At first, I had a lot of concern because of my low forehead, protruding cheekbones, and weak chin. (attached photo is pre-op CT; basically just a skull ㅋㅋ )
I’m someone who likes taking pictures and dressing up, but with my angular face shape, getting a pretty photo had long become not optional editing but a necessity. When I had a neutral expression, there were even quite a lot of people who somehow read my face as not looking good.. Before getting closer to people, I thought people were thinking I looked scary or angry, but I was just spacing out. And because my forehead wasn’t pretty, I couldn’t even walk around with my bangs pushed forward. Even though a hairstyle change should have felt like a mood change, it just made me stressed out.ㅠ
I haven’t been in this community long, but I checked other cafes and apps like ㄱㄴㅇㄴ나, ㅂㅂㅌ thoroughly. At those places, I mainly searched reviews because I worried a clinic style might show. I worked hard, visited several places, worried some more… and then 3 months have passed since I had the 3-type contour surgery. People said after around 3 months the lines become visible, and it seems they have mostly come out for me too. There is still some lingering swelling. After eating well, I think I even got a bit of fullness/"jaw flesh" again, ㅜㅜ this is a big problem. Along with contouring, I also had fat grafting to the nose and forehead.
Because it was my first surgery, I was very scared and worried about being in pain after anesthesia wore off. But from the first day after surgery, the hospital took careful care of me. While I was lying down, they patted me and said I had done well, but when it hurt, I just made a soft “neen~” sound... like a goat-like cry in my memory. Then after resting a little, I wanted to see my face, so I looked in the mirror. There seemed to be less swelling and bruising than expected, so I thought it was good news. …But I was mistaken. ㄷㄷ On day 3 it suddenly went up. Compared with day 1 and day 2, clear cheek swelling clearly appeared. The numbness is normal; even if it was hard to open my mouth well and eating was difficult, I drank it down somehow. Even though I was on a liquid diet, I couldn’t brush my teeth except to just gargle.ㅠㅠ For several days, just rough wiping with wet tissue while unable to really clean well felt like peak discomfort.
The intraoral stitches were removed at 2 weeks, and I was so nervous then..ㅠ But removing the stitches inside the nose made tears flow without even any sound… …ㅋㅋ It hurt much more.ㅠ Still, when the stitches were removed, the swelling definitely went down clearly, and it also felt cooler. I think it’s reasonable to expect around 2 weeks of hardship until it starts feeling easier.
By keeping up with cold/heat compresses and walks without laziness, I could see the major swelling decreasing. It felt like I had something stuck in both cheeks, like holding a candy in each, like a candy in each eye area?? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋIf you had this surgery, you probably know exactly what I mean. Anyway, that cheek swelling kept going until about one month, and was still puffy.
Even after one month, I kept going to the clinic regularly to check whether recovery and management were going well, and whether the stitch-removed areas were healing. I also met the doctor and got full swelling management guidance. And since about one month, there weren’t big restrictions on eating. The time when I could actually see I looked a bit slimmer by the eye was from around two months, after the one-month mark!!!
Even now I still feel my sensation hasn’t fully returned, but overall it’s become much more natural. Even after makeup and going out, many people tell me I look pretty, and when I look at myself, it feels like the angles were trimmed smoothly in a natural way, so I’m satisfied. I hope the cheek drooping doesn’t come. ㅠㅠ For everyone looking into surgery or already planning surgery, I hope it goes well for all of you!!!
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