I don't remember the exact surgery price, since it's almost been a year now. I think it was somewhere between 150 and 175. I don't remember the advertised price either.
I had lower eyelid fat repositioning and fat grafting under the eyes at the same time. My under-eyes were somewhat bulging compared with my age. Personally it was not a huge source of stress, but at other consultations doctors kept recommending that I do the under-eye fat first, so I ended up doing it. I heard it was a surgery with a surprisingly high rate of side effects, so I searched reviews carefully and agonized over it before deciding, but in the end I am dissatisfied.
First, there is a change in the eye shape. The lower eyelid line that used to feel rounded and opened up has become a straight line that seems to pull upward. Because the under line moved upward, it feels like when your eyes are stinging and you open them, the lower part lifts and the eyes look smaller. That is the impression now. My eyes feel smaller and more stuffy. It is almost a year now, but it still has not completely returned to normal, and I am looking into lower canthoplasty and outer canthoplasty. It is not something that people around me notice and talk about, but cosmetic surgery is supposed to be for personal satisfaction, and every time I look in the mirror I am dissatisfied. I feel like I have become subtly uglier... Still, at least I knew this could be a side effect of the under-eye fat procedure.
What is even more annoying is that when I smile, a lump protrudes under the eyes. On both sides, about the size of a little fingernail. I am not sure if it is clumped fat or what exactly, but what I can say for sure is that it was not there before surgery. Because of this, my under-eyes actually bother me more after surgery than before, and it stresses me out lol Even when taking photos, the photographers somehow fix the under-eye area first even without me saying anything...? If it was going to be like this, why did I spend money and time on surgery? It is really ridiculous lololololololo no, actually it is not funny at all.
The satisfaction with the result is low, but the worst part was the hospital and the doctor's attitude. On the one-month follow-up day, I mentioned to the consultation manager, in a slightly dissatisfied tone, that the protrusion under my eyes bothered me, and they treated me like a troublesome customer, saying, "You're not angry, right?" lol I swear I never behaved in a rude or ignorant way. Honestly, I spent a lot of money on surgery, so if there is a problem, can't I express dissatisfaction in a displeased tone? I wasn't using harsh words or making a scene. If there is a problem with the surgery, do I have to politely bow and scrape? I absolutely wasn't raising my voice either, just sounding a little upset... It really was nowhere near enough to deserve that kind of comment... T_T
After that, I went in to speak with the doctor, and it seems the manager had tipped him off that I was a troublemaker. Before I had even said anything, he immediately started getting angry? Even though I had not said a single word. Then he said the surgery is done based on a neutral face, so I should not judge it by how it looks when smiling. Of course I know that. But I was not dissatisfied because the smiling appearance failed to improve; I was upset because a new problem appeared that had not existed before surgery. If a change appears that was not there before surgery, then the surgery caused the problem, and regardless of whether it is a neutral face or a smiling face, isn't that the doctor's responsibility? Besides, I had not been informed beforehand that this kind of change could happen.
So I tried to explain it to the doctor, but our director was just so angry that he did not seem willing to listen.. Before I could even finish what I was saying, he interrupted and only scolded me... Very displeased, as if dealing with a nuisance patient.. haha I spent more than a million won, got an unsatisfactory result, and I had not even directly confronted the doctor, yet I was being scolded like this, so I felt truly miserable and almost cried. But I could not fight back either, because I was afraid they would not take any follow-up action and would just wash their hands of it. In Korea, when there is a conflict between doctor and patient, the doctor has overwhelming power... So even though I really wanted to cry, I held it in.
But in the end, the doctor admitted there was a problem, though they said they did not know why. Then isn't it the surgeon's own skill at fault.. haha They said they could inject a fat-dissolving shot or Botox into the protruding area, but then it might sink in when the face is neutral. So I just did not take that option, and I also did not do the second fat grafting because it seemed like an untrustworthy hospital.
Isn't the high cost supposed to include aftercare, not just the surgery fee? And no matter how proud a plastic surgery clinic is, it is still a kind of medical service, so if they are at fault they should not respond like this. The director even runs a YouTube channel, so I wonder if I should have avoided them from the start based on trust. Anyway, it is clear that this is an untrustworthy doctor and hospital.
If I had to name the advantages, the price was relatively reasonable compared with other hospitals, and the under-eye protrusion did go down a bit. But if you were told that, in exchange for a relatively cheap fix for the under-eye protrusion, your eyes would lift up and become smaller and a fat lump would protrude under the eyes, would you still get surgery here? haha If it were me, I would not. If I could go back, I would pay more and do it somewhere else.
I also looked into revision surgery a lot, but it seemed like a complicated and difficult procedure and the success rate did not seem high, so I gave up. The director told me to do that too! He said to keep massaging under the eyes and wait longer, but not to stare at the under-eyes all the time and obsess over them, and to go on living my daily life while doing what I have to do. lololol I was basically chased out like that ^^ Because of this I was so stressed that I looked into revision surgery and all that, but I felt like I was going crazy, so I just gave up on everything and have been living that way. But thinking about it again hurts my heart..
The surgical result and satisfaction can vary from person to person, so please use this as reference, and think carefully and decide cautiously before having surgery. Of course, even then, it seems impossible to completely avoid a landmine, just like I could not.. h... I am leaving this honest review from a public-minded place, hoping that no one else follows the same path I did. Thank you.