I felt like I’d gained weight over the winter, so I decided to have surgery on my upper arms, which were stressing me out the most.
I went for a consultation at a clinic recommended on an obesity liposuction cafe,
and decided to do it right away. I was really stressed, and it was a famous place.
I originally knew it as an expensive place, but it was posted at an event price on ㅂ ㅂㅌ, so I was tempted.
It’s almost 3 months after surgery now, and they’ve gone down by about 3 to 3.5 cm.
I’m 162 cm tall and was 52 kg before surgery. Today I weigh 51 kg.
My arm lines don’t seem fully finished yet, and the fibrotic scar tissue is still a bit hard. Especially my right arm,
it hurts when I sleep at night, so I wake up sometimes. I have a habit of sleeping with both arms raised without realizing it, and when I keep them up too long,
my right elbow feels tight and hurts, so I gently lower it with my left arm. My right arm hurts too much to come down on its own...
This pain is getting much better as time goes on.
The consultation manager said it was a “bone-thin arms” clinic and said they could remove a huge amount.
After surgery, they said they removed about 1700 cc, though of course that must have included IV fluid.
I just listened and said, “Oh, okay,” but based on my experience having abdominal liposuction before surgery on my arms,
when they removed 1000 cc of pure fat from my upper, lower, side abdomen and back bulges, my waistline changed a lot. I weighed more back then too.
So I didn’t think 1000 cc could come out of both of my arms.
It was arms only, not including accessory breast tissue or bra line. I’m not severely overweight, and even on InBody,
I was standard.
Right now, I’m satisfied with my left arm. From my experience with abdominal liposuction, the body shape right after surgery, before swelling starts,
basically stays that way. Areas that are uneven or still have fat remain that way. Even if there is some fluid before swelling,
once the swelling goes down, the appearance you saw immediately after surgery comes out. That’s why I’m more worried.
When I saw it right after surgery, there was still a back bulge on my right arm, and when I touched that back-bulge area on my left arm,
I felt like there was only skin, but the right arm seemed less removed. It’s not fibrotic scar tissue either. Right now it’s very soft, and the thickness is about 2 cm when pinched.
The final result isn’t fully out yet, but except near the elbow, it has become mostly soft, so I don’t think this part will go down more.
My husband doesn’t know I had surgery. In January and February I wore thermal underwear and didn’t show my arms. I wore a half-sleeveless dress,
and he asked if I’d gained weight. I was like, huh, what? Then suddenly I got really irritated,
so I massaged my right arm harder to loosen the fibrotic scar tissue.
A little while ago, I went for a progress check and said I thought my arms looked uneven. They said it would improve if I waited a bit more,
and that both arms can’t be exactly the same. There can be muscle differences too. I completely agreed with that, and while waiting,
I asked whether they could do a retouch if, after all the fibrotic scar tissue at the elbow loosened, the back bulge on the right arm stayed the same, so I could at least feel at ease.
The manager said Director Kim would decide, and Director Kim said he was also a salaried doctor, so he couldn’t say anything,
and told me to ask the manager, which left me at a loss. So I asked the manager.
I asked whether they would do a retouch if I had done it with the representative director. They said the representative director has never done a retouch so far.
Um, then I asked how much it would be if I paid and only retouched one side. They said, as I knew, I received a huge discount through the event price,
and they don’t do surgery on just one side. Both arms have to be done together, and then
anesthesia alone would be over 300,000 won plus the surgery fee, and the rough price made me think I’d be better off going somewhere cheaper.
It felt pretty absurd that for one back bulge sticking out a bit and one side being a bit thicker, I’d have to pay the full surgery fee outright, not just a small amount.
Of course, I know the fibrotic scar tissue hasn’t all loosened yet and that I need to wait for the result, but while waiting,
I just wanted to hear that a retouch would be possible so I could feel comfortable. Hearing an unexpected answer felt kind of empty.
I should have clearly asked before surgery whether retouching was possible. If I had, I wouldn’t have done it here.
When I consulted, Director Kim said that if the surgery turned out a bit uneven, they could just extract a little and graft it back, and if a scar formed,
they could stitch it again, that it was simple, and that it was their job to prevent that from happening. So I thought a retouch would be possible, but that was my
misunderstanding.
I’m only half satisfied with the surgical result. Only with my left arm. It’s not like other people are staring only at my arms, but I’m the only one being like this.