First of all, now that it has been 1 year, I’m leaving a review because I’m very satisfied overall. For reference, I’m not getting anything out of this; I’m just writing it because I want to. It may sound like an ad, though (honestly there are so many ad posts that you do need to be suspicious), but I’ll just share my experience.
1. My eyes had a lot of eyelid skin, thick, firm skin, and no double eyelid. Eyes that rejected both double eyelid glue and double eyelid tape. They were long horizontally, but the epicanthal fold in the front sat diagonally and stretched quite long, so if I tried to make a crease with glue, it looked like only the back part went up. So at first, I started going around for consultations hoping for upper epicanthoplasty as a must + natural adhesion double eyelid surgery.
2. Consultation with the director To put it simply, it was very practical. While looking up reviews of this hospital, I saw a few reviews saying the doctor spoke informally and that they didn’t like the attitude, and that probably isn’t completely wrong. (He didn’t speak informally to me, though.) But I strongly got the sense that he wanted information-focused, efficient conversation. When I told him the look I wanted, he took that in and immediately started pinching the eyelid to measure double eyelid thickness. He did it in detail, like 5 mm, 5.5 mm. After pinching and checking my eye condition a few times, he immediately said, “I think these eyes should be done by incision.” Then, just in case, he tried a few other thicknesses and we decided on 5.5. It really proceeded very efficiently. At first, incision felt burdensome, but thinking about it now, incision was right for my eyes. What I liked most was that I strongly insisted on upper epicanthoplasty, but other hospitals had said it wasn’t necessary and didn’t include it (because I wanted a thin inner double eyelid). But you know that kind of thing. A difference only I can feel. A line would definitely be created, but it wouldn’t be the eye shape I wanted. Because the front would stay the same due to the epicanthal fold, and only the back would get bigger. (I was more sensitive because the space between my eyes is wide.) So I wanted the front and back to fold as evenly as possible. At first, this clinic’s director also said it wasn’t necessary, but when I strongly explained it, he pinched a few more times and became sure he understood what I meant. I felt reassured, and now I think it was such a good choice. In conclusion, everyone, if you’re going to a consultation, go in knowing exactly what you want. And if you can organize it clearly and say it there, that’s best. You’ll be able to have a very straightforward conversation.
3. Before and during surgery Of course, they checked the consultation line again and I lay down on the operating table. I was supposed to send photos of the line I wanted in advance, so I did, and after surgery they were all up on the monitor. It seems like he does the surgery while comparing with those, so choose them carefully. Even while he was marking the line, I asked for the front and back line thickness to be the same and to continue smoothly along my eye shape. I dislike lines that get bigger toward the back. (I talked so much while he was delicately marking the line that he asked me to be quiet for a moment.) You absolutely need to strongly state the one thing you cannot compromise on. Then I lay down on the operating table and surgery began. The anesthetic went in and I got groggy, then at some point they’ll tell you to open your eyes. After blinking then, the surgery was soon over. I recovered for an hour, put on a hat, and went home.
4. Recovery period. First, after one week, the stitches were removed, I had swelling massage, and I made appointments in between to check progress about three times. After that, honestly, it was a mentally obsessive period. Definitely. Up until 8 months, I was anxious enough to spiral from time to time. Do you know why? Because it looked like all the swelling was gone, but it still looked obvious that I had double eyelid surgery. On top of that, I have thick skin and swell easily, so I worried the line looked too deep. Even when I closed my eyes, the line stayed indented, so I even looked into surgery to release the fixation. But everyone, if you search just a little here, it says to give incision 1 year, right? But when it becomes your own situation, you get anxious. I was the same, but for incision, 1 year really is right. It’s accurate. Even 8 months is early. You have to wait 1 year. Since mine was incision, of course the fixation is strong, but it’s much more natural and pretty than it was at 8 months. And the line? It came out so well. It came out so well that I seriously want to show it off. That’s why I’m writing this post. I’m sure the doctor has good aesthetic sense, and remember how I said I emphasized things in the operating room? He listened to all of it. The upper epicanthoplasty was also done moderately, without straying too far from my image. I really can only think of that as skill. And the scar has almost disappeared now. In other words, it’s clean.
5. How to choose a doctor 1) They must have good skill. By skill here, I mean skill in designing the line + skill in suturing. What do I mean by suturing? If you do incisional double eyelid surgery, they sew very densely along that line in a long black line. But places that do it well really make it clean and straight along the wound. I honestly can’t even imagine how they do it. Usually when you sew torn clothes, you sew back and forth perpendicular to the tear. But with this, maybe it’s so densely done that it just looks like a straight line. (Or maybe there’s some other knotting method...) But unskilled doctors really sew like we sew clothes, and all those marks remain as scars. The needle entry points and the wound, all of it. So search hard and read reviews to see whether they design lines well and suture well before you go.
2) They must have good aesthetic sense. The second is aesthetic sense. They need to be able to accurately catch what the patient wants. I felt that this was important with the upper epicanthoplasty. After the consultation, if it seems like they don’t understand the look you want, boldly pass.
6. Requests for incisional double eyelid surgery 1) If the line itself isn’t strange, seriously, please wait 1 year. Seriously. And if you still don’t like it after that, go for revision surgery. 2) Scars really disappear slowly, you know? Redness and scar tissue strangely came up after a few months. And they disappeared around the 6-month mark. I worried a lot because of this, but now it’s all gone. Make sure to apply scar ointment. 3) You know that kind of information like 4 mm is an inner double eyelid, and a certain number of millimeters makes an outer double eyelid? Honestly, it’s roughly right, but it also differs depending on the eyes. I thought 5.5 would be a super low inline to in-out line, but maybe because my eyelid skin itself is thick, the line is higher than I expected. Of course the height is different in the morning and evening. So if you want a natural look, try setting the line more conservatively than you think. The reason I’m saying this is because I seriously almost ended up with sausage eyes if things had gone slightly wrong. Even at 5.5, I almost ended up with sausage eyes. Go after accurately judging your own skin condition. It’s better than having a high line that looks unnatural.