoperative care in parallel, so I was able to recover safely for two weeks. The managers seemed even kinder and more attentive than before surgery, so I felt reassured and was able to focus on recovery. I was also satisfied with the clinic’s postoperative care, because the nurse in charge always asked whether there was any area I was concerned about and seemed to provide clear, one-on-one care for a long time each visit. I will write my 1-month and 2-month post-op reviews soon too'^'!!
좋아요 11