I had the soft cheekbone surgery that has been talked about a lot in this community lately. I had it done at ㅁ/ㅇ/ㅁ/ㄷ/ㄱ. I had been thinking about it for about 6 months, and I felt it would be better to do it while I was even one year younger, so I had the surgery. I think it's been about 10 days since the surgery now.
First, what I want to say to those who are planning to have surgery is this. Even if they say it uses minimal dissection and the recovery period is short, I think it is best to do it when you can definitely take time off if possible! You had the surgery because it was your biggest complex, so it would be so sad if this surgery turned into a complication..ㅜㅜ If you manage yourself at least within the range where you can do your best (I consider that 2 months for me, at least 1 month), you can reduce the possibility of complications. During those two months you really have to be careful about what you eat, and that is difficult while working, so definitely do it when you can take time off! (I think of it as not chewing for 1-2 months, and no drinking or smoking.) + The hospital director also says this several times at the clinic, but they told me to lose a little weight if possible. I think my weight is average, but since I can reduce how much I eat now, I'm trying to diet. I think I've lost about 2 kg so far.
Now, to talk about the surgery experience: on the day of surgery, I had a consultation with the director, signed the surgical consent form, had a CT scan, etc., and anesthesia was done with sedation. After surgery, I woke up in the recovery room, and because my physical condition was not good that day, personally I really struggled a lot. After discharge, when you go home, you have to keep the bandage wrapped by the hospital on for about 2-3 days. For me, the period from the day of surgery until the bandage was removed was the hardest.. Because of the bandage, my jaw joint hurt so much, my face swelled more every evening, the bandage felt tighter, and I felt extremely trapped, like I could not go forward or backward. (The bandage rubbed my jaw area a lot.)
Maybe because soft cheekbone surgery uses minimal dissection, there was really very little pain around the cheekbones. For me, cheekbone pain was almost nonexistent, just like someone lightly scratching my arm. However, while I had the bandage on, my jaw hurt so much, and even after the bandage was removed, it felt numb and tight; when wearing the facial compression band, my jaw hurt more than my cheekbones. I think this may also be partly because my jawbone is weak. Looking at reviews from other people who had the surgery, generally it seems they also had almost no pain around the cheekbone area.
And when I removed the bandage on the afternoon of day 2, my face was swollen like a full moon. Because the swelling was severe, it was hard to tell how much the cheekbones had changed, and at that time I was happier about getting the bandage off than about the cheekbone change, so I thought it was okay even if I couldn't feel a big change. After removing the bandage, the swelling starts to go down noticeably day by day. To reduce swelling, I drank pumpkin juice and walked about 20-30 minutes a day. Also, I tried not to lie down except when sleeping at night and stayed sitting; if you can stand, the swelling will go down even faster. They say the more you walk, the faster the swelling goes down.
Most people who had surgery say the major swelling goes down at the one-week mark, and it does seem that by one week, at least the major swelling around the cheekbones goes down. However, that swelling moves down toward the cheeks, so although cheek swelling has decreased compared with before, the cheeks are still puffy. Still, because my cheekbones were so prominent, compared with before surgery they have reduced a lot, so I am currently satisfied. But I think I won't know for sure until the swelling goes down overall and the cheekbones are visible. Also, there is asymmetry between both cheekbones. In the hospital's explanation sheet, they say asymmetry can occur early on because swelling on each side goes down differently, so I am waiting quietly. Also, even if there is asymmetry, my face already had asymmetry before plastic surgery, and I am satisfied with the surgical effect and am willing to accept some degree of asymmetry, so unless the asymmetry is severe, I don't think I will have major complaints.
The bruising appeared under both eyes, and also on both cheeks while wearing the facial compression band. I am currently alternating warm and cold compresses. Around one week it was yellow bruising, and now I hope it will disappear within a week. + Even if you wear a mask, there will be situations where you have to take it off, and the degree of bruising varies from person to person, so I think office workers may also find it difficult to return to work quickly because of the bruising. Also, early after surgery, tasks that involve lowering your head will probably be difficult.
What was personally very uncomfortable after surgery was brushing my teeth. I still have not intentionally tried to open my mouth wide, so even if I brush directly, I can only clean the outer side of the teeth, which is very inconvenient. I bend an interdental brush with a bendable metal tip to clean the inside of my teeth, and I am using a water jet. For those who find brushing difficult, brushing the outside of the teeth, mouthwash + interdental brush + water jet should be quite okay!
When sleeping, I slept with my head elevated using about 3-4 pillows. People say sleeping with a neck pillow prevents you from lying on your side, but sleeping with a neck pillow was too uncomfortable for me, so I used a method of folding one towel lengthwise and wrapping it around my neck while sleeping, and this also helps reduce the head turning sideways.
I was satisfied because I felt the degree of surgical effect I wanted, and I have high expectations for the swelling that will continue to go down. The hospital itself says cheek sagging is very minimal, but personally the cheekbone effect is big, so I am worried about that much cheek sagging..ㅠㅠ Because this period is the most important for nonunion, I am trying hard to manage it as much as I can. As for the hospital itself, the director and nurses are really so kind. They are so kind that even if this hospital were not a plastic surgery clinic but a general hospital, I would want to keep going there.
So far, I don't feel any major downsides. I hope I can leave good reviews at one month, one year, and afterward too ^^ This has been a review containing my personal thoughts.
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