When I usually take selfies, I don’t feel it that much, but ever since I was young, whenever someone took a rear-camera photo of me, my face shape looked like a television, and it stressed me out so much. It was literally square. The sides were wide too So I kept thinking about it over and over. I had heard that facial contouring surgery can have many side effects, and in any case, it was surgery that shaves bone...
After thinking about it for about a year, I saw rear-camera photos taken on a trip and decided to go for a consultation. I went for a consultation because they said there were no extra charges and no separate consultation fee, and I liked that the director was very clear and firm. They clearly separated what I should and shouldn’t do, and just told me the facts, like “that won’t work.” Since I was going to do it anyway, rather than trying to make money by adding a few more surgical areas, I could feel that they were trying to make each person look pretty. The price was more reasonable than I expected, and after the consultation, I booked a two-area facial contouring surgery (cheekbones, square jaw) for 3 weeks later.
The day before surgery lol Rather than being scared of surgical side effects, I had read so many reviews saying it hurt, so I stayed up all night worrying, “What if I wake up from anesthesia and it hurts too much?” I was so nervous, but once I entered the operating room, everything moved so quickly until it was over, so I think I actually ended up less nervous. For the pain of the surgery itself, you only need to feel the pain of the IV injection while lying down. And even after waking up, it didn’t hurt as much as I had thought. It felt like a truck had driven over my face; it did hurt, but it was a tolerable pain..? That level. I had gotten scared in advance and asked them to give me painkillers, and once the injection went in, even that pain really disappeared within about 3 minutes. It was my first time under general anesthesia, but I didn’t feel nauseous, so I lay down for maybe 30 minutes or 1 hour, got a CT scan, picked up my medication by myself, took a taxi, and went home. I think recovery was fast because the surgery went well. As soon as I came out of surgery, my cheekbones were gone, so it was so fascinating.
For me, the pain from the surgery itself wasn’t that severe!! But the real hell starts after the surgery is over. I love eating so much, but my mouth wouldn’t open at all, so only being able to drink things was really hard. Even that, I was spilling it everywhere... I’m seriously a big eater, so eating things like New Care for several days was too hard, and from the third day, I just boiled porridge nonstop and ate that. From week 1, I ate rice mixed into stew... hehe;; On top of that, I was undergoing orthodontic treatment, so brushing my teeth was extremely difficult. I’m someone who sleeps on my side, so sleeping facing upward was also really painful. And the hardest thing was!! the throat pain from anesthesia. You can think of it as being around the level of COVID, but when we had COVID, our jaw movement and cheekbone movement were free, right..? But when I couldn’t move anything and my throat hurt that much, I really felt like I was going to go crazy.. For the first week, you really need to think of it as recuperating at home. This is absolutely not an easy surgery. And at this time, the swelling was also huge, so with the triple combo of pain + discomfort + not liking my face, I think time passed even more slowly.
At first, I planned to use 2 days of annual leave, include the weekend, and go back to work 4 days later, but that is absolutely not possible.. Swelling can be covered with a mask, but pronunciation leaks a lot too, and if you have the flexibility, I think it would be best to rest for at least 2 weeks before going back to work. Fortunately, I was able to rest for about 2 weeks, so I think I was able to endure it somewhat.
Anyway, from week 2, eating is the same, but when brushing my teeth, I had some degree of freedom, and I definitely felt more comfortable. The swelling goes down a lot, but as the swelling that was higher up comes straight down, the face looks a bit swollen like someone who had plastic surgery. Is it called bulldog fat under the cheeks? That area became very puffy, and the hard swelling, like having candy in my mouth, lasted for quite a long time. But the cheekbone area had definitely reduced a lot too, and originally I never took side-profile photos, but when I took a side-profile photo, my jaw looked slimmer, so my protruding chin looked less noticeable and my nose looked higher, which made me so happy. So from then on, I got motivated and tried even harder to manage it.
And now that it has been one month, there is still a lot of swelling. The jaw swelling has gone down a lot, but there’s still a puffy feeling in the cheek area. This is stressful because it feels a little different from just having a wide face; it makes me look a bit older and heavier, but when I touch it, it is obviously swelling, so I’m diligently applying warm compresses and waiting. But!! Even with swelling, when I see my reflection in the subway or take full-length mirror photos, I clearly have an oval face, so I’m really happy. Since the one-month mark, I don’t think I’ve edited my face shape in selfies even once, which I always used to do. Even to me, the surgery turned out well... But people around me don’t know unless I tell them.. lol Maybe because there’s still a lot of swelling
Anyway, to summarize! Compared with the pain and hassle you go through, it’s not as dramatic as you might expect. (After all, it doesn’t alter the facial features.) So I hope you think carefully and decide: is my face shape enough of a complex for me to take on this hardship and risk? As someone at one month post-op, even if I went back, I would do it, and even if I went back, I think I would do it at this clinic. Most of all, the price is reasonable, but it’s hard to find the reason why (I’m not sure why it’s inexpensive..), the recovery room was a private room, which was nice, and when I asked various questions, they replied right away via KakaoTalk. Especially when I got anxious in the middle and asked if I could possibly be seen at the clinic right away, they immediately made an appointment for me, so I was able to be seen right away. The nurses are all kind too.
This review is a surgery review pursuing natural beauty.