If you are considering surgery, I really hope you read this. At the time, my self-esteem was at rock bottom, and I thought even the reason my work was not going well was because of my face. So it was a surgery I rushed into, as if I were possessed, getting consultations, deciding, and going through with it. Even when I lay down on the operating table, I did not realize what a huge thing I was doing. The moment I woke up from anesthesia, I thought, I really did do something major, and at 1 week, it was so painful that I thought, I really did get myself into something.
At the consultation, I thought the major swelling would go down in a week, so daily life would be possible. They also said there would be no pain at all. But the swelling lasts much longer than expected, and the pain is severe.
If you are considering surgery, most of you are probably in a state of very low self-esteem, as I was, and likely sensitive to how people around you see you. Since I was unemployed, I had no reason to meet people, so I could endure it, but otherwise, going about daily life with a face almost twice as swollen as before surgery? Absolutely impossible. Please take that into account before deciding.
And as for pain, honestly, the pain from tracheal intubation is worse than pain from cutting the jawbone. Because it is a major surgery, your immunity weakens a lot, and on top of that, I was icing every day and was told that if I got overheated the swelling could get worse or not go down, so I could not even turn on the heated floor mat. I caught a sore throat, and that was truly painful. After tracheal intubation, your throat swells a lot, phlegm builds up badly, and even swallowing saliva is hard, but if you start coughing too, it really feels like dying...
On the day of surgery, I had no pain at all, so I even bought and drank a beverage on the way home, but from the next day through the following week, it was truly difficult. I could not eat properly, brushing my teeth was hard, and sleeping was hard, so most nights I tossed and turned, or just sat blankly staring at the wall.
Until 1-2 months, the swelling is severe enough that you have to wear a mask and hat when going out. Some people say it looks like you gained weight, but it feels completely different, and honestly, gaining weight would probably look better... The swelling goes down from top to bottom, and later only the chin is swollen. Honestly, I hated how it looked.
From 3-4 months, after taking good care of it and doing things like fat-dissolving injections alongside it, it improved a lot. I met friends and traveled. But even by then, I still looked worse than before surgery.
After that, I worked hard on dieting too, managed my double chin, and kept getting injections, so I really saw the effect of the surgery. I originally had soft, watery fat, so I had quite a lot of jowls, and because my chin was short, I tended to have a double chin, and after surgery, the double chin definitely became a little more noticeable. So I was extremely stressed, but when I compared it with old photos, I definitely thought I was glad I did it. But even now, when I take side-profile photos, a little double chin shows. In real life it is not severe, but it stands out a lot in photos, and it feels like the tissues have not settled into place yet.
When I met acquaintances after a long time and took photos together, I heard things like, why is your face so small, and from people meeting me for the first time, I heard that they were jealous I could tie my hair up because my face shape is pretty. After surgery, the work I was doing also started going well, and visually I look much better, so I am very satisfied.
But now that I think about it, I hope you do not become too obsessed with your face. My job and major are environments where I cannot help but obsess over my face, so I did end up having surgery, and before surgery, I kept noticing people who seemed like things were going well for them because they were pretty, but after I actually did it, I realized there are many people who build great careers and do well even with square jaws more severe than my old face.
Of course, I do not regret the surgery, and even if I went back to 7 months ago, I would do the same thing, but it is truly painful and the recovery period is long. I do think I could not do it twice. In the past, even while obsessing over my appearance, I thought countless times that this was not right. So I decided there would be no more surgeries, and for that to happen, I felt I needed to raise my lowered self-esteem again and become someone healthy on the inside, so during recovery I studied a lot and worked a lot on self-development. So I have not completely escaped my obsession with appearance, but I am living a new life compared with before. It feels like surgery gave me a new life, but I think surgery plus a change of heart was also a big part of it. Before deciding on facial contouring surgery, the part I really hope you take into account is that one surgery does not solve everything. To have a slim, pretty V-line like a celebrity, self-care such as dieting is essential along with surgery. When I see people who gained a lot of weight after facial contouring, their facial line disappears completely, and their double chin is also very severe. If you are not confident, just do something like thread lifting.
Also, before surgery, you will consult about how much bone to shave, and some directors tell you to shave a lot unconditionally for a dramatic effect, or recommend that, but if you shave too much, the double chin becomes severe and the side line gets completely ruined. Think about your own face shape and whether you have soft, watery fat before deciding!
I hope you think it through enough and make a decision you will not regret.
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