I had monolid ptosis correction surgery for blepharoptosis with Dr. ㅎㅅㅎ at ㅇㅇㅅㅌ (formerly ㅅㅇ).
Even though I didn’t have double eyelids, I used to hear very often that I had big eyes, but at some point, maybe because the muscle that rolls the eyeballs upward? started working, the irises moved upward (sanpaku eyes), the eyelids drooped, and the skin covered the irises in an unattractive shape. My eyes became fierce, as if glaring. Personally, I don’t think it was congenital blepharoptosis. I judge that because of the bad habit of lowering my chin while looking upward with my eyes, I overused the forehead and eyebrow muscles that were not even necessary, and although I was young, significant eyelid drooping occurred and even symptoms of blepharoptosis developed, creating a repeated vicious cycle.
I’m meticulous, so I put a lot of effort into choosing a clinic. Since I wanted to preserve the advantage I originally had of big eyes without double eyelids, I wanted to improve only the symptoms of blepharoptosis without creating double eyelids. But there are only a few clinics even in Gangnam that do monolid surgery, so there were not many options to begin with. I thought I had enough sense to recognize a surgeon’s skill just from the consultation, and among the few clinics, I ended up visiting Dr. ㅎㅅㅎ for my final consultation. Until that final consultation, there had been no clinic that made me think, “this is the place,” and if I didn’t like Dr. ㅎㅅㅎ either, I was planning to just give up on surgery. I did not want to reluctantly choose the clinic I liked best among the remaining options as a second-best choice and get surgery there. Of course, directly receiving the surgery and then choosing? would have been the most accurate, but that makes no sense, so I used the ability to analyze well during the preoperative consultation as an important criterion. I thought there probably would not be many doctors who analyze well but cannot operate well, and I went into consultations with the conviction that without accurate analysis, there can be no result. Since the previous clinics had been so disappointing, I was leaning toward not having surgery, but I went into the consultation with Dr. ㅎㅅㅎ without much expectation and could immediately recognize the doctor’s surgical skill. It was peak season, so there were too many people and the consultation was not long, but it was a consultation that allowed me to decide without difficulty. As soon as the director saw my eyes, the director accurately analyzed at a glance what situation they were in, and regarding additional surgeries I asked about, gave conscientious advice, saying they were not recommended because they were unsuitable for such-and-such reasons. I remember it as a valuable consultation that made me realize that doing every existing applicable eye surgery does not create ideal eyes.
Because of the nature of plastic surgery, I felt that not only manual skill but also aesthetic discernment was extremely important. I had thought this was largely an innate area rather than something achieved simply by effort, and I could feel that the director matched exactly what I needed. Since monolid surgery is not a common surgery, some doctors said such a surgery does not exist, and each clinic said such different things that there were confusing parts, but I trusted my own judgment and went boldly into surgery. And I was able to achieve a hugely successful result. First, what I remember most after surgery was seeing my operated eyes through a phone selfie in the recovery room. Because of the symptoms mentioned earlier, there had been a considerable gap between my usual eyes and my eyes when I looked in the mirror. When looking in the mirror, without realizing it, I instinctively used the surrounding muscles to change the eye shape so that the shortcomings were hidden as much as possible, and when I saw photos other people secretly took of me, I was often startled. But after surgery, in the selfie, even though I opened my eyes comfortably, they had the shape I normally wanted. I felt so happy.
However, after surgery, because the result exceeded expectations in every aspect, both aesthetic and functional, I unintentionally? became greedy. A few months later, I told the director about a design element that felt slightly lacking, and the director readily performed a revision surgery free of charge. I don’t know for sure, but I think there must have been many patients like me who, because of the director’s outstanding surgical skill and better-than-expected results, became greedy and ended up tiring the director out. But a problem occurred during the revision surgery. A week before the revision surgery, I had foot surgery at an orthopedic clinic, and while I was still taking postoperative prescription medication, I failed to think that it might be a problem and underwent the surgery too carelessly; that became the root cause. Because I had been so satisfied with the first surgery, I think I took it too lightly without worrying enough. Because of the medications I was taking, there was considerable bleeding after surgery, and the next day the surgical site was swollen to a severe degree far beyond ordinary postoperative swelling. This is purely my personal judgment, but I think differences in postoperative swelling within the usual range are simply differences in whether one can return to daily life sooner or see the final result earlier, and ultimately do not make a big difference in the final outcome. But postoperative swelling that greatly exceeds the usual degree, like mine, negatively affects the final result as well, in my opinion. In any case, I remember it as a period when I went through a hard time because of the unsatisfactory result and built up dissatisfaction toward the clinic. Even though I had already been satisfied with the shape, I got greedy and had surgery for a slight design improvement, but it ended up regressing compared with the result of the first surgery.
Maybe because of how satisfied I had been with the first surgery, I wanted the problem resolved immediately. Looking back now, imagining that I could have scheduled revision surgery at another clinic because of my impatience at that time really makes me shudder. The waiting period was extremely painful, but I think one of the most important choices in my life was that, without changing course, I trusted until the end my own judgment in choosing the director for the first surgery and kept moving in one direction. The problematic part was able to be resolved through another revision surgery after a certain amount of time had passed, and now I am living very satisfied.
The director here does not seem to do flashy advertising, and seemed to run the clinic only for patients who come after hearing word of mouth. You can think of it as different in nature from large hospitals that feel like they stamp patients out mechanically in a factory. It goes without saying that Korean plastic surgeons are skilled at suturing, but even among them, I could understand what micro-stitching elevated to the realm of art means, with every stitch painstakingly done based on craftsmanship, to the point that I wondered if this is what 20 years of expertise in Gangnam, a place that could be called a mecca, looks like.
Because this field is such a fiercely competitive battlefield, I don’t think there is much reason to fully trust either good reviews or dissatisfied reviews, since it is unclear what purpose they were written for. I strongly recommend not getting too excited or disappointed by unreliable words and just going for a consultation with a light heart. Finally, one piece of advice for those who will have surgery with Dr. Hwang in the future: think that there is no result within 6 months, don’t be impatient, there’s no need to be anxious, don’t think about other things, and if you just follow the director’s guidance well and have patience, you will be able to get a satisfying result.
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