Before<Before>Before<Before>After<After>After<After>After<CT comparison>Real review of facial contouring in my 40s, week 2 hahahaha I got a lot more information here than from other cafes, so I’ll try to write in as much detail as possible lol
1. Reason for surgery: For all 40 years of my life, my developed side cheekbones and square jaw (even my head shape is large) were always a complex, and I was teased a lot with comments like my face is broad, my face is big, my head is big, and I was hurt a lot too haha I always admired a small, slim face shape, but I couldn’t do it when I was younger, so I gave up and lived with it. As I got older, the flaws stood out more, so while looking into procedures or surgery that could improve them, I decided facial contouring was the only answer.
2. Hospital choice: In Busan, there is only one place that specializes in facial contouring, and I thought it made no sense to decide on such a major surgery after seeing only one place. Since I made up my mind late, I did a huge amount of online research and studied surgical methods hard, selected a list of about 6 hospitals, and visited Seoul twice (filtered out excessive Photoshop / large hospitals / factory-style places). Note was actually the 4th hospital I visited, and after consulting with the director, I was extremely satisfied, so I immediately paid the deposit and booked the surgery.
1) Detail of the consultation: The common opinion among the hospitals I consulted was that my bones were large, my 45-degree cheekbones were developed, and my nerve line was not low, so they said I was a case that would see good results from contouring. For the chin tip line, other hospitals focused on reducing the chin tip and advancing it using T-osteotomy or ㅅ-shaped osteotomy because my midface is long and I have protrusive mouth, aiming to improve the protrusive mouth and make the face smaller. But Director Yoo at Note explained the downside that if I did that, I could look like I had an underbite, and said he would do a pinless V-line without advancing the chin, matching the chin tip line to the balance of my brow bones and the rest of my face. For the cheekbones too, he accurately identified the problems on both sides and explained the surgical method + fixation method. It felt like he was not just making everything small, but assessing the overall balance and harmony of the face and guiding the surgical method accordingly. Also, when looking at review photos, the lines are not just all the same; at Note, each person’s jawline is different, so that made me trust them more.
2) Hospital facilities: Things like CCTV and an anesthesiologist being on site are basics among basics, so most hospitals probably have them, and I liked that the hospital facilities were luxurious + extremely clean. The surgery was actually performed using a sterile positive-pressure system.
3) Pinless surgical method: They say you don’t need pin removal, but I don’t want to have anxiety that problems might arise later, so since I plan to remove pins, the fact that there are no pins in the chin tip also felt like a major advantage.
3. Day of surgery to week 2: On the day of surgery, I traveled Busan -> arrived in Seoul, had surgery in the afternoon, and the surgery ended in the evening (I think it took about 3 hours). Right after surgery, it was my first time under general anesthesia, so I had nausea, a headache, and a sore throat, which was really hard, and the surgical sites only felt like a dull ache similar to wisdom tooth extraction. Until day 3, my lips and face were swollen as if they would burst, but from day 4 the swelling started going down. Now at week 2, the swelling around the cheekbones has gone down a lot, but a lot remains around the cheeks + mouth line, so my pronunciation is unclear / For the first week, I basically survived only on liquids like protein drinks, and since then I’ve been eating soft liquid foods. I walk exactly 1 hour a day and also work hard with the compression band + warm/cold compresses. Since I live outside Seoul, I’m scheduled to have stitches removed on the weekend (day 17), and I heard swelling goes down better after stitch removal, so I’m looking forward to it.
4. Satisfaction: It’s still only week 2, but I saw an enormous difference on the CT photos, and even when I touch it with my hands, the previously large, angular bones are gone. Hats really didn’t suit me before, but as the cheekbone width has decreased, even with plenty of swelling, I don’t look awkward wearing a hat haha As the empty space on my face decreased, my eyes and nose seem to look a bit clearer, so I’m very satisfied. I plan to manage it diligently until all the major swelling is gone, and because I’m older, they told me I may need lifting later, so I plan to do lifting after the swelling goes down.
This is a surgery review pursuing natural beauty.