Hi, I want to write about the process of getting my first-ever cosmetic surgery. I figured there might be others with the same worries as me.
The first part is just me rambling, so if you want the information, please start reading after the ‘----’
I never really cared when other people got cosmetic surgery, but I had no intention of ever getting any myself. Not because I thought I was especially good-looking (if anything, I’m not), but because I was scared and thought I should just live as I was born. I kept thinking, this is just who I am.. lol
But then a friend told me I had ptosis? I first learned that ptosis existed after living 30 years. So there was a reason my eyes were small.. Still, if it were only that my eyes were small, I might have just let it go. But I tend to use my forehead muscles a lot, and I could already see wrinkles starting to form on my forehead. And once I noticed it, I kept seeing it every morning when I showered. More than anything, while watching TV and seeing people with forehead wrinkles, I thought that if I didn’t fix this, I’d end up like that. So I decided I needed surgery to fix my ptosis..
Ptosis can be treated at a plastic surgery clinic, but it can also be treated at an ophthalmology clinic. In fact, if an ophthalmologist diagnoses you with ptosis, insurance may apply. That means you can get it done more cheaply. But I heard that ophthalmology has stricter criteria for ptosis. What’s interesting is that the definition of ptosis in plastic surgery textbooks and in ophthalmology textbooks is different. So plastic surgery tends to classify more cases as ptosis. (Reference: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5WT_UVyLzE&t=215s&ab_channel=%EB%82%98%EC%9D%98%EB%8B%A5%ED%84%B0))
I also asked an ophthalmology clinic that does eye plastic surgery whether they test for ptosis, and it was expensive.. I don’t know if it’s just that place, but there it was 50,000 won. I started rationalizing in my head because I didn’t want to spend 50,000 won when I wasn’t even sure I’d get a diagnosis.
“50,000 won? I’d rather just buy fried chicken. If I’m doing it at a plastic surgery clinic, at least it’ll be prettier since I’m already doing it anyway, right?”
So I started going around to plastic surgery clinics for consultations. I remembered an old story, maybe about Gwanghee, about someone going in only for their eyes and then being told they should also do other things, and ending up getting more and more procedures. So I went in determined to keep my head straight and not get sold on anything. But at every plastic surgery clinic, surprisingly, they didn’t recommend other things. Overall, each doctor seemed to recommend only what they genuinely thought was necessary.
From here on, this is my consultation list.
---------------- consultation list ----------------
1. Gangnam D** Plastic Surgery
This was the first place I went. Rumor has it they’re good here. They also advertise a lot, so I went here first. I didn’t have surgery here, so I don’t know the result, but it seemed like a lot of people really go there. One whole building was basically just the clinic. The consultation manager was kind, and the doctor who did the consultation seemed very confident too. But the reasons I didn’t choose it were that the price was not as kind as I expected, and it had a factory-like feeling with resident doctors doing the procedures (I was told there are about 40 doctors there? And that each has their own specialty). I found it through the app G...N..., and the price shown in the app was cheap, but that was only for people who would be models after coordinating with the marketing team, and normally that price apparently doesn’t apply. And the price only got a bit cheaper if you posted a review on G...N..., but even then it wasn’t cheap compared with others. The other places said they’d give a discount if I booked on the same day, but this was the only place that just gave me a price with no such condition and told me to think about it and contact them later.
2. Gangnam Y**B Plastic Surgery
The next place I went was Y**B Plastic Surgery. It felt very clean, and the building looked pretty new. The first floor of the building looked like it was under construction... But the vibe didn’t feel like a factory-style clinic. What mattered, though, was the price... the price!!! It wasn’t cheap. My wallet is precious, so this wasn’t the place for making a reasonable compromise. Because of that, I don’t remember the details very well.. After hearing the price, the only thought in my head was, “Ah, I need to get out of here.” I don’t know whether it would have been worth the cost, but I wanted something good and affordable.. lol
3. Sinnonhyeon K**** Plastic Surgery (final choice)
The next place I went to was K**** Plastic Surgery. I made my final decision here. The manager was very kind, and the doctor also seemed confident. On that level, it’s the same as D**. But the reasons I chose this place were that the price seemed reasonable, and more importantly, this is a plastic surgery clinic specializing in eyes, and it’s a private clinic. In other words, it’s a private clinic run by a specialist in eye surgery. That seemed like the biggest deciding factor. And as I said earlier, I did have some anxiety about cosmetic surgery, but the manager here really helped calm me down... lol While I was going around for consultations, I was pretty nervous too. (Of course, that’s probably part of sales, but still, having some peace of mind matters, right?) Since I ended up choosing here, this may sound like I’m listing only the pros, but in reality I did hesitate, because it wasn’t the super-cheap price I had imagined, even if it was a reasonable one.
4. Apgujeong P* Plastic Surgery
I didn’t visit this one in person. I gave my mother my photo and asked her to get a consultation. The price was the cheapest, and it seemed that in general a resident doctor would do it, but they said the attending doctor would be the head surgeon. Since I didn’t visit in person, I don’t know the advantages beyond the price.. But the reason I didn’t choose it was that they said they do the surgery in a way that doesn’t loosen, which is good in the sense that it won’t loosen, but I was more worried about side effects.. (If you look up side effects of ptosis correction, you’ll probably see this, but the Müller muscle is a delicate autonomic muscle, and non-incisional ptosis correction ties it with sutures. I was thinking, in my unprofessional imagination, that tying that sensitive Müller muscle too much might not be good. If people who had surgery there don’t say much about it, then I guess there’s no problem?)
5. Apgujeong N**H Plastic Surgery
I visited this place in person too, and I also thought about it quite a bit. The surgery with the doctor I was first assigned to was cheaper, but if I wanted to have it done by the head surgeon, I would have to pay extra. I did think about it, but when I asked myself whether it was reasonable, I decided it wasn’t, so I gave up on this place. It was a little disappointing that it wouldn’t be the head surgeon.. so it was out.
So in the end, I had [natural adhesion + non-incisional ptosis correction + fat removal + diagonal canthoplasty] done, and it’s been 4 weeks since surgery now, and I’m pretty satisfied...! Of course, I still need to keep watching how it settles..
After surgery and before removing the stitches, I even tied my hands up while sleeping so I wouldn’t rub my eyes, and I did cold compresses all the time, so the swelling went down pretty fast. By the second week, I was already going out without sunglasses.
At first, my eyes were really puffy, and they seemed uneven, so I was extremely worried that something had gone wrong with the surgery. But as time passed, they became even.. lol Just trust the doctor!! I looked it up, and apparently it’s because the swelling is different at first, but after some time both sides usually even out. If something seems off after surgery, don’t worry too much and just trust it and wait first.. They started looking similar around the second week.
What I learned from going around for consultations is that I recommend not trusting app reviews.. As you go around, you realize they always give a small discount in exchange for leaving a review there... Of course there may be genuine reviews, but isn’t it like finding a pearl in a pile of sand..?
And one thing I slightly regret afterward is that I didn’t want it to look too obviously like I had cosmetic surgery done, so I asked for it to be thinner than the mm amount the doctor recommended. But the doctor said that the thinner you make it, the less the eyes enlarge, and said it was fine. Now that I’ve actually had it done, I slightly regret not listening to the doctor lol
I hope my post helps even a little..!! Then, that’s all