ashly117

@zunizua
You raise some really valid concerns. My biggest fear was the photoshopping of pictures thing. I asked Tony about this, and he took time to explain that any Korean clinic would get busted by the law if they posted photoshopped pictures. Its essentially the same as how an American clinic would be under investigation if they did similar things. Also doing such a thing would ruin their public perception as Koreans can post a searchable blog through Naver and shame the clinic. Secondly, when I went into the consultation, I specifically asked for legitimate cases in their computer files and NOT the ones on the website. I wanted to see the before and afters of RECENT cases. Ask to look for a LOT of cases.

Dr Song speaks very good english. You can actually try using the email on the website to contact him directly. This was a huge factor for me because he writes back thoroughly in solid English which made me feel very comfortable. He may take a day or so to respond, so don't be shy in following up as much as you can. Versabond is the newer and improved form of Osteobond...which is what Dr Song told me. I believe Dr Jung in Item still uses Osteobond though.

I consulted with both, but I could've also gone with Item. I'm just more comfy with Jogak to be honest. Item is a much bigger cheap looking clinic as they have 3 full floors of a building. Jogak is much smaller and feels like a big modern 4 bedroom apartment with a traditional flavor to it. Nearly everyone I saw at Jogak were doing head surgeries while Item had sooo many people for various surgeries.

 

@Calikidd Hey no problem. You actually don't need a translator. Somebody posted this before but here it is again. This is the Jogak website in English.
http://eng.headsculptor.co.kr/

If you need a place to stay, I can introduce you to Tony. PM me and I can give you more info on him. Or you can read this link:
# For just an Airbnb price, you get free transportation to near by clinics and translation. Actually his Airbnb at Yeoksam-dong was like 3 blocks away from Jogak.

Let me know if I can help you any further. Try PMing me.

 

Yep! I've seen a lot of before and afters on his computer. I even made him show me recent ones and cases that looked similar to mine. I saw all different types. He said he's done over 2000 cases which is a LOT. I'm sure he's seen everything.

But there are limitations with bone cement that he'll discuss with you. I think you can stay in Korea for 4 days for this surgery and have a local doctor back at home to remove the stitches a week later, which is what I did.

Also, be patient with Dr Song and don't feel afraid to pester him with emails. He's kinda slow at responding to emails but he's very genuine. He's very technical and calm during his explanations.

 

Hi Calikidd, I understand why you may think it's scary...I watched Game of Thrones and Khaleesi's brother died with molten gold poured over his head. So I totally get the feeling lmfao.

But in reality, the surgery is PAINLESS. Probably the least painful and rapid recovery surgery I had.
From a pain scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being absolutely the worst, I'd say the pain is at 3.

1) I dressed into surgery clothes and I stayed in a really cute room with a nice heated bed.
2) Went to the surgery room
3) The had me lay down with my face down. They wrapped some towels around my head, but I had no trouble breathing as there was plenty of room.
4) The doctor trims a bit of your hair on the back. He washes your head with antiseptic liquid.
5) Doctor applies local anesthesia. You don't feel anything. He also gives you some sleeping agent. You'll start tripping a bit but its kinda fun without any nervousness. It felt like I was traveling through space. I remember I met a talking choo choo train LMAO.
6) You may feel slightly uncomfortable, but no pain.

Surgery is done in 45 minutes, but the tripping thing speeds up time. Its all over way sooner that you think. Dr Song applies a cast to your head. My Airbnb host Tony jokingly said I looked like an ISIS terrorist with it on ... ;-;
So then you're ready! If you train at the gym, you won't feel sore. I was ready to walk over hills to go for Korean BBQ. If you haven't trained at the gym you may have a sore neck. Dr Song gives you some cold/hot compresses to use. Sleeping with the cast on is no problem, but make sure you get no water on the cast.

You'll come back the next day to get the cast replaced with a new one.
You'll come back 2 days later to get it removed altogether. But your scalp will have a bit of swelling that would go away after a week.
You'll come back a week later to remove the staples in the incision site. The incision is 2 inches long. I've healed well and no one can tell.

Hope this helps!

 

Is that your profile pic? Btw, your name is awesome lmfao. I like Naruto. It was important to me during middle/high school.

 

Chase Lay is in San Jose...not San Juan. I live close by to his clinic. I had a consult with him. Seems knowledgable, but the consultant never reached back to talk about future steps. But honestly I'd go to Korea. Korea seems to have higher quality and cheaper price for Asian related surgeries.

 

Yeah I can sleep fine. Everything is fine tbh. I was really concerned if I would feel the edges around my head from the bone cement, but its all tapered really well. I cannot tell what is bone cement and what isn't.

Although this is one spot to my left that I CAN tell, but its cosmetically insignificant. Dr Song warned me of that particular area due to the limitation factor of the treatment. But aside from that, it all looks awesome. Another thing is that I had a little bit of swelling for the first week, but its completely gone and normal now. The scar is also 2 inches but barely noticeable.

I owe it to Tony for confirming to me that Jogak was a great clinic for headshaping. Jogak is more well known locally than internationally. Tony walked me through the Korean website.
More info about Tony here:
# I'm very happy that I was able to finish the procedure WITHOUT a silicone implant. This definitely also improved my side profile as well.

 

I'm glad that the review helps . It's why I wrote it. Dr Song from Jogak said my case was a severe case, but he was able to bring a massive improvement. I give my headshape an A- in terms of symmetry now when it used to be about a C.

 

I got fc on one side of my face. My right cheek was off balance but I liked my left cheek. So I got right cheek zygoma reduction.

You see the results in 1 month. But the recovery sucked. I can only imagine how hard it would've been if I had zygoma reduction on both sides of the face. You definitely need some willpower or someone to take care of you...The first week is the WORST not because of pain but because you can't eat anything or open your mouth to even talk.

But even some couple of months in, there's a little bit of soreness if you try moving your face too much in weird positions. It's been 4 months op for me now and I've fully healed

So if you survive, the results are fantastic. They definitely make a huge difference.

 

You're welcome! Yes. He does go the extra mile. Very unique guy. He's got a lot of experience and wisdom so that definitely counts for a lot.

 

@heylo, yeah Eppley is a bit off. He offers exotic surgeries like rib removal. First off, why are no other big surgeons doing this? Secondly, why is he in the backarse of nowhere aka Indiana? A big time surgeon is usually in LA area or NYC or even Miami as they are able to stand with the competition...usually.

My understanding is that Eppley will offer you whatever you want without really exposing the consequences and reality of the situation. I consider myself a smart guy, and I really thought I needed a cheek implant on my left side to balance out my right side of the face. I consulted with 5 doctors, one of them being Eppley. 4 doctors said that I wouldn't be able to achieve my goals with an implant while Eppley said he'd do whatever I want.

I then found out that what I needed was actually a zygoma on my right side to balance off the left. I went with zygoma with a Beverley Hills doctor (Dr Charles Lee) and I'm super happy with the results. Had I gone with cheek implants, I would have been screwed over. And I was so upset that Eppley didn't talk me out of doing a cheek implant like the other doctors.

I get the feeling that he's in it for the money and sweet talk consults to get the patient to commit.

 

I don't think he actively offers to do this because Incheon is pretty far away from Seoul. Not only is the commute like 2 hours as the traffic is crazy, but there are also toll fees.
I got lucky with the airport pickup because Tony happened to be near Incheon for personal reasons. I still paid him for the toll fees though which isn't too much.
He may want to charge for the pickup (which I don't blame him for...try asking him) or maybe you try KakaoTaxi.
Or maybe you could use the airport bus to land near Gangam area and have Tony pick you up for free. That's an option too.

 

Wow, you look so beautiful now. If you just compare side to side the before and after pics, you look incredible! It's amazing how powerful a chin surgery is. I couldn't imagine how it can make such a difference until I saw this journey you've detailed.

 

You guys may have seen my post on my head augmentation surgery here:

# In that review, you may have noticed that I mentioned “Tony” a lot and about how awesome he was at making my trip enjoyable and painless.

At first I’ll admit that I was terrified of going to a new country by myself for PS where very few people spoke good English. I did a lot of research on purseblog and found that I’d have to pay good money for a translator or use DocFinder to get by. This felt very unnatural and generally untrustworthy to me.

A really awesome forum member called @kkpeobee reached out and suggested I book an Airbnb with Tony. She explained that everything would be taken care of by just booking my stay with him. So, I listened to her and booked my stay with Tony. On his Airbnb profile page, I noticed that he studied in an American university! I valued his ability to look at a situation from the POV of both a Korean and an American. But most importantly, I felt VERY COMFORTABLE with him, and that’s all that matters.

He reached out via KakaoTalk and asked me about any clinics I was interested in since I wrote to him that I would be visiting Korea for PS. He said he was well connected to many doctors in Seoul through his family. He took the time and effort to schedule the clinic consultations. I found this so helpful because he calculated the distance, rush hour periods, and time and made the perfect schedule to follow with appropriate breakfast and lunch breaks in between so I didn’t starve. This guy also knew the BEST restaurants in Korea for any kind of food you liked.

Tony arranged my airport pickup knowing that I’ll be tired and confused. We met an hour before our first consult with JJHong Jin Joo and he took me to my first Korean restaurant for noodles for our breakfast. And then on, we systematically went from clinic to clinic for my consultation on the head augmentation surgery. He accompanied me, translated everything for me, related my information for me, and transported me around FOR FREE. He also bargained for the best prices and got me a price 18% below the already bargained quote. So my head augmentation was quoted to be at $6500 USD including VAT. I bargained to get it to $6100. But Tony eventually got me a price at $5300 including VAT. This is a big difference!

He also took me around to various tourist areas in Seoul such as Itewon, Coex, and Buddhist Temple and many other areas. I came alone, and so he introduced me to two other girls that were at his other Airbnb rental that came from Canada for PS. I felt super comfortable as we mingled well and went out to Gwangjang Traditional Market to eat some traditional Korean food

He took care of EVERYTHING at the cost of the Airbnb rent which is pretty affordable (62 bucks a night). I bought him lunch just so I didn’t feel like I was taking advantage of him.

A bit about him and why he’s doing this:

He’s slightly over 50 years old, but he’s got a lot of stamina and life and he's very fit. He’s got an awesome wife and 2 kids. He’s interested in making a healing house for PS patients by leveraging his rental properties. He’s got like 5 nice apartments and he’s looking to expand a bit more. He’s super wise, caring, and knowledgable. He comes from a family of doctors so he’s well connected to the Medical Industry. Also, his age gets him far in Korea as in Korean culture, the older you are the more respect you can gain.

I promised to help him out by writing this review and make him more known for other people to try out the experience with him. I know other people who have used his help and enjoyed their PS experience in Seoul too. I know I would’ve had a much harder time if I didn’t have him by my side.


His kakaoTalk id is “TonyOppa82”
His Airbnb link is here:
https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/14064617

You can hit me up on KakaoTalk at “ashl117” if you want ask me any questions.

I believe he’s going to make a KakaoGroup thread for everyone to ask questions and mingle with each other. I think that would help a lot.

Hope you guys found this helpful!


Pictures with Tony:
This was a group pic with the 2 Canadian girls and me along with Tony at Itaewon




Me with Tony during a day after Christmas at Coex




Me with Tony at the Buddhist Temple

 

Eppley is a trap. Avoid him.
https://lookism.net/Thread-Dr-Barry-Eppley-has-a-Personality-Disorder
https://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/dr-barry-eppley-indiana-c246083.html


He also got a warning from the Department of Health & Human Services
http://www.circare.org/fdawls3/eppley_20060822.pdf

There's a reason why he's strategically created multiple websites and has virtually no reviews besides possibly paid ones on RealSelf...

 

Hey guys, it's been 4 months since I started this thread. I've done the procedure at Jogak and I'm very pleased.

Please look at this thread where I've detailed about my experience
#

 

Not sure, but I think its not too hard to remove it. No need for doing crazy things like burring.

BTW, here's a helpful video posted by Jogak. This is the doctor that operated on me.


Here's another Jogak video if you understand Korean.


Funny enough, sometimes they call themselves Jawgak lol.

 

@heylo, Sorry for the late reply. I was on a plane coming back home. The incision is 2 inches! Its closed using staples. I still have it on me and I need to get it removed by a local doctor.

The exact material is Versabond. It's supposed to be the newer version of Osteobond.

The experience of the doctor is a HUGE factor. This surgery needs to be done by someone you trust. To do a revision, there would be a longer scar to remove the bone cement.

 

Aw, so sorry that you didn't enjoy your GNG consult. But it looks like you've made the right choice with Regen. Hope you recover fast! It will only get better from here.

 

I consulted with ITEM and I think they suck.

ITEM was the worst looking Plastic Surgery clinic. It looks cheap. Their rooms, before and after manuals, and bathrooms are cheap. The consultants are rude and they have a dumb payment policy where they offer you a slightly higher price than the standard and a 20% cheaper price if you pay in hard cash(you won't get VAT refund this way). They do this to avoid taxes.
Screw their games.

I'd rather submit to Banobagi for any surgery Item offers. There's no reason to go to Item for anything.

 

Thanks for all the supportive replies guys!

Remember a couple of things:
- Don't get too fooled by before and after pics you see online. Specifically request for before and after pics from the personal files that the doctors keep. Look for cases similar to yours
- JOGAK was my clinic of choice. But check out BonePS if you think you like their before and afters. You want a doctor with a good record of making noses (headshape in this case) that are aligned with your beauty standards. I'm a 100% sure there are other clinics that do this operation that I just don't know of.
- If you want a 100% perfect result, this surgery isn't for you. You may want a silicon based approach, which comes with its own pros and cons.

 

So this was a journey that I definitely need to detail because I see no surgery reviews for head augmentation. But it’s a very powerful surgery that changes your head shape and can even affect hairstyles.


A bit about me: I live in California, USA. I’m 25 and male. I’m Indian, and quarter Middle Eastern…so I’m the other kind of Asian. Unfortunately I was born with a stupid skull shape officially called occipital plagiocephaly.


September 2017 – I wanted this surgery done. So I did research online and found 3 local options.


1) Barry Eppley – He offered a free video consult, so I took it. He seemed too positive, which is not a good sign. Also, he’s got a lot of complaints online which scared me. Just look it up on Google and you’ll see entire threads with a bunch of people complaining about botched results. Also a girl called Lucille Lacovelli filled a lawsuit against him, lost, and then committed suicide. So I didn’t want anything to do with him.

2) Youssef Tahari – He offered a free video consult too. His method didn’t seem too good for me. He suggested a bicoronal approach and inserting a silicone implant. This was bad because I didn’t want a scar over my head like that and I didn’t want a massive silicone implant in the back of my head.

3) Deschamps Braly – I called to set up an appointment, but their consultants appeared very snotty. They were quoting prices at $15,000 minimum and averaging at about $22,000. WTF. Also they refused to show any before and after pics due to BS reasons like “to protect the emotional state of their patients from the public”. They said I’d have to come into the consultation, which would cost me $600.


Basically all these options were too expensive and did not have convincing before and after results or testimonials.


October 2017 – I found out about purse forum. But they also didn’t have solid reviews detailing about this procedure. But I did find out some people mentioning ITEM clinic. They claimed that they could make a 2 inch incision and use bone cement (which is a lot safer than silicone) to reshape the head like a sculpture. I did a bit more research and I had my Korean Airbnb host Tony to help me out. I’ll write a separate post on Tony and how AMAZING he was in helping me. I booked the Korea Trip from Dec 21 2017 – Jan 1st 2018

I was able to find 4 clinics that offered to do the back of the head augmentation with bone cement.


1) Dec 22 2017 – Banobagi – Not very impressed. The doctor just said he could do it and didn’t go into further details. I also remember waiting for SO long but I felt let down in the actual meeting. Also, he did not show me any before and after pics. I crossed it off my list.


2) Dec 23 2017 – ITEM – I didn’t like the clinic itself, but Dr Jung was great. I enjoyed meeting him and he speaks very good English. I was close to choosing him but ITEM quoted at 8 mil KRW when over email they said it would be 6 mil KRW. They said they can reduce it to 7 mil KRW if we paid in hard cash. I wasted a lot of time trying to get this to work because, my bank had auto protect--I couldn’t withdraw such a large amount outside of America. This pissed both me and my Airbnb host Tony who acted as my translator off. So we crossed ITEM off. Also, I noticed a Youtube comment by a girl (Aja Ly) on Item’s YT video that didn’t like her results from Dr Jung. This was a bit upsetting.


3) Dec 26 2017 - BONEPS (Doctorbone) – Here’s a link to their site. http://doctorbone.co.kr/index.php?idx=hb/7

They are a local clinic that is not exposed to the outside. I found this out via Tony. The doctors were nice, but I didn’t like the before and after results.


4) Dec 27 2017 – JOGAK – This was it! I met Dr. Song. I liked this guy, his style, and his before and after. I immediately went for surgery. I paid around 6 million KRW. This clinic is a small clinic that SPECIALIZED in head augmentation. I love specialized clinics, so I knew this was the right place.



Surgery was easy. It was under local anesthesia. It’s literally like sculpting with clay. I wore a head cast and I was able to walk about. I went for Korean barbecue right after because I was so hungry.


I hope this helps! I know quite a few people who are following me through this journey. While I don’t have super perfect results, its still greatly improved. I look and feel normal now. I feel no difference texture wise. I’m so happy.

(Note, I usually don't wear my hair so short. I keep it long. I shave it sometimes but this time I kept it shaven just so I could help the surgeon out with the best possible outcome.)

Before: (Sorry for inverting these 2 pics, but it gives you a good sense of the asymmetry)



Here are my results:

 

@Marie1000 Ok you need help!

 

Tax refund should be no problem in 2018. I confirmed it with the tax people in Seoul personally.

 

Yep, that sounds about the same I was quoted at too. I may go with Item. I enjoyed the consult with Item's Dr Chung. He's also quoting in the same range.