A Thai surgery I want to warn people about

It seems like a lot of people have had surgery in Thailand.. Of course, there are also people who are satisfied and got good results, but I think there are also quite a few who did not, so I’m gathering the courage to share my story. I sometimes saw stories from people who had a hard time, but those posts have mostly been deleted.. In fact, if something went well, you can quickly post about it with a happy heart, but when it didn’t go well, it’s hard to write something like this.. So maybe that’s why there are fewer posts.. Anyway, I’ve met a few people here who had a hard time. Thinking about what I went through, my first feeling is to stop people from going. Of course, because the cost of living is low.. the facilities are good and the service is good too, but first of all, it is true that there is a fundamental difference in mindset and in cultural level compared with Korea. The advanced-country orientation that pursues well-being and the kind of culture that tries to raise the level and quality of life are nowhere to be found. You can tell from the stale food served at the hospital, and even from the taste of drinks sold in shops. It’s a social culture that doesn’t pay much attention to health.. In terms of technology, it feels like Korea in the 1980s or 1990s. And most importantly, aftercare is completely lacking, so you already know that aftercare is more important than anything else in plastic surgery. Of course, if everything heals well according to the rules, there won’t be a problem, but the human body is all different, and every condition is different too. And there is no guarantee that the main character in this story won’t be me. Just like it was for me. At first, all they said was to wait and see even if a problem came up, and of course that information never even reached the doctor. That’s natural because they’re far away, but as a patient, that is an absolutely maddening part. I did work in that field for a long time, but in any case, those people are not doctors. If they said to just leave it alone and see, but it kept getting worse in the meantime..? It would lead to a truly terrible result. I was fine in Thailand, but after I came back to Korea, my jaw hurt for several days, I swelled more, and couldn’t sleep. The only thing they could say in Thailand was to keep observing it. On top of that, because I think they shaved much more off my cheekbones and jaw than I expected, I developed facial nerve paralysis, so half of my face wouldn’t move.. An eyelid where the left and right eyes close at different speeds... For someone watching this, it’s truly frightening.. I couldn’t even bring myself to meet anyone. And because the eye that wouldn’t close completely dried out, my eyes became bloodshot and painful.. it was really hard. I couldn’t sleep, and my mouth gradually opened less and less, even eating became difficult, and when I drank water it would just run down.. My jaw hurt so much.. in the end I swallowed my embarrassment and went to a university hospital (pain leaves you with no choice) They looked inside my mouth and said, “Oh dear....” and told me that my mouth had not been handled cleanly. But I had already sensed that. It was my own mouth, so how could I not know it was all ragged.. It was cut and sewn up, so of course it would be ragged.. if it were that level, the doctor wouldn’t have said anything. I also felt it was a bit severe, but they said it was severe. In Korea, intraoral incision surgery is already an old method, and even if an intraoral incision is made, they don’t handle it in such a ragged way, they said. Even as time passed, my facial muscles wouldn’t move, so I had a life where I couldn’t meet anyone... I had no choice but to cancel all the things I had planned. Even now I still can’t do anything and I’m living an unemployed life. My smiling face is not a smiling face at all.. It’s a completely rotten-looking smile.. When I speak or smile, if I move my mouth, anyway it gets pulled completely to one side.. When I drink water from a cup, it spills everywhere, and I can’t even keep my mouth closed to brush my teeth and hum~.. Certain sounds won’t come out properly, so my pronunciation slurs (because half of my lips won’t listen to me..) and because I can’t open my mouth well, speaking itself is harder.. It’s even hard to put a spoon into my mouth. I really couldn’t meet anyone at all. I thought, so this is how my life will end up fading away.. it was hopeless. I thought I’d have to live doing work from home or only jobs like that.. A life that kept getting harder and harder, even more than the first 10 days after surgery.. By the time 2 months had passed, I could at least go shopping alone. Because I only had to exchange a few simple words... and only needed to buy things.. But maybe something was wrong with my cheekbones, just touching them with skincare cream made a bone sound, and it was honestly terrifying.. Even though I was already being careful with my face and couldn’t get proper sleep because I was worrying even while sleeping, what was this.. it really drove me crazy. My expressions and movements were so slow.. The mouth pulled to one side was still the same.. When 4 months had passed, I could at least make some expressions, but even those expressions felt awkward, and my facial movements were not like before. It’s almost 5 months now, but the movements when I speak, when I smile, all of it... still hasn’t fully returned, so it feels awkward.. When I speak, my mouth is crooked and the movement is not natural. My family and friends feel sad. Because they can’t see the expressions I used to have. I still have symptoms of social anxiety, so I hesitate a lot and feel stressed about meeting friends or anyone else. You could say I almost never meet people.. To say a bit more about Thailand.. The Thai doctor did not recommend jaw and cheekbone surgery. The Korean doctor said that if I were going to do it, he would recommend only cheekbone surgery. He said we could decide about the jaw after the cheekbones were done. In Korea, they took photos and made a simulated post-surgery image in advance, and discussed the extent of the surgery with the doctor. Then they took X-rays, showed me the X-rays, and explained how they would operate, how much they would reduce it, how much should be removed so it wouldn’t be dangerous, and why. In Thailand, the doctor looked at my face, consulted with me, decided what areas would be done, and that was it. They took X-rays, prepared for surgery, waited for the operation time, took sleeping pills, and had the surgery while asleep. When I woke up, the surgery had already been done. The Thai doctor said not to do the jaw or cheekbones, and said not to do them because they wouldn’t even be noticeable anyway. Honestly, I couldn’t understand that at all. I think this is a difference in culture. In Korea, surgery is not only something you do when it will be obvious. People want it to be corrected naturally without being noticeable. That’s why even people whose concerns are not severe may want surgery. It’s a small change that other people may not notice, but for the person themselves it is a small yet big change. But everyone’s appearance is different, and so are their complexes. Of course, the degree of those concerns is different for everyone too. The purpose of plastic surgery in Thailand and Korea is already different. Even with all that communication with the doctor, the result of the surgery was honestly very difficult to deal with.. They pushed in the cheekbones too much, and there was sagging in my cheeks plus sagging under the eyes.. and they had also cut away far too much of my jaw.. But the surgery had already been done.. I tried to reduce the swelling and tried to take care of my health. I came to Korea hoping there would be no problem, but in Korea I had to suffer. Every person’s face is different. What each person wants is different too. To make that communication closer, they do photo consultations and X-ray consultations. First of all, it is true that that process was inadequate.. It may not be true that all Thai doctors are like that, but I wondered whether they were just doing surgery in a standardized way. That’s what I thought after seeing the before-and-after photos.. I wondered whether they weren’t shaving the jaw to suit the patient, or refining the jawline according to the patient’s taste, but were just cutting it to a standard angle. Across all those cultural differences, can Thai doctors really read Korean patients’ minds well? It is quite a gamble. On top of that, there is the advantage of being cheap, and the advantage of being able to stay in a good facility. The nurses are kind too, and the inpatient rooms are good. After I came back to Korea, the surgery broker never called even once. That was quite different from how they had called right away after seeing my consultation post before surgery. Even though I said online that there was a problem, that it hurt, that I was swollen, and that there was no sign that the paralysis would return, all they said in fact was, “Let’s just see.” So I never contacted them again. No matter what I said, they only said time is the medicine. Of course, plastic surgery does involve swelling, so that may be true too. But if there is pain, shouldn’t there be a different response? They never said anything that would count as an appropriate response, and they never seemed to wonder what happened, and even now they have never contacted me even once. If you have surgery in Korea, at least you can go in person and say, “There are these problems,” and you can at least hear an explanation. But when you’re worried and in pain, you end up having to go to a new hospital and become a guinea pig, and you have to repeat the whole ugly story of how the surgery was done. And then you have to endure the doctor’s surprising reaction, the curious reaction, and the worried reaction. The money keeps piling up, and the stress... To call it stress is an understatement.. it feels like I’ve lost my whole life. My mouth is a complete mess, and even going to the dentist feels embarrassing, so I hesitate to go. I also learned about someone who suffered after surgery in Thailand from this community. I saw that person post here too, and I think they also suffered a lot. I understand that they went on to have surgery again in Korea. The thought was just, “Everyone else does well, so why would I go wrong?” That’s exactly what I thought, and with my usual luck, I confidently went to Thailand and had surgery. If I could turn one thing back in my life, I would want to undo going to Thailand for surgery. I don’t have any resentment toward Thai people. I don’t think they are bad people. But I do think they have lived in Thailand for a long time, and probably don’t know much about Korean plastic surgery culture. And to those of you who are thinking about going.. I want to tell you to be very careful. Of course, there are also many quacks in Korea, and many doctors whose main goal is just to make money, but I’m not saying Thailand is a low-level country. Still, I think the gap in cultural level and sense of values is decades wide. People who have traveled there will understand. I think this is an extremely important issue. In Korea, plastic surgery is not just a matter of technique; it also occupies a very large place artistically. It is not just cutting and refining; they try to use their skill to match each person’s individuality and charm, and they consult carefully while doing so. But based on my own experience, Thailand is not like that. And aftercare checks, that is the most important thing.. What is certain is that in Thai plastic surgery, there was no aftercare. And that they are using old methods. That much is certain. Because of the bad result, I started to hate myself, and I regretted why I hadn’t loved my own appearance more from the start. I didn’t even have the confidence to post something like this, and I didn’t have the courage either.. I think everyone who has had a bad result would feel the same. But the more that happens, the more we have to talk about the hidden stories. I got by with a naturally positive and bright personality, but I still only miss the way my face used to look. I never thought I would end up like this. Please be careful.