rapid

Oh yes taking out the tubes in the morning was terrible! The same thing happens again with removing the stitches but the pain disappears very quickly and the swelling goes down quicker once they're out

I thought their post op care was great too, I read many after surgery experiences that were a nightmare and was very scared of facing the same thing but thankfully that wasn't the case at all. They were also nice when I asked them to email me my x-rays after I went back home.

To help with the swelling I focused on eating pumpkin porridge, the instant type that is sold in every convenience store, I was also drinking orange juice and soy milk and walked about 1 to 2 hours daily which really helped. They asked me to avoid salty and spicy food and I was told no coffee the first couple of days but I couldn't resist and drank some by the 2nd or 3rd day.

Are you having difficulty eating?

 

Hi Rlsm! So glad you already had your surgery done and I'm happy that your experience at banobagi was a positive one, did you stay overnight at the hospital? How many days has it been since your surgery? Have a speedy recovery and I look forward for more updates from you!

As for my update, I am starting to see more of my result and I like how the jawline is smooth and natural, it created more balance to my face and enhanced my other features. There's still a little swelling under my left jaw and it's more obvious in the morning for some reason but other than that I can barely see anything.

 

LOL That was so informative Shiny! I went to a pharmacy and the guy over there recommended 500mg pills. Would it be fine to start taking 4 pills separately each day (total of 2g) and then go for something stronger or would that be too slow and not very effective?

It depends really, DARPS for instance was small but it had an office vibe to it. Also some smaller clinics tend to have their check ups done at another hospital and I preferred a place that had everything in one place which doesn't necessarily mean one is better than the other, it's just a personal preference.

That's what I wanted too, Banobagi is large but it was their focus and patience that appealed to me the most.

Hi rlsm, yes that's correct and welcome to the forum

I must also note that I may have lucked out with a good consultant, I doubt all their consultants would handle patients the same exact way. Also the same goes to their doctors cause I've only met Dr. O and have no idea if the rest are as nice or as patient as he was. This is why I highly encourage others to please share your experiences too, I don't think it's fair to actively post before your surgery and then completely disappear.

 

Thanks Phreakcodex!

At the end of my consultation day I asked whether TLPS had similar facilities to Banobagi and how experienced their doctor is and I was told that it was a smaller clinic and fairly new so I felt there was no need for me to look further

 

Oh God I hope just the ache! LOL

I'll pick up vitamin C pills tomorrow and hopefully that'll help speed it up a little

I'm pretty sure a translator's commission was included and I didn't bargain much to be honest except that it was around 13 and they reduced it down to 12, everyone else has given me quotes higher than 14 for similar or fewer procedures (Wonjin went as high as 17M without a commission!) so in comparison this seemed reasonable to me, here's what was included:

- Jaw bone + muscle reduction
- Narrowing the chin and reducing the lower side
- Partial buccal fat pad removal
- Laser lipo / Acculift
- PRP treatment

I must say PRP treatment have done nothing for me. I didn't have skin issues aside from two small scars and they told me my skin was very good to begin with but I asked for it thinking it'll improve things however there's been no changes that I can see and the two scars remained exactly the same.

 

Hi plasticsecret!

LOL Someone mentioned 3 dimensional to me too and it confused me at first but I later understood that it means contouring the face from all 3 dimensions I think. Anyhow I shared my entire experience here. I had a soft tissue problem where I looked like I had something stuck on one side of my mouth and that entire cheek also appeared larger and fuller than the left.

The protrusion on the side of my mouth was the buccal fat pad and the doctor mentioned that it was the lower side of it, full excision may cause an undesirable gaunt appearance so they only had it partially removed. As of today, that area looks normal and the bump has disappeared completely, there's nothing protruding anymore but it's important to note that I still have some swelling left and things may look different later.

The laser lipo or acculift was used to remove excess fat from the larger side and that decreased it quite a bit, it's now almost the same size as my left side. They also used it around my jawline and I love what I'm seeing but again, I'm still swollen so this may not be the case later which is why I'll continue to update as things progress.

I hope that helps and if there's anything else I'd be happy to answer your questions.

 

Thank you so much K!

It was rounded down to 12000000 krw which included everything including my deswelling massages, I paid in US dollars and the consultant came back to me after my surgery with extra change, apparently the dollar value was lower by then which was very kind of them I thought. Zoe charged $150.

As for the swelling, wow @ 8 months! I notice improvements everyday but I really wish the area under my chin subsides sooner, it gives me a small double chin that is oddly more visible on one side and looks a little weird lol Anyway, I'll definitely make sure I focus on vitamin C a bit more though, thanks again!

LOL Thanks for the tip shiny glittery!

I'll definitely update on my progress occasionally cause I notice differences even within the same day, for instance since my surgery one side of my chin was larger but this morning it finally looked normal again!

Thank you Desiree and of course, Zoe's email address is clinickorea(at)gmail.com

If you don't mind please do share how it goes for you too, would love to know more

That's great! Are you going there for facial contouring too? Let us know and best of luck Travelbug!!

 

That really is a tough decision and I wish I could chime in with useful information but is there anyway to tell if the muscle is strong enough to place the implant under it before having the surgery?

 

I believe what shiny glittery meant is that acculift only removes fat and has no affect on bone structure.

 

I totally agree about not trusting the media, when I decided on Korea I originally picked Wonjin because of a CNN report but after doing more research I discovered that would've been a mistake. In my opinion nothing beats reading feedback by real members even if it's conflicting and confusing at times, I go as far as checking their profiles and past posts to see whether they're legit or not because it isn't that hard to tell when it's a promoter. Some members are also young teens with unrealistic expectations so that needs to be kept in mind when reading these reviews too.

I was obsessed with the Best PS Clinics thread and what many shared in there including your posts ShinyGlittery helped clarify things a lot and reading everyone's opinion made my decision easier. In fact when I arrived there I felt like I've already been to Korea and have visited those clinics before thanks to reading so much about them over here, that kept me at ease throughout the whole process as there were no surprises and I knew exactly what to expect.

I did panic at times whenever I thought of the risks involved and reading some of the horrifying stories didn't help either but in the end I'm happy so far that I've done it - I may change my mind later once the swelling goes down and discover something I may not like but for the time being there are no regrets. It's also interesting to note that I went there almost certain that I'll pick DARPS but instead ended up with a different surgeon, being in a clinic with other patients and meeting each doctor personally can completely change your final decision.

 

This is a very long writeup, I wanted to share as much details as I can recall simply because this was the type of info I looked for during my research and I hope my experience will help others.

I shared my issues when I signed up and you can read my first post here so there's no need for me to discuss what I wasn't happy with again.

To solve my problem I wanted to have jaw reduction, acculift, and PRP treatment. Thanks to the wealth of info and feedback on this forum I was able to learn so much about the many clinics I considered and have narrowed my choices down to four: TLPS, Regen, DARPS, and Banobagi. I went with these clinics because they had the best before and afters when it comes to men and seemed to have the most natural results and least amount of negative feedback.

I also decided to hire a translator as I was traveling alone, not only to translate but also to help me book my appointments and to have someone there with me while taking these risky decisions and I must say I am eternally grateful for Zoe because she turned out to be one of the nicest and most caring people I have ever met which I'll elaborate on later.

So I booked my hotel through booking.com, bought my flight tickets, and Zoe arranged a cab to pick me up and help me rent a phone at the airport. I arrived and found the taxi driver waiting for me, he carried my luggage and within an hour and a half I was all set and already in my hotel room. As a vegetarian I had concerns with finding food but thankfully there was no trouble at all, vegetarian porridge is available everywhere and there was a super market and a 24hr convenience store right next to the hotel.

Zoe booked all my appointments and picked me up from the hotel, I brought with me my own photo rendering showing the before and the exact outcome I wanted and we visited 3 clinics in one day. Later that evening I decided to cancel my fourth appointment with TLPS after learning that it was a fairly new clinic and not as experienced as Regen and Banobagi.

All three doctors mentioned that my asymmetry problem can only be completely fixed by performing a 2-jaw surgery because my x-rays clearly showed that my jawbone was tilted, but at the same time they all felt that my case wasn't severe enough and not that visible to justify going through such a painful procedure. Here's my experience with each:

DARPS: Clinic was calm and a little empty compared to the others, the consultant was very kind and complimentary which I thought was sweet, she suggested shortening my chin but then the doctor suggested the opposite which I found confusing. The doctor was very nice, he understood my problem and suggested jaw reduction and reducing the soft tissue on one side to improve the symmetry. They had no PRP treatment and I felt the price was a little high.

Regen: This hospital was huge compared to DARPS and very busy, the waiting room seemed more like a hotel lounge than a clinic and looking around I noticed the majority had dramatic and very obvious work done which set me off a little cause I'm looking for more natural and subtle results. The consultant was fixated on wanting me to have 2-jaw surgery as she felt I also need to fix my slight mouth protrusion which I never really noticed. The doctor meeting was disappointing, he didn't acknowledge my soft tissue problem and when I pointed it out he dismissed it but instead kept focusing on my chin and wanted me to have an implant to bring it forward which took me by surprise and when I told him that I quite like my chin he disregarded what I said and continued to convince me that I needed to have it done. Later on the consultant gave us the price which was a little high and she was a bit pushy but I already knew by then that this wasn't the right place for me.

Banobagi: This really looked and felt like a serious hospital, it was also the busiest with mostly local and Chinese patients. We were greeted by an extremely nice consultant that spoke perfect English and one of the first things I was pleased with was the fact that she was the only consultant that have taken my rendered photo to show it to the doctor before meeting him! The waiting room was extremely busy so we had to wait some time, Zoe told me that it was the beginning of spring break which is why plenty of younger patients were in there.

We were then taken to see Dr. O and out of all three doctors he greeted us the most and was the warmest and most welcoming by far. I was extremely impressed that not only was he interested in listening to all my concerns but he also went on to explain everything in detail very slowly. He completely understood what my issues were and did not suggest anything aside from what I felt was necessary, he also addressed my soft tissue problem and explained perfectly how he plans to fix it by using laser lipo and partial buccal fat pad removal to give me the results I wanted. After all of this he still wanted to know if I had any other concerns or questions and did not rush me at all even though there are still countless of other patients waiting outside!

The consultant then gave us the price and surprisingly it was the lowest compared to the other clinics I visited even though it included more procedures, it was even lower than the prices I was quoted via email by other clinics. She was also the only consultant that asked me to take as much time as I wanted to decide and to call back anytime if I'm still interested whereas all the others gave us a deadline before leaving their office. Later that evening I informed Zoe that Dr. O was my choice and a few days later I was back there for my pre-op checkup and to see the doctor once more.

I was very happy that the doctor still remembered what I wanted when we met again and he assured me that he'll follow my rendered photo as close as possible and indeed when I entered the surgery room the day after I saw my print hung in there! I met the anaesthesiologist and all I remember is the consultant waking me up from my surgery immediately after and she stayed by my side the whole time. I was then moved to my room where Zoe came in and remained by my side till I fell asleep, I stayed the night and both the consultant and nurses were checking on me constantly.

Surprisingly my jaw and mouth did not hurt and even my swelling wasn't as bad as what I've seen online but my throat irritation from the gas pipeline was absolute torture, I could hardly swallow anything and it took a few days for it to recover. Zoe picked up my meds, I was given pills to take 3 times a day, ice packs, and a gargle to use every 2 hours and after each meal. I drank a lot of soy milk the first day and was able to eat porridge the day after. The doctor came to visit before I left and he told me how happy he was with the success of the surgery and that everything went perfectly.

My swelling started to subside by day 4, by 2 weeks it was mainly hanging under my chin and now 4 weeks later I still have some left on my left side but none of my co-workers or friends have noticed that I've had anything done at all and they've been seeing me for a week.

I had my final check up around 2 weeks after surgery where my stitches were removed (painful but quick) and also had new x-rays taken, the doctor was very impressed and showed me a comparison of my old and new x-rays which was incredible, I was floored at how natural and clean the new jaw line looked and how much it resembled the shape drawn in the rendered photo I've given them.

My face still isn't symmetrical of course as that would require 2-jaw surgery but that said both sides of my face are much closer in size now and my jaw line is no longer heavy and that is a huge improvement. The doctor repeatedly mentioned that it takes at least 3 months to see the final result therefore it's still a little early to tell and I'll update this thread again with more feedback as things become clearer.

If there are any questions I'd be happy to answer them and last but not least I must thank Zoe for the amazing service she provides, commission or not I still managed to pay less than what other clinics have quoted me online and in my opinion her help and support is truly priceless. Not only did she do the things I already mentioned but she also called regularly to check on me, took me out for shopping and meals, and remained in touch to this day even though I left Korea over a week ago so I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a reliable translator.

Thanks a lot everyone for all the information and advice I have received from many of the members here, I truly appreciate it and I can't thank you enough!

 

Hi, I had it done at Banobagi with Dr. O. He's a wonderful doctor and I'll write a detailed review once my results are more obvious

Hi Snooker!

The total cost was $12000. I have an appointment soon to remove my stitches and will be getting the clinic's post op swelling care which includes a massage and UV heat treatment. I still have some swelling left so I'll let you know if there's any significant change after I'm done.

Would love to know more about the type of procedure you had if you don't mind, was it a thread lift?

 

Our conversation had major influence on my decision and I thank you for that, I researched acculift quite a bit before deciding on it and have read the concerns and questions brought up at realself.com so I knew what to expect and still wanted it done cause I needed to reduce the volume of the lower area and this seemed like the perfect solution.

I chose Banobagi and had mandible reduction (including the masseter muscle), acculift, PRP, and partial buccal lipectomy where only the lower part of the buccal fat pad was reduced, the doctor was against removing it entirely.

So far swelling have gone down considerably and it's only been 5 days, there's little to no swelling around the mouth area and whatever's left is mainly located underneath my chin and around the back sides of my jaw. No sagging yet, still a little early to tell but I'll keep you posted

 

My doctor made it very clear that this procedure was not a lift as well and he called it laser lipo or something along those lines, after analysing my x-rays and my skin he found that my concerns were mainly a soft tissue problem and lifting the skin was not necessary at this point although he mentioned that the laser's heat does help promote collagen production which improves the skin's elasticity but of course there won't be any drastic changes as one would expect from a traditional facelift.

They had to make small incisions on each side near my ears which I was worried about but thankfully after removing the bandages yesterday I could hardly find them so that was a big relief!

 

Just had it done along with my mandible reduction and PRP. I needed it to reduce some of the soft tissue on one side of my face so I'll let you know of the results once the swelling subsides.

 

I totally agree with you!

 

I visited a few clinics and so far felt most comfortable with Dr. O from Banobagi, he had a suitable plan and appeared to be the most experienced, most importantly he didn't suggest things I didn't need the way others have done which I felt was a big plus and listened very well to what I wanted.

My biggest concern was droopiness and sagging but he explained that this won't be an issue because my upper cheeks are hollow and the work will be limited to the mandible area (shaving the sides and muscle reduction).

Will update later as things progress.

 

I've actually tried botox twice over a period of 8 months and there was definite improvement but the main problem remained the same in my case, that's what got me to see other surgeons where I've had x-rays done and was told the lower edge was bone and the puffy side of my cheek was mostly soft tissue which is why I was fixated on buccal fat pad removal but I'm happy to know that acculift would be a better alternative.

My jaws have a heavy appearance and are set low which increases my cheek area and makes the head appear larger. I believe reducing them would improve my profile at least and I definitely want to retain an angle to them instead of having a straight line that extends from my chin to the ears as that wouldn't suit me. I have photo simulations showing the exact result I'm after to help clarify what I want during consultations, I'd send them to you if the PM option was enabled but sadly it still isn't!

Also thank you so much for bringing up the 3d scan, I'll make sure I request that when I'm there although would it be safe getting a new scan done with each consultation? I'm visiting 4 clinics in a span of two days so I'd love to know and thanks again K Couture!

 

Wow that is really great to know MyDeepestSecret! I'm very happy your procedures went so well and your nose looks really beautiful, I wouldn't suspect you had it done at all if you haven't mentioned it!

And glad to know the acculift has made a noticeable difference, I've decided to go for it cause I also have a similar problem so thanks a lot for sharing your experience

 

K Couture, I can't thank you enough for shedding more light on some of the risks and adverse effects that may come with the procedures I was considering, I had my mind 100% set on getting the buccal fat removal because I had a larger right cheek but now I'm starting to see why it may not be a good idea after all, despite the large cheek I actually look a little gaunt in other areas of my face and I believe that will only get worse if I had it removed.

The cheekbone issue I was very wary of due to some of the bad results I've seen and I do not have large protruding cheeks, even when feeling the bone I notice that the roundness is a result of the fat and muscle below rather than the bone itself and I wonder if there's a way to slim down the width a little without having to go through that procedure as I expect the face will appear wider after having the jaws slimmed down.

Anyhow, after your advise and mwol's information I'm currently looking into the following:
- Jaw/chin reduction
- Acculift & V-lift
- PRP treatment

I hope that would be efficient enough to give a satisfactory result, I don't expect things to be perfect but hope to at least be comfortable enough to stand in front of a camera since my problem is mostly evident in front-view shots.

As for ID, I was seriously considering them after watching their videos on youtube especially that they showed the transformation of two of their male patients and I thought the results were incredible but reading the horror stories of switching surgeons during surgery was enough for me to scratch them off my list - I have now replaced their consultation with DAPRS and TL PS.

I look forward to reading your thread K Couture and I truly appreciate that you gave your time to explain everything thoroughly, this has been very helpful so thank you again

 

K couture, thanks for sharing your experience and I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this, I can just imagine how distressing that must have been like. I have an obvious asymmetry problem myself that I plan on getting fixed and have written about it in my first post here:

# I've seen quite a few results where asymmetry issues were fixed or at least improved, was your cheekbone surgery done with ID? Would appreciate more details on this if you don't mind.

 

Hi Niyang! I've seen many getting all those surgeries in one sitting especially the zygoma/v-line/rhino combination so I don't think you should be worried about that but it's best to get more than one surgeon involved as I've read some try to avoid having one surgeon perform all their procedures.

I've never seen that Ms. Bennet page before, it has good general info some of which was brought up here although considering that it's promotional I'd take some of their claims with a grain of salt.

I'm following your updates and wish you the best of luck Bkzabii!

mwol mentioned that she has a friend who's done PS at Belita so she might be able to help

I'd love to read your process and I'm pretty much doing the same thing, will be staying there for about a month and hopefully it'll pass by smoothly for both of us!

 

I switched some of my clinic choices thanks to the detailed feedback and photos you provided so "helpful" would be an understatement to be honest!

V-lift sounds like the type of thing I want with my surgery to make sure no sagging or jowls appear. And I haven't seen that result from small face, I stand corrected as that is indeed a huge difference! I also researched prp treatment last night and saw some before and afters, loved the outcome so I plan to ask for it when I'm there.

As for the cheekbones you're right, side view is fine but from the front view my face appears wide which is why I prefer taking pictures from the side. I'll bring it up during my consultations and see what they'll have to say.

Thank you so much mwol and I look forward to know more about banobagi whenever you get a chance, hopefully the pm gets enabled soon

 

I was starting to feel very overwhelmed by my surgery decisions earlier today but your post uplifted my mood and reassured me that I'm doing the right thing so thanks for sharing your inspiring story and congratulations on achieving all of this!

Would love to know your thoughts on the acculift procedure and if it had any tightening affect? I read that it only burns fat and doesn't do much lifting so I'm curious to know more if you don't mind

 

Please let me know about banobagi, I've only read people recommending them and was super impressed by their before and afters so it would be very helpful to know any negatives as well .

Small face has really nice results too but less dramatic with the men I think at least compared to the other clinics where the face contouring is more drastic.

I absolutely love the result at TLPS, I would never suspect he's had anything done if I never seen his before!

I actually want to have my cheekbone reduced too for a more balanced appearance but I'm scared of it. I definitely don't need to have the front side altered because I have no problem there, do you think reducing the sides only would still possibly cause drooping?

I will be asking for lifting procedures for the lower face cause as I mentioned earlier, after loosing more weight I noticed a tad bit of sagging under the chin which is only visible from the side when looking down and I'm 100% sure this will become more obvious after my procedures so I want to take care of it at once. I'm also tempted to get the prp treatment now that you mention its benefits.

So far my choices are set with TLPS, DAPRS, Banobagi, and Regen.

Thank you so much mwol for all the details and info, your posts were super helpful and I really appreciate them, hope the pm option will be enabled soon