justincc

I came in without a pre-selected coordinator. They asked me whether I wanted English or Vietnamese - so i chose Vietnamese because I was not too confident with English medical terminologies. Thank God they sent me a very nice Vietnamese girl who later became my friend - unfortunately she has resigned and moved back to Vn.

 

Best of luck to you

 

you can search for Trinh Tran from Seoul Korea. her name should come up

 

These kinda clinics have promotions all the time. I followed Misooda website which shows you promotions from big clinics / hospitals in Korea. PS prices are often inflated to allow patients to bargain and feel like they are not paying too much. Generally, you should be able to get 20% discount at the very least (with or without 3rd party agent). With a special promotion, discount rate can be 30% which is also the maximum you can get (may be another additional 5% off the discounted price if you are doing multiple procedures). A busy clinic / hospital like Banobagi, GNG or April 31 wouldn't budge even if you try a 'walking-away' trick - feel free to contest on this .

At the end of the day, I still feel like I overpaid for my surgery being an overseas patient. But if the results comes out as you wish, that extra payment becomes too small to consider. Conversely, you wouldn't care about the savings you have made if the result is not what you expect right?

And FIY, I'm not promoting anything

 

Hi Vee, you were the decisive factor that made me put down the deposit for Banobagi, so thank you for your referral. I'm glad that we are both happy with our results (thank God !!!)

 

Not sure about you guys, but for me, I believe I would be indecisive and doubtful regardless of how long I'm with the surgeon. In my opinion, no matter how much explanation is given, the final result remains an unknown factor. So for me (ONLY), it works out in my favor having a short consultation. Also, worth knowing that sometimes surgery goes over the expected time frame causing the following consultation to be shorter than planned. Like my case, the initial surgery duration was 3-4 hours but it took 5 hours in total due to complication.

 

I agree with you. I admit that I did walk out of the Dr's room feeling nervous, undecided and worried. I constantly had a feeling of remorse and kept thinking whether I'm making the right decision or not. How do I say this, it's more like I was procrastinating but ended up going with the flow hoping things will be ok. Luckily it turns out to be ok...

 

To be honest, I felt the hurry-up attitude more from the doctor (not just Dr Lee but also another doctor who my partner consulted for liposuction) - however, I believe that was a sign that they are actually busy and have a very tight schedule. In my case, I could spend however long I want with my consultant, Ahreum and asked as many questions as I want. My translator, Trinh, was also very patient with me too. I guess the result was most important because it doesn't matter how good the services are, if the result is bad, the whole thing will collapse.

 

Hi y'all,

I’ve been contemplating having a rhinoplasty for a long time (since 2016) and have been reading numerous threads in this forum over the last 12 months. Finally, I pulled the trigger and had my surgery on 16/10 at Banobagi Plastic Surgery. I thought this review will help other people in the future when making the decision. Please pardon me for my English which I’m not really good at, particularly with medical terminologies.

Background:

I’m a male Asian (Vietnamese) with a typical bulbous, short and upturned nose, resulting a very flat face. Before going into Banobagi, I’ve shortlisted the following hospitals / clinics:

1. April 31: this is the first place I considered with Dr Kim initially because of a thread in my language that someone had the surgery there and was very happy. I then read on to a number of threads on this forum and the general comments are Dr Kim is very skilful, but his talent comes with a high price tag. I consulted with the main sale person, his name is Brian I believe and was told the price for my case is around $8m+, depending on what I want to do.

2. GNG: 2nd place I considered and almost placed a deposit. Until 2 recent threads came out from the woodwork claiming how awful GNG’s services and results were. I did like the idea of having ENT surgeons though + GNG’s reasonable prices though.

3. Dream: Dr Park was highly regarded by 0firefly and KCouture so I decided to consult with this clinic. However, Dr Park only does closed method and my nose requires an opened method. Since I specifically wanted Dr Park, I decided to remove this clinic from my list.

4. Banobagi: this is the last option in my shortlist and is also the place I decided to go to. They had a promotion back in July (30% off), making their prices quite reasonable. I ended up paying KRW 5.4m.

Although I had an option to consult the above clinics in person, I decided to place a deposit with Banobagi (because of their promotion). This is because I feel that the more I consult, the more confused and scared I’ll be, and it will be more difficult for me to make the decision. I also did consider using a third party agent, like DocFinder Korea and Medical Korea Service (with Daphne, an ex-consultant at Dream clinic), but I thought it gotta be cheaper going direct where the clinic can pass on the commissions paid to the agent.

Before Surgery:

I placed a KRW 300,000 deposit and booked for a 12 day holiday in Seoul. I didn’t stay in Gangnam or the nearby area. Instead, we stayed at Hilton Hotel near Myeongdong because my partner works for Hilton and we can get discounted rate ($66 USD per night). The downside is that I had to travel 40 mins each time I visit the hospital – although I didn’t think it was a bad idea because it kinda forced me to get up and move around.

I booked my consultations and check-ups on Monday 15/10 and surgery with the main surgeon, Dr Lee Hyun Taek, on 16/10. Initially, my case was dealt by Banobagi’s English team. However, because my partner was having some facial skin treatments with their dermatology and was managed by a Vietnamese team, there was a clash in the timetable between the two teams. Hence, I ended up having everything managed by the Vietnamese team to simplify things.


When I visited the hospital, it wasn’t super busy at the reception area. After around 15 mins wait, I met my translator, a pretty girl named Trinh and was taken to a room in level 2 to meet a consultant, named Kim Aerum, very slim and pretty Korean girl. She asked me about what I want to achieve, what she thinks I should do and my translator did a good job in helping us communicating well. She also told me not to be surprised if Dr Lee recommended Botox for my recessed chin, and told me I don’t have to go ahead if I don’t want to.

After locking in things that we want to do, I was taken into another room where I sat and wait for Dr Lee to come in. He looked at my file, pictures and after few touches on my nose, he said this is a relatively difficult case because my nose is extremely short. I also asked if he can fix my sinus issue because I often find it hard to breath occasionally. He said he can cut some of the meat on the internal sidewalls, but it will cause severe bleeding for 2 weeks. I accepted it and went home.

Surgery Day:

I was told to not eat or drink anything in the morning and after final check-ups, I was taken into Dr Lee room one more time to go through the final details before the surgery. I was then taken to the surgery room where I was sedated and last thing I knew was my translator’s voice to tell me to relax and sleep.

The initial plan was to put me into general anaesthesia but because they checked my heart rate and identified some abnormal issue, they decided to have local anaesthesia. As a result, I woke up around 30 mins before Dr Lee finished his work. I was scared as hell but didn’t let them know to avoid any complications.

The surgery went for around 5 hours in total, as I said, it was a difficult case. I was taken to a recovery room where I laid down for around 1 hour and was told to go home.

The translator gave me a box of pumpkin juice, some masks, ice packs etc. after taking my partner to the nearest pharmacy to pick up my medicines.

After Surgery:
I was told to come back to the clinic the very next day to remove the stuffing inside my nose. I did bleed a lot as expected but no significant bruises on my face which surprised me and partner.

Normally each patient will be given one or two deswelling facial treatments, but thanks to my translator who is so kind to offer me 5 smartlux laser treatments + 1 additional comslaser treatment on top. The treatments were done every second day, so I had to stay around Seoul for the whole trip. This has tremendously helped me in the deswelling process. The end result is that I went back to work after 2 weeks with no swelling / bruises whatsoever. Even my boss, who’s been seeing and sitting next to me in the last 3 years couldn’t tell any difference.

I did have my external stiches on day 6 and internal stiches on day 10, met Dr Lee on the last day before flying home. Although the nose is still upturned now, this is what I was told before the surgery – it will slowly come down slightly and the final angle will be ‘ideal’ 95 degrees (fingers crossed).

What I like about Banobagi:
- I’m extremely happy with the result and the price. Even if I was to do it in Vietnam, the cost will be quite similar and I’m sure the result will be no where near as good. Although the result is quite natural and not dramatic, this is what I expected and discussed with Dr Lee before the surgery.

- Good location with many good restaurants nearby.

- Love my translator, who ended up turning into a social friend. We hung out almost every second day for dinner and thanks to her, I was able to try many good local restaurants that I wouldn’t have been able to try because these are not featured on tripadvisor or other websites.

- My consultant, Aerum, is such a nice lady. Although very busy, she always tried to squeeze herself into each occasion I was at the hospital, including when I remove my stiches and before I flew home.

What I don’t like about Banobagi:

- The nurses who provided the deswelling treatments and who removed my stiches where kinda rough and not so genuinely care about the patient. I’m not saying they lack any of the due diligence, I just feel that they are not so gentle – possibly because of the repetitive tasks.

- Staff, other than those from the English team, don’t speak English very well, which makes communication an issue. Although, my translator was always there to assist if needed.

I’m not affiliated with the hospital in anyway, and not paid to write this review. This is purely based on my experience. Let me know if you have any questions and I’m happy to share any information I have.

 

Hi Vee, How do you find Banobagi's service. I assume Dr Lee is your surgeon? I'm having mine done in 3 week's time - kinda nervous now.

 

I'll be there between 21/10 and 2/11

 

Add me please. My Kakao ID: justin295

 

Im going in for a rhino this October and would love to compile a list of questions for me to bring along.

Any help is appreciated !

 

I just tried to contact DFK but have not got any reply. given the promotion with Banobagi expires on 31/7, I think I'm just gonna bite the bullet and pay the deposit.

I'm going through another agent call Medical Korea Service - which is run by an ex-consultant from Dream Clinic. Her name is Daphne - she has been complemented quite a number of times throughout the years. Fingers crossed everything will be ok.

I'm super nervous for my surgery in October

 

I think just like everything in life, there's certain level of risk involved. When was the last time you see a clinic / hospital that has 100% success rate ? Also, 'successful' is a subjective terms which can only be defined by the individual.

 

So glad you're happy with the result, can't wait to see more updates and your B&A photos

 

To those who have done rhinoplasty at April31, how did you like the result after a year ?

 

I reckon if you’re already keen to share the experience, may as well share what happened that make you change your mind 180 degree. It can save lifes you know.

I myself about to go with April31, with much of the decision inspired by your post. Please let us know.

 

Hi spark3891,

Congrats on your positive experience, i’m glad you are happy with the result.

Do you mind sharing your list of questions? I think it would greatly help me to communicate with the doctor.

I’m currently talking to Brian to organise a time in September this year. I know it’s so far away but better be prepared right.