My only cosmetic surgery was lower-eyelid fat repositioning. I was born with fat protruding in a crescent shape below my eyes, lower than the so-called aegyo-sal area, in the dark-circle zone. Even when I kept imitating dark-circle coverage makeup during school, it never stayed hidden, so I had surgery at 21.
I went to a plastic surgery clinic in Daejeon with my mom and decided on surgery after consulting the director. Because it was a lot of stress, I had already gone along for a few simple consultations whenever my family got Botox during school. (For decisions like under-eye filler vs. lower-eyelid fat repositioning, don’t diagnose yourself—always get a clear diagnosis at a clinic!) I didn’t even know the difference between putting in the effort and actually checking options well back then. Because my cousin’s older sister had once worked there as head staff, all my family members had lower-eyelid fat repositioning at that hospital, and we made a reservation right after consultation without trying another hospital. The cost, I remember, was around the upper 200s to 300 in 만원 with a bit of a family discount.
Before surgery, while asking about anesthesia, they asked my height, weight, and alcohol tolerance... I said my alcohol tolerance was a little lower because I was worried I might not wake up, haha. It was my first sedation. While I was supposed to be asleep, I dreamed the surgery was already over and I had gone to recovery, but when I woke I was very dizzy—and they said the surgery hadn’t even started yet. I just kept my eyes closed and went back to sleep, and when I woke again, the surgery was in progress. Midway, even the anesthetic injection had almost worn off, and when I told them, they said it was almost done. I also felt the sensation of fat moving, and I had some pain with a prickling, pulling feeling, which is when it seemed like they were likely finishing and doing the final sutures. I can tolerate pain pretty well, so instead of waking sooner I just held on until anesthesia wore off. (I thought this then too: the designated surgeon did the operation itself, but the final suturing may have been done by a trainee. I had heard repeatedly before surgery, “watch how the director surgeon does it.” Since the surgery itself was done by the director, I just assumed this was probably normal and said nothing.)
After that, while still waking from anesthesia, I did a little warm compress in the recovery room. Once fasting was lifted, I ate right away and went home. There was no pain, but I had bruising and could not smile. I kept feeling my lower eyelids pulling.
Washing my face was prohibited until suture removal. Until then, I washed only by using a sponge to wipe off oil. Even that, I carefully wrung the water out so it wouldn’t enter my eyes and avoided eye-area cleansing, only wiping the forehead and nose where oil appears a lot. Even when I could wash my face again after suture removal, I used a sponge and did not use foaming cleanser near my lower-eyelid area. I was very careful to avoid scars or post-inflammatory marks.
For a few months after surgery, there was quite a lot of pulling under my eyes. The surgeon had already said that some lower-eyelid tightening sensation could happen, and I only had to be careful when smiling because I smile with my eyes a lot; aside from that, there was no other discomfort. The pulling improved as time passed.
I thought my dark circles would decrease a bit after lower-eyelid fat repositioning, but they stayed the same; the fat simply moved back to its original position. (My family’s dark circles seemed reduced, so I mistakenly assumed the same would happen to me, haha.) No scars or side effects currently.
There are also people considering lower-eyelid fat repositioning vs. under-eye filler. I was also afraid of surgery, and I watched a lot of YouTube and internet content. I wanted filler, but please get a diagnosis at a clinic and choose what fits. If you only research at home, there is no end to it.
What I want to say after surgery is that this is not surgery that changes the whole features, but rather a cleaner, brighter impression. It felt like that. I have always thought surgery is not about changing my face identity, but improving what I consider a minus point or complexity. So I’m very satisfied with this surgery. I can’t provide much info because there are no side effects, but I wrote this review hoping it helps others who are under similar stress at a young age.
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This is a postoperative review that pursues natural beauty.