I’m someone who had been going in and out of this community since the beginning of this year while looking into facial contouring surgery. Yes, I ended up doing it^_^ I’m still wearing a compression bandage right now, but I’m going to leave reviews gradually. I hope this helps, and since casual speech feels awkward, I’ll write in a clipped style..
Straight to the point: I had wanted facial contouring for a long time, but over the past year I suffered from severe appearance-related obsession. Last year, I had consultations at 2-3 places and gave up because I was scared, but this year I got consultations at 2 places again. I was similarly scared and was about to give up, but I decided to have surgery because I didn’t want to spend any more of my time and energy on appearance-related obsession..
This year, I had made consultation reservations at 6-7 places, but after consulting at Noh Jong-hoon, I liked the consultation so much that I decided on this place and canceled the later hospital appointments. (I did this because I had already gone to consultations at other hospitals last year, but everyone should try to book as many places as possible in one day, get all the consultations, and then decide..)
Areas of concern were the side cheekbones, square jaw, and chin.
Cheekbones - The 45-degree cheekbones were not severe, but no matter which hospital I went to, they said my side cheekbones could be meaningfully reduced on CT to the point that they recommended cheekbone reduction. My face is on the shorter side vertically, but the horizontal width is long, and the uneven cheekbone line bothered me so much that I felt cheekbone surgery was a must.
Square jaw - I disliked how angular and boxy it looked from the side more than from the front. The slope between my square jaw and chin tip was gentle, so my side profile looked square. But while I was already unhappy with my chin more than my square jaw and was debating whether to do them together, the difference between the consultation at another hospital and at Noh Jong-hoon made me decide to do it. (Details below)
Chin - I wanted to improve how it curled forward from the side like a scoop/chin protrusion (witch-like). At another hospital, when I said I wanted cheekbone and chin surgery, they said those two alone would probably be enough and told me I was right. But? I started wondering. They said they would do a T-osteotomy on the chin, slightly set it back to improve the curled look, and “naturally shave down” the step-off to remove it. Then wouldn’t it look even more boxy from the side because the square jaw was untouched and the line would become even gentler? I had that question, and Noh Jong-hoon explained this part to me! In the end, they objectively assessed that to get the look I wanted, I would need to go as far as 3-part facial contouring.
These days, I feel like many plastic surgery clinics think patients have a lot of information and will go to a hospital that does what they want anyway, so when a patient says this is what bothers them, they just say, “You’re right, let’s do that.” But if you go to a “hospital” to become prettier, I think there absolutely has to be a part where the “doctor” looks at you and diagnoses you.
At the other hospitals where I had consultations, honestly, even the consultants all felt like YouTuber RalRal’s alternate character, as if they had all received the same training somewhere.. I didn’t really understand the reason for the “consultant” role. From the patient’s point of view, it felt like there was nothing good about it besides the doctor’s convenience + price negotiation. After consulting with someone who was not a specialist and then meeting the director, it wasn’t like the director gave a very meticulous consultation either. They explained the surgery method, showed before-and-after photos, asked if I had questions, and looked at me, but even if I had prepared things to say, I became speechless.. + When I tried to ask, “What about side effects…” both the consultant and the director would immediately say, “We have to do it well so side effects don’t happen~!” and that was the end.
At Noh Jong-hoon, I first felt, “Ah, this is why a consultant is needed.” They explained much more specialized knowledge than other hospitals, and I felt they focused on and consulted each patient individually. Since the consultation had already been long, I didn’t expect much from the director’s consultation, but I was very satisfied with that too.. Unlike the directors at other hospitals, he felt a bit like a professor. He answered every question in detail, whether about side effects or anything else. I asked about side effects by type, and he explained everything without showing any annoyance. At other hospitals, they just looked at my facial contouring CT and said, “We cut up to here,” and that was it, but Director Noh Jong-hoon showed me my face in the mirror and pointed out one by one with his hand how far I wanted the cheekbones moved in and what shape I wanted the chin tip to be.
The decisive point was that I had a chin-tip shape I wanted, but even when I showed photos and explained it, neither the consultant nor the director at other hospitals understoodㅠ But Director Noh Jong-hoon understood right away and explained that it could also be adjusted as much as I wanted using this kind of osteotomy method. In the parts above, I felt like the pieces fit together without any gaps. (If you all keep going to consultations, there will be a hospital like that! Don’t give up, and work hard searching online and visiting in person.)
It has now been about day 9 since I had surgery at Noh Jong-hoon, and I’m leaving a week-1 review:
The consultant and nurses who consulted with me (they were all women, so I felt comfortable) take good care of you before and after surgery, so you don’t have to worry!
The first night after surgery is hell. Seriously, what would I have done if I hadn’t been hospitalized… My throat was dry and painful, I was coughing, there was a lot of bloody sputum + bloody nasal discharge, and not only my face but also the inside of my mouth and my nose were all swollen, so it was hard to breathe. More than not being able to drink water, not being able to breathe properly was harder, and especially the anesthetic really, really, really made me suffer.. I kept wanting to urinate, but I was too dizzy to move. The nurses asked, “Would you like us to turn on the TV?” but I refused everything and literally spent the night with my eyes open. Whenever I was about to fall asleep, I would feel suffocated and keep waking upㅠ I brought a tablet to watch if I got bored, but I kept endlessly alternating between feeling hot from a fever and cold from chills.. You won’t be bored^_^ It’s a 24-hour survival game..
In the morning before discharge, they had to remove the drains, but taking the tubes out didn’t hurt. It felt slightly stiff and uncomfortable, but I just zoned out and got through it.
I went without wearing a bra, and all my clothes had buttons or zippers, so it was comfortable when leaving the hospital! On day 1 after discharge, I was dizzy and had no energy, so I started taking walks from day 2.
The swelling was worst on days 3-5. (Day 4 was the peak.) Around day 4, I went to the hospital, got swelling laser treatment, and went home. They complimented me, saying that since I had swollen well, it seemed I had done the compression bandage properly.
The photo is exactly at week 1, and the huge swelling had gone down enough that if I wore a mask and a hat, it wasn’t very noticeable, so from this point I could walk around more comfortably! Even though there is still plenty of swelling, my face has gotten so small. People around me are making a fuss, saying my face has really gotten smaller. I hope week 2 passes quickly so I can get the stitches inside my mouth removed ㅠㅠㅠ I’ll come back with a week-2 review.
-> The first 24 hours right after surgery are the critical point. -> If you endure just one week, it becomes livable!