I had surgery on April 30, and now it’s been more than a month and a half.
I had the surgery with four intraoral incisions and one incision under the chin. The cheekbones were fixed-ungrafted surgery, and the jaw was done with shaving.
First of all, the swelling went down a lot starting around the one-month mark, and it feels like the submental area is shrinking little by little every day! I didn’t do anything major for swelling management, but compared with other people (from what I saw in their reviews), my swelling didn’t go down easily. Still, to mention what I did do: I took half-body baths, took omega supplements, drank lots of water, and later on took medicine for reducing swelling. When the swelling is severe at first, I think it’s better not to drink too much water for about one to two weeks, and then once you get to the point where you don’t need warm compresses anymore, that’s when drinking a lot of water seems to help.
I don’t usually drink much water because of the slight metallic smell/taste it has, but I heard that just drinking water and urinating helps eliminate waste and burn calories too. So I drank a lot and went to the bathroom often, and that helped!
Also, I went back to work after resting for ten days (I work standing up), so I thought the swelling would go down faster, but it really seems like time is the best medicine ㅎㅎ
Still, they say leaving swelling for too long can also affect skin elasticity, so I hope you all try every method you can!
Since I also had submental liposuction, what’s left under my chin is just BioBond! Oh, and I still have a slight candy-like swelling! My mouth opening is only about two finger widths when I hold it upright. I don’t know when it’ll open more, either ㅠ I’ve had double eyelid surgery and nose surgery before, and I’ve always been the type whose post-op swelling lasts a really long time. My body is not suited to cosmetic surgery. When I had nose surgery, my avatar nose lasted a long time ㅋㅋ But for facial contouring now, at one and a half months, I’m satisfied!
And I looked into it and found a skin care shop somewhere in Suwon, run by a person who does high-frequency treatments and specializes in post-cosmetic-surgery swelling. It was pretty far for me, so I didn’t go, but if you live nearby, I think it could be worth checking out. I looked at the blog, but I can’t remember the exact search term either ㅠ It seemed like a private skin care shop, but I saw reviews saying the swelling went down quickly, so please take that as just a reference.
As for chewing, they told me to start step 1 regular meals after one month, so I’ve been trying little by little, but honestly it doesn’t feel so little. Once I think, ‘I’m allowed to eat,’ I finish everything, and in my head I’m shouting ‘no,’ but my mouth and jaw keep chewing without stopping ㅠㅠㅋㅋ I’m trying not to chew too hard.... (This hospital is non-fixed, so I think the caution period for chewing is longer.) When I brush my teeth in the morning and open my mouth, one side of my cheekbones feels especially tight. But that only happens in the morning; it doesn’t happen when I’m eating or yawning. The foods I ate when I first had to stick to liquids were chicken porridge, ramen porridge, kimchi porridge, soy milk, and pumpkin porridge. And when I really wanted something snack-like, I cut chocolate into tiny pieces and let it melt in my mouth. Also, from my own experience, snacks like Sattobap are possible ㅎ I like chocolate, so I tried a Choco Cone (the small one shaped like a Banana Kick), but I couldn’t eat it because I couldn’t open my mouth enough.
Castella, donuts, sweet potato salad, and potato salad are fine too. The problem with liquid food was that what I could eat was so limited, and that was really hard. If you get tired of making porridge, buying frozen porridge from No Brand and boiling it is quick and good!
From here on, I’ll talk about the case-specific questions people often have, along with what I was curious about too! And I never had blood-tinged phlegm from the first day until now, and there were a few slight crunching sounds from the cheekbones early on, but they said that can happen only at the beginning. And there were sounds when I came back after the molding too. It wasn’t bothersome, and it disappeared after a few hours.
I didn’t have any hollowing in the cheek area, but during the last molding I said one side bothered me a little more, so they added a bit more there, and at that time a slight indentation appeared. For reference, the doctor said not to do that. I don’t regret it to the point of really hating it, but there is a little bit of it. When I told the director, she said we’d probably need to look at it when I go back for a follow-up three months after surgery. She said it might also be because I didn’t use my chewing muscles much. And I think I went for follow-up after surgery a total of three times!? Every time, the doctor looked at me so seriously and in such detail.
I can honestly say this place is the best. Every time I went, they took X-rays, checked the progress, and did molding. They didn’t do things carelessly. They listened to everything I said, and I wasn’t even curious about the CT scan, but they told me to get one and come back. Even when the consultation ran long, they answered everything and checked everything carefully.
Also, I didn’t wear the compression strap for very long because my swelling was pretty severe, but maybe because of that the swelling came down lower? Since other people had swelling toward the front in a V-line shape, mine was more like a square loaf-of-bread swelling. I also slept sitting up for almost a month. The sofa is a recliner, so if you sleep with pillows behind you, plus a neck pillow and a cushion supporting your lower back, it’s comfortable. About a month later, a few days ago, I started sleeping on my side. I’m still a little uneasy, but I’m telling myself it’ll be fine...^_^;
Ah! And right after surgery, I had a tingling sensation under my chin (it felt like the lower jaw area was being pressed on a nerve). It wasn’t there when I was still, but if I touched the area lightly, there was a spot that tingled. They said that could be because they shaved my jaw as close to the nerve as possible, and now it’s not completely gone, but it remains at a level that doesn’t bother me!
And I started smoking again after two weeks. There were no problems ㅎ
So, was the surgery successful? Right now, the cheekbone union can’t be confirmed exactly, so I’ll know at the end of July, but just looking at the jaw, it turned out exactly as much as I wanted, just like the Photoshop I always did. I like it. Everyone has that one personal complex that no one else really cares about, right? That got resolved. If the cheekbones fuse well, I’ll be 100% satisfied. I’m satisfied because there haven’t been any major side effects so far. The scar under my chin is still there, but I don’t have any reason to show people the underside of my chin, so it’s not visible and that’s fine.
And I was worried that if I looked into it too much after surgery, people would notice, but if someone is sharp, they’ll figure it out, and most people don’t notice at all. I think that’s especially because my cheekbones weren’t extremely severe.
People can’t really figure it out and say, “What changed?” ㅎ I just say I got Botox ㅎ
At first, I had actually only looked into T-shaped osteotomy, But I was torn between that and shaving the bone a lot. In the end I chose shaving the bone because I didn’t want pins left in my face, and I’m satisfied with it.
One thing I do want to mention is this: they told me that because it’s a hospital-level facility, if an emergency ever happened, they could use the ambulance they have there to transfer me. But when I looked at the parking area, it was parked in a corner like a car that doesn’t get used. I don’t know whether that’s a good sign or not, but I wanted to mention it ㅎ And they only had two directors at the counter, two medical staff, and one head doctor, so there weren’t that many employees. I think that also made the place feel more family-like in how it’s run. I wrote all this in a pretty rambling, chaotic way because I wanted to share everything I could, but if you have questions, I’ll let you know!
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좋아요 8