Before surgery, my cheekbones were the most prominent and large, so I thought even one procedure would be enough. But CT scans showed that I also had fairly prominent square jaw angles and a broad chin, and I was told that the three-part surgery would be better for balanced proportions, so I went for it. Once the surgery date was set, I started getting scared. Facial contouring is a major operation, and I had heard that shaving bone was extremely painful, so I worried a lot... Still, I shut my eyes tightly, woke up, and found myself in the recovery room. I’ll write about how it felt during recovery.
Immediately after surgery: Because of the anesthesia, I was groggy and thirsty, so I had no chance to notice pain. As I gradually came to, it felt like someone had punched me in the face. It wasn’t a tearing pain, but more of a numb, stinging sensation. So it wasn’t as terribly painful as I had heard.
Day 1: My stomach is not very strong, but I forced my mouth open, which would barely open, ate a little porridge, and took medicine for the swelling. My stomach burned, and that was the most irritating part. I was more swollen than the day before, but it wasn’t the peak.
Days 2–3: After sleeping sitting up for two days, I felt tired even while sitting still at home. My face was so swollen that it felt heavy... lol. My whole face had a prickly, tingling sensation, and eating was the most inconvenient.
Days 4–7: The swelling peaked on day 3 and then gradually began to subside. I could finally begin to guess what my surgical contour line looked like. After the stitches were removed, I felt much more comfortable and could return to daily life. Until the three-month mark, the major swelling and some residual swelling gradually went down; afterward, the remaining swelling continued to decrease little by little. When I saw the final result, I was really glad I had the three-part surgery (because this is exactly how I imagined I would look after only cheekbone surgery, lololol). If a surgery could make my face this much smaller and refine the contours, I would do it again even if I went back in time... T_T. I had been called “big-faced” my whole life, but now people don’t just stop saying it—they tell me my face is small, haha.