Warning: this is a very long post
I’ve always had the habit of keeping records, so I wrote this down. There aren’t many reviews here, but a lot of people seem curious, so I’m sharing it.
I did not receive any discount for posting photos or reviews, and I had no obligation to post them. I paid everything out of my own pocket, so please use this only as a reference.
If you want to know what my consultation at the hospital or my first consultation was like, please refer to the post I wrote~
Reason for re-consultation: Double-incision line creation (risk of double folds) vs. excision (risk of ectropion) Other hospitals only recommended double-incision line creation; one hospital said both risks had to be accepted and recommended excision. Although this was my first consultation for reoperation, this place was the only one that said they would proceed with double-incision line creation and, if necessary, could also do excision, so I applied for a re-consultation because I wanted to hear an explanation about that part.
Re-consultation details: After visiting other hospitals and being recommended double-incision line creation and excision, I said I didn’t want to accept all the risks. After hearing that, the director said that from the perspective of doctors at other hospitals, that made sense, but even though there is a risk of a double fold, if double-incision line creation is done, there are ways to compensate; and if there is no fat, they can find fat and reposition it -> if repositioning also seems difficult, they would do excision, but they would adjust the amount of excision little by little while checking the eye’s condition during surgery. So I chose them because the compromise was clearer than at other hospitals, and they answered the parts I was worried about very clearly.
+ On top of that, here they have you visit the hospital within a week after surgery and the director checks your eyes in person: 1 day after surgery, 3 days after, and 1 week after (stitch removal) They said the director would see me then and check my eye condition, and if further eye correction was needed or something like that, retouching would be done for free. The staff member also reminded me of that again before the surgery! Because, like, after surgery people around you or online always ask whether it seems like it went badly, but it’s more accurate and trustworthy if the doctor who operated on me checks it, right? I liked that it wasn’t just one surgery and done, but that they would check the condition and do retouching without adding to the price.
I looked up reviews for this place on this community and other apps too, but there weren’t many. There were a lot of reviews on the ㅇㅇㅇ(ㅔㅣㅔㅁ) cafe, so I looked for cases similar to mine. I vividly remembered how much it hurt when the anesthesia wore off, so I mainly searched for anesthesia-related reviews.
It’s a one-doctor clinic, so that day was entirely dedicated to my surgery. I was a little worried that maybe I was the only one, but for difficult cases like mine, they only do one per day.
The day before, the hospital called and explained what to bring, any questions, fasting, parking, and precautions.
On the day of surgery, I went in and paid the remaining balance, got no cash receipt, (check in advance whether card installment payments are possible) Consultation with the director’s assistant - checked whether I had any allergies, etc., Received the surgery consent form, asked any questions about it and got explanations, left my bag, changed clothes, washed my face, and took photos of my eyes.
First consultation with the director: He drew the line several times and asked if I had an eye shape I wanted, so I showed him one, but my double-eyelid line itself was different, so that was ruled out. I was glad he clearly told me which parts could not be fixed even after surgery, such as the scar from the front canthoplasty. Still, I emphasized the look I wanted (a naturally outwardly spread look), and that I tend to come out of anesthesia well, etc.
When I asked how painful it would be, I was told that there could be pain, but sensitivity and how people feel it vary from person to person. They told me to say something if it hurt, and that for the eye correction, sedation anesthesia would only make me feel dazed and would be kept to a minimum (they said there could be a pulling pain during eye correction). He drew the line several times, had me close and open my eyes, checked where the eyeball moved, and marked the position with a pen.
After the consultation, I stopped by the bathroom and then (since the surgery is long, I recommend eating little the day before) went into the operating room. After tying up my hair and lying down, there was an operating-room nurse, and I requested songs from the 90s to 00s. The operating-room nurse was very kind. (I asked everything I was curious about. I asked whether waking up and opening my eyes is in the middle or late stage of surgery, and I was told it’s around the middle...) They gave a helpful tip, saying that if you get too tense you may end up with body aches, so it’s good to keep telling yourself to relax.
I got IV fluids in my right wrist (the sedation anesthesia goes in here, and it feels tight when it enters) and an antibiotic? allergy check in my left wrist (but the injection pain was tolerable...)
The director came in and did the second design. Lying down, I closed and opened my eyes and moved my eyeballs following the director’s hand; then sitting up, I closed and opened my eyes and moved my eyeballs following the director’s hand again, checked the eye design again, and then the sedation anesthesia was administered.
When the sedation anesthesia was given, there was a tight feeling and a bit of time passing. After lying there for a bit, the director came in and the surgery started. *For reference, if I see surgery scenes in medical dramas, I can’t watch them, and I’m the type who has a hard time with blood or even injections. They gave about four local anesthesia injections into the eyelid area, and the needle felt like it was pushing sideways across the eyelid and stabbing in, which hurt a lot. During the local anesthesia, someone held my hand, and it really hurt but was reassuring When they cut the eye with a scalpel, I vividly felt the flow, like something running down, and the pressure of gauze. Because it was a reoperation, I could feel the tied threads being cut with scissors. I felt something like cauterizing (it seemed like it was to secure the thread). I could feel them stitching with thread.
At that time I was dazed, so I only felt those things and there wasn’t much major pain. The pain started from the eye correction part. It felt like they were hooking my muscle? I groaned from a dull pain that felt like I was being pulled up from my navel. I sat up, opened my eyes, blinked, and so on, and after they saw it, they didn’t like it and did it again, but I felt that dull pain and wanted another anesthetic injection. I was told it wasn’t time for that yet, and when the moment came when they could give the injection, they gave it again, but why does the anesthetic injection still hurt even when I’m dazed? The stabbing pain still hurt.
If you get very tense, the eye area twitches and there may be bleeding, so I tried to relax as much as possible, but I couldn’t figure out how to distract myself, and I couldn’t hear the music, so I kept focusing on my eyes. I remember trying very hard to relax by breathing deeply. I also remember feeling relieved and supported when the operating-room nurse pressed my body down gently.
--> I’m like this because I get very nervous and am sensitive, but apparently a lot of people do or don’t feel the pain; since it varies by person, don’t be too scared..!!
Finally, they stitched it up, but maybe they weren’t satisfied After I opened and closed my eyes, it seemed like they stitched it again? Or was I imagining it!? After that, the surgery was finished. As planned, the surgery took a long time, from 11 to 3. What I thought after the surgery -> The director and the nurse were incredible for working so long. I was grateful, and I also felt proud of myself. What the director said while looking at my eyes after surgery -> It turned out well. What I asked right after surgery because I was curious: Did you remove any tissue? I was told no.
After surgery, the director personally stopped the bleeding with gauze. The hemostasis that started around 3:05 lasted about 30 minutes? It was a long time. Pressing down firmly about twice per piece of gauze and taking out a fresh piece, Even in my dazed state, I thought, wow, they really don’t spare the gauze; this is absolutely worth the money They had me close and open my eyes several times, and move my eyeballs along with the director’s hand several times. They said that closing and opening your eyes and looking straight ahead are very important.
I sat up and they put tape on the skin above my eyes. They were very careful with that too. About looking straight ahead and the fact that the ice pack should go on the forehead, they explained it in detail over and over. The tape is really, really, really important, so they said they would remove it together with the stitches and emphasized that it must not get wet.
I felt dizzy, so I moved to the room next door, lay down, and put an ice pack on my forehead. The nurse came and explained how to use the ice pack, and since I wanted to go to the bathroom, I rested for 10 minutes. While I was resting again, the director came in and explained again about looking straight ahead, etc., checked my eyes, and left.
After resting, I changed clothes, and the assistant explained and gave me the necessary items like gauze and packs. Then I went back to the treatment room and consulted with the director again. As expected, the director again stopped the bleeding for more than 10 minutes with gauze, applied eye ointment, wiped it off, applied it again and wiped it off again, cleaned up the stitches? line, put an ice pack on my forehead, let me rest a bit, and then again talked about looking straight ahead and closing and opening my eyes. When I said the left line seemed a little thicker, and asked if it would match after the swelling went down, I was told that everyone’s eyes are different, so it can’t be matched perfectly. From what I could see, the double-incision line came out well, and the difference between the left and right lines was only very subtle, not big at all -> You’d need to see the swelling go down exactly to know, and the director also said it would be more accurate once the swelling went down.
Because I feel more reassured when I get precise answers about what is and isn’t the case, that was actually better for me. After practicing, I went to the pharmacy on the first floor to buy medicine and went home.
Eye condition -> less swollen than I expected, less bruising than I expected. The bruised area was just a little red and blotchy on the eyelids, and the bruising ran down along the double-eyelid line like eyeliner, but from a distance it looked like a double-eyelid line, so it wasn’t severe. My boyfriend came to pick me up, looked at me, and it wasn’t what he had imagined; he even said I looked okay. Since I had eyeliner tattooing, it seems like that covered the swelling somewhat. I thought about hiding it a bit, but he said it was fine, so I just took off my hat and ate, walked around, and went home with him.
My mom’s reaction - my eyes got bigger? She said it turned out well. I was satisfied too.
How it felt that day: When I closed my eyes, there was a tight feeling like they didn’t fully close. It was more comfortable to keep them open. There was a faint pain, and only about 2/5 of my eyeball was visible. After eating and taking medicine, it disappeared. No pain the next day. I kept taking the medicine consistently.
The next morning I was still a little swollen. Only about 3/5 of my eyeball was visible. They said the swelling is worst on days 2 to 3. Closing my eyes wasn’t uncomfortable. After breakfast, I went for a one-hour walk, and then went to the hospital (visit the day after surgery). At the hospital, I waited about 30 minutes, and then the director had me close and open my eyes, and move my eyes around while looking at his finger.
Am I very swollen? -> It’s on the less-swollen side. Didn’t you remove tissue because there was fat in my eyes? -> There wasn’t fat, and it was a case where repositioning wasn’t necessary, so they released the adhesions well.
The director again pressed down firmly with gauze and cleaned up the stitches? scabs, applied ointment, pressed again to absorb it, and cleaned up the stitches again. He really paid a lot of attention.
From the re-consultation through post-op care, that’s my situation so far. I chose this place because I heard they were thorough and I could handle the long surgery time, and I really felt how focused they were throughout the long surgery. From the icing to the hemostasis? and similar steps, I liked that the director took responsibility all the way to the end. I think there’s a reason the staff all say the director is meticulous...
My swelling still hasn’t gone down, so I don’t know yet whether I’ll be fully satisfied later, but I can’t even imagine my previous uneven eyes now. From the consultation through the post-op care, I was satisfied with everything, so overall I’m satisfied.
That’s my review so far. It’s a very long post, but if you read it, thanks for sticking with it!! I hope everyone succeeds with their eye surgery!!