My first surgery was about 5 years ago, in 2016. I had a very faint inner double eyelid, almost without a crease, so I used double-eyelid glue and always wanted a proper double eyelid. Back then I knew almost nothing about cosmetic surgery, so I just had it done somewhere without really researching. And at that time, it was the era when flashy facial features were trendy... I wanted an in-fold style with an out-fold feel, but in the end I got sausage eyes ㅠ My eyes and brows are relatively close together, so a thick line did not suit me anyway, but back then I was too short-sighted... Anyway, I lived with a thick, puffy line. Honestly, with eye makeup and all, it was not to the point of being grotesque, and I also thought maybe it would look better after a few years... And above all, the fear and burden of having surgery again was the biggest thing for me ㅠㅠ So I just lived with it, but even after 5 years it was still sausage eyes ㅎㅎㅎ As I got older and started pursuing a more natural look, I thought I should seriously consider revision surgery... Once I had already experienced a complication, I became extremely cautious about revision surgery. I could not decide easily... Even now, I thought I could just keep living like that, but my biggest fear was that if I tried again and it got worse, I would ruin it even more ㅜㅜ
The issues I thought about most strongly as reasons for wanting surgery were:
1. The crease is high. (Overall the line was somewhat high, but especially the left crease was really high. It widened more and more from the starting point to the end...) 2. When I looked down or closed my eyes, the double-eyelid line was very thick and deeply fixed, so the area underneath looked very puffy - that was probably the biggest reason it looked like sausage eyes. When you look from the side with your eyes looking down, the crease line really sinks in like a 3, with the upper and lower parts bulging out... People with sausage eyes will know ㅜㅠ 3. Other things too, like when my eyes or face swelled up or when I was tired, a very large double fold would form while opening my right eye, or my eyes would look sleepy, etc. But those were just temporary or not that bothersome... So the two points above were the main issues I wanted improved!
I went to a total of 5 consultations, and in the end I had surgery at Inique Plastic Surgery, the last place I visited. Through the consultations I learned that my skin is relatively thick, so a sausage-eye tendency is unavoidable to some extent, and to minimize it the crease has to be made thin. My current crease was indeed on the high side. Also, because the fixation of the line was deep, the reason my left eye looked thicker was that the left side has weaker eye-opening strength - so a slight ptosis correction was needed, and so on.
Since this was revision surgery, I researched a lot very carefully, practically dug through the internet and studied(?) it, and after clarifying my goal, I went around for consultations. I had already thought to some extent about the surgical method that would suit eyes like mine and about ways to improve the problems I had in mind (of course, the doctor's opinion could be different ㅜ), so I went in with a certain idea. Among the hospitals I had consulted earlier, it was hard to decide easily. Each hospital had some things I liked and other things I did not like... As I mentioned above, my biggest priorities were making the fixation as weak as possible, lowering the line with a double-incision approach, but not wanting an inner-double-eyelid kind of line, and...
Everyone said my eyes were not especially difficult, but there was no place that clearly and specifically told me the exact method I wanted for the improvements I had written above ㅜㅜ (Most said lowering the line was possible, but weakening fixation would not improve the sausage-eye look / if I wanted to remove the sausage-eye feeling completely, I would have to go all the way to an inner double eyelid, etc. The consultation I liked the most was also a place where the price was too burdensome ㅜ) But honestly, I am not a doctor, and I was thinking, if it only turns out better than now, maybe I should just do it... I kept worrying, and then I decided to go to just one more place, which was Inique. After meeting the doctor, I booked the surgery right away.. I had probably gotten tired after going around to many consultations, but in any case, the doctor said exactly the same things I had been thinking about regarding the problems and surgical method. For example, the fixation would be made weaker, the right side was not that high so a small amount would be excised there, and the left side would be done with a double-incision approach. The left side would also get a slight ptosis correction... (Actually, I was scared of ptosis correction because I had heard the side effects can be severe, and I had not even considered it. But during the consultations, almost everyone except one place mentioned ptosis correction... They said it would be okay not to do it, but the left eye definitely showed less of the iris, so I asked them to make it as minimal and safe as possible.) And because I was so worried about lagophthalmos, I wanted to avoid excision and do a double incision no matter what, even if some scar from the original crease remained, but since the right eye would only be lowered by about 1 mm, the doctor said excision would be fine there, so we decided to do the double-incision approach only on the left!
The price was also within the range I had imagined, so it was not burdensome..! Because it was revision surgery, the starting price was high from the beginning ㅠ And there was a review discount, so I got a small discount too.
But even after booking the surgery, I kept worrying ㅜㅜ whether I had been too hasty... I liked the consultation, but I had just gone there on a whim as one last place to check, so I had not really researched much about the clinic. It was a clinic that appeared often in communities for sausage-eye revision surgery, but I trust actual results that I can see with my own eyes, such as review photos, the most, so once I got home the first thing I did was look up reviews of the clinic. I know there can be brokers or fake reviews in any cafe/community, but if someone posts before-and-after eye photos themselves, those are still eyes that were actually operated on at that clinic. They would not be posting eyes operated on at some other clinic as if they were from this one....
So I first looked mainly for reviews with eye photos as much as possible. Since there was a review discount, there were quite a few detailed reviews. Even if they wrote the review because of the discount, in the end those were still eyes that had surgery there and were written because they were satisfied, so I did not skip them and checked them carefully..! Of course, I think negative reviews can exist. I do not think any surgery can be 100 percent perfect... Just because 99 people had a good result at some clinic does not mean the remaining one will automatically do well. Choosing a clinic with more successful cases only lowers the chance of failure... and I could still be the one exception, so I just hoped that probability would pass me by ㅎㅎ.. Anyway, I also received a lot of help from review photos, so I am writing this review in detail ㅎ The reviews I saw in the cafe were mostly successful cases and eyes of the style I was aiming for (I wanted naturalness above all..! I kept saying natural, even during the consultation and until right before the surgery...ㅋㅋㅋㅋ) so I thought, this must be a doctor who does well, and I went ahead with trust! I kept feeling anxious and postponed the surgery date several times ㅋㅋㅋ but now I think I made the right choice, completely!
[Procedure]
Since it was a newly relocated building, the interior and facilities felt very clean and comfortable. The waiting room? hospital room? for surgery was also very spacious, so it probably would have been nice for the guardian to wait there during the surgery. Mine was the first morning slot, and after sedation anesthesia they gave local anesthesia, then woke me up during the surgery and had me open and close my eyes. They kept making me open and close my eyes many times while checking the line. I am not sure if it was because of the ptosis correction, but they also checked me while I was half-sitting up! During the surgery I could feel slight stinging or pulling, but if I said it hurt they probably would have given me more anesthesia. I am usually good at enduring things anyway... it would have been annoying to keep mentioning it, so I just put up with it.. The surgery took a little over an hour in total. After it went well and I returned to the room, the first thing I did ㅋㅋㅋ was ask my guardian to take a photo from below to check whether my eyes were closing properly. Fortunately, they all closed well. Once swelling starts, the swelling can prevent the eyes from closing fully, so you cannot tell whether it is lagophthalmos or not, so I took pictures right after surgery! That way, even if my eyes did not close properly later, I could reassure myself that it was because of swelling...
They prescribed antibiotics, anti-swelling medicine, and scar tissue medicine, so there were quite a few medications to take. I was discharged after about 40 minutes, and after about an hour the swelling started. From that point on, my eyes did not close properly anymore ㅋㅋㅋ (because of the swelling). Even on the first day after surgery, the swelling was not that severe. When I got home, there was not much swelling, and I was amazed that the line had definitely become lower... And this place does something unusual: they put tape over the eyes. I think it is probably to prevent double folds? and to keep the line pretty. After double-eyelid surgery, people usually say to force your eyes wide open with effort so the surgical line settles wellㅋㅋ But with the tape on, even if I just opened my eyes loosely without trying hard, there was no double fold and they opened nicely, so it was comfortable! It is a bit bothersome when going out thoughㅋㅋ Also, probably because of the ptosis correction, when I opened the left eye wide or put effort into it, there was a slight tingling feeling ㅜㅜ so I worried a lot that maybe it was a complication. But it only happened on the first day and got better from day 2!
The swelling was worst on days 3 to 4. But even with swelling, since it had been lowered from the original pre-op line, it did not look very noticeable ㅋㅋㅋ I was not especially good at managing swelling... but I slept mostly half-sitting up, went for walks at night, used ice packs, and from day 2 onward alternated with warm compresses. Bruising appeared only slightly from day 2 and was gone by the time the stitches were removed! But the day before stitch removal, the tape got so ragged that I just peeled it off. Still, I recommend keeping it on until the end if possible! The next morning, because of the swelling, I immediately got a double fold again ㅋㅋㅋ ㅠ If I held my eyebrow and opened my eye with effort, it disappeared right away though. Until the line fully settles, remember to open your eyes wide with effort..
On day 5 I went to have the stitches removed, and after the stitches were removed my eyes felt much lighter and the swelling seemed to drop quickly! When my eyes are open, there is almost no sign that I had surgery. That day the doctor also checked my progress and did something like scar laser treatment.
It has now been a little over one month, and I am very satisfied! Sometimes when I am tired or not feeling well, swelling suddenly comes back and it feels like I have sausage eyes again, but waiting is the answer, everyone.. Unless there is special pain or signs of inflammation, it seems to just be swelling. If there are any unusual symptoms, make sure to contact the clinic! At around week 3... although I should not have, I drank alcohol ㅠ The next day after drinking, the line felt like it was gradually swelling again... it looked sausage-like again and I was horrified, so after that I never drink alcohol anymore ㅜ Fortunately, as the swelling went down again, it got better.. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I had my one-month follow-up with the doctor, and they said the next checkup would be again at the 3-month mark. They said the swelling would go down even more from here ㅎㅎ The crease line is still dark! I think this is also a matter of waiting ㅠㅠ A surgical scar from an incision does not disappear completely in the first place, so you just have to wait for it to fade... After my first surgery, the line only became somewhat faint around years 4 to 5 ㅜㅜ My scars heal slowly, I guess. So when I look downward, the line is still somewhat dark (and it has only been one month anyway), but still!! It is much more natural and looks better than before ㅎㅎ What moved me the most was ㅜㅜ the 3-shape I used to see from the side when I looked down or closed my eyes is gone ㅜㅜㅜ!!! The bulge disappeared and it became flat, which was the most amazing thing, so I kept touching it ㅋㅋㅋ I can definitely feel that the fixation is weaker than before, and I am satisfied ㅜㅜ That said, I do not think it is going to come undone at all! ㅎ It is not buried suture but incision surgery, so... I do not think weaker fixation means it will come apart (though I guess it depends on the person?!). Even if it did come undone, I told them to make the fixation weak no matter what because the dark thickness was so stressful ㅜ
The clinic said I could wear makeup too, but I still feel a slight stinging sensation if I touch or rub the incision line, as if it has not completely healed, so I am not really doing eye makeup for now in case it gets irritated!
Honestly, I did not think this would be some hugely dramatic change. I did not decide on surgery because I wanted a dramatic transformation in the first place; my goal was simply to improve the problems...! Still, people around me who know I had surgery say I look much more natural and pretty, and I thought it was only a small difference that I alone could feel, but when I looked at older photos, it was definitely different..! I am really glad I did it ㅎㅎ I am truly grateful to the doctor...ㅠㅠㅠ
The time spent deciding on the clinic while searching online and visiting places was honestly the most stressful part, even more than the 5 years I lived with sausage eyes ㅋㅋㅋ So I am writing this very long post in the hope that it helps people who have the same worries as me a little... ㅜㅜ In the end, I am happy with the result, but everyone has different skin, eye shape, and other features !! So revision surgery requires even more caution. First, I think the best thing is to understand your own complex or problem points well, research a lot about the surgical methods, go to consultations, and then decide on a clinic and doctor you can trust and leave it to ㅎㅎ For me, that was Dr. Yang! In any case, I hope everyone worrying about complications or a bad surgery can get a good result. Thank you for reading such a long post~!
좋아요 14