A post written for everyone considering breast surgery (clinic visits + thoughts on deciding on a clinic)

Hi everyone. I finally got the breast surgery I had been looking forward to and waiting for. Rather than talking about the surgery itself, I thought it would be good to share information about clinic shopping! and the things I realized on my own when choosing a clinic, so I wrote this. These are strictly my personal thoughts, and there’s no single right answer anywhere, so please read this only as reference! 1) "You don’t necessarily have to go to tons and tons of consultations" - I’m writing this because I think people usually get a bit fixated on the 'number' of clinics. Honestly, rather than how many places you visit like collecting stamps, I think it’s better to think, before you even go for consultations, about what standards you’ll use to choose clinics when narrowing down your clinic list. - Of course, the more places you visit, the more information and knowledge you’ll build, right? You’ll also develop an eye for comparison. But that’s only possible when you truly have lots of spare time and flexibility. People here like me who live far away and have jobs realistically can’t do that. I think what’s important from the start is narrowing the clinics you’ll consult with to places that seem reasonably right for your own preferences. 2) "Then what standards should you use to narrow down clinics?" - Decide on a few things you’ll prioritize most. For example, experience, places with pretty review results, lifetime aftercare, hospitalization availability, good communication, breast-specialized clinics, large clinics, and so on.... - Put up a few of those keywords and match clinics to them. For example, if you say, I’m going to get surgery from a director with over 20 years of experience! then search on Gangnam Unni or Babitalk, check the listed experience, and eliminate the places that don’t fit. If you say, I won’t go anywhere with a consultation fee! then search consultation fee in this cafe and filter out the places people say charge one. Anyway, it’s all subjective and there’s no right answer, so if you decide according to your own preferences, the list will shrink a looooot!! - Then call the organized list of clinics and make consultation reservations at the places that are available ^---^ If you don’t find a place you like there, you can go to more consultations 3) "Don’t be fooled by review discounts" - I’m not saying review discounts are bad~ It’s just my personal thought. If they say you have to post reviews for 6 months, even filming videos, on apps and Naver cafes and everywhere~~ then it just makes me wonder... were all the reviews I saw posted because of money? Would it be easy to write something negative in reviews posted under those kinds of conditions? In many cases, the hospital marketing team probably posts them. - For example, some hospitals only ask for photos… In that case, I somehow wondered if the manuscript itself is fake... like reviews written as fiction by hospital staff? You know those reviews that somehow feel familiar, like déjà vu. I wonder if they’re that kind. The places that at least ask patients to post directly seem relatively better. 4) "Don’t impulsively book on the same day" - It’s not a small amount of money, and it’s not filler or Botox. It’s surgery that puts two large masses into your body, and it’s big enough in scale to require general anesthesia, so I hope you don’t decide the whole outcome after just a one-hour consultation... If the result later isn’t good and you regret it, that regret is entirely yours. The hospital will absolutely not bear it with you...... - Go home, eat something, take time to ask third parties around you for advice, then decide after calmly and objectively judging. If you follow just this, the chance of a bad outcome will probably really go down hahaha I chose this way and ultimately had surgery at the clinic I thought was the best fit, and now I’m recovering. You know that breast surgery usually needs follow-up all the way through about 6 months, right?! It hasn’t been long since I had it, so I think it’s still too early to talk about the surgical result, like how the feel, shape, scars, and so on are… so I’ll hold off on that. I just wrote this hoping that people here who don’t have anywhere to ask for advice when choosing a clinic would read it, so think of it as clinic-shopping tips? Again, I’m not saying what I say is definitely right. You make the decision yourself, so in one sentence = make your own standards clear! I think that’s the only thing you need to remember Thanks for reading this rambling post to the end!! I hope it helps even a little..