Rhinoplasty and DES Experience with Wannabe

[kayxcee]

Hi everyone, I’m currently a little over three weeks post-op and I wanted to share my experience to give back to the community. My main focus for this trip was to correct my bulbous nose. I’ve always been paranoid about how big and round my nose looks when I smile. At the same thing, I wanted the healing process to be as short as possible and for the procedures to be as minimally invasive as possible, therefore, I was only considering bridge and tip correction. I had no intentions of doing alarplasty. My secondary concern was the unevenness of my eyes. One eye was monolid and the other was double eyelid.

Once I had a shortlist of clinics, I booked my flight to Korea. This was approximately half a year in advance, but I did not book the in-person consultations until one month prior to the consultation date as I was still flip-flopping between different clinics and my list was constantly changing. I went to Korea with my mom and we stayed at an Airbnb in Gangnam, which I would highly recommend as we had the ability to cook and eat in when I was too tired to go out for food. It was also much more affordable to stay in an Airbnb. The Apujeong and Sinsa area is probably where it is the most convenient if you are going to Seoul specifically for plastic surgery. Also, when you are traveling from the airport, it’s convenient to take either the airport express or the airport limousine buses. If you have large suitcases, I would recommend taking the limousine bus. It is pricier than the airport express but it was very comfy and you do not need to transfer, as you would on the airport express to go to Gangnam. The bus also drops off at large hotels, so it may be convenient to choose to stay at those hotels or pick an Airbnb located near those hotels.

I did most of my research by reading others’ reviews on purseblog and also familiarizing myself with the procedures. Things that I researched include the types of implants (autologous, silicone, forested), types of anesthesia (local vs. general), method (closed vs. open rhinoplasty and non-incisional vs. incisional eye surgery), recovery time, and risks and complications. Additionally, I made sure the shortlist of clinics/doctors I had for in-person consultations met my criteria (price, board certification, in-house anesthesiologist, aesthetic). I also joined different ps kakao groups which were really helpful. Throughout this process, I realized how easy it is to choose a clinic just based on their before and afters and others’ reviews, but you really need to do your own research to ensure your own safety and to make sure the doctors are qualified.

 

[kayxcee]

Part II

Consultations

View: I’m going to be honest here and say that I didn’t have the best experience at View. My consultation was booked for 9:30am and I found it strange how it was booked for before the opening time of the hospital is 10am. When my mom and I got there, the main doors were locked, as a result, we got in through the side door. Maybe it was from the lack of sleep or nerves, we ended up going straight to the international consultation floor instead of the lobby to check in. When we got to that floor, I told the receptionist I was here for a consultation and she just kept shaking her head and walked away. She was incredibly rude and just pointed to the elevator. My mom and I were going to leave the hospital because of how rude she was and when we got into the elevator we saw a sign that said to check in at the lobby, which was previously covered by another lady when we were going up to the international consultation floor. After checking in at the lobby, they brought us to another floor where I filled out some forms and ushered us into the consultation room. Before even talking to the consultant, Dr. Jeong Cheol and the English consultation came in in a rush and asked me what procedures I wanted to do. The part with the doctor lasted no longer than 15 min and felt very impersonal and rushed. Dr. Jeong recommended non-incisional with ptosis correction for my eyes and bridge and tiplasty for my nose. Although the price they gave me was very fair for the procedures that I wanted to do and they have an amazing facility with 14 years of no accidents, I did not have a good gut feeling about it due to my negative consultation experience.

Wannabe: I ended up late to my appointment but Alexa, the English consultation, was incredibly nice about it and she was already at the desk waiting for me when we arrived. After filling out the forms and doing a CT scan, I discussed with Alexa what my concerns were. During my online consultation, she recommended epicanthoplasty, along with non-incisional eyelid surgery and ptosis correction. But after seeing me in person, she said that she doesn’t think epi is necessary as the distance between my eyes is fine. She said that the eye with the double eyelid looks like Korea actress eyes and that I only needed a little bit of enhancement (non-incisional and ptosis). This was reassuring as it did not seem like she was recommending unnecessary procedures just to upsell. Similarly, Dr. Cha gave off a very kind and gentle vibe. He showed us the CT scan and drew on the scan to show how much he can lift the tip and bridge of my nose. He also noticed that the unevenness of my eyes was due to the lack of fat in my left eye. As a result, he recommended a nano fat graft for my upper eyelids along with non-incisional and ptosis correction. For my nose, Dr. Cha recommended tiplasty using ear and septal cartilage and silicone for the bridge. Overall, I had a great impression of the clinic staff and the doctor. The price was also in line with my budget and I really appreciated how they were the only one to take a CT scan and they took the time to answer all of my questions.

Uvom: this clinic was a very close second as I really liked the results on their blog and website. The English consultant, Jay, was very friendly. She helped me translate the form that I was supposed to fill out and kept us company while we were waiting for the doctor. I met with Dr. Lee for nose and Dr. Kang for eyes. Both of the doctors were incredibly friendly and I felt reassured as both are specialists in their field. I’ve spoken to several of their patients that I’ve met through the Kakao groups, so I felt very confident about their care and their work. Dr. Lee recommended augmenting the bridge of my nose with Goretex and the tip with septal cartilage and another dissolvable foreign material, which I can’t remember the name of but he said it’s mesh and similar to dissolvable stitches. Dr. Kang recommended non-incisional ptosis correction. However, I decided against them as I did not feel confident about Goretex implants since it’s harder to remove for revisions and they use general anesthesia for both des and rhinoplasty, which I was not comfortable with. Also, their price was much higher than the prior two clinics.

Ultimately, I chose to go with Wannabe. What stood out to me about my consultation experience here, is that both Dr. Cha and Alexa focused on how this would be an enhancement and I would not come out looking like a completely different person. I really liked their philosophy of less is more and keeping the aesthetics as natural as possible. I felt very confident in Dr. Cha’s ability as he was the only one to point out why my eyes were uneven and he noticed that symmetry would be nearly impossible without the fat graft. I explained to Alexa and Dr. Cha what I did not want for my nose (pinched and upturned) and they both were very adamant that would not happen. An added bonus that I considered was that their post-operative care includes deswelling laser treatments and hair wash.

 

[bagel928]

That's so great to hear! I am also booking my DES and Tip plasty with them for November. Good luck with everything!

kayxcee said: ↑

Part II

Consultations

View: I’m going to be honest here and say that I didn’t have the best experience at View. My consultation was booked for 9:30am and I found it strange how it was booked for before the opening time of the hospital is 10am. When my mom and I got there, the main doors were locked, as a result, we got in through the side door. Maybe it was from the lack of sleep or nerves, we ended up going straight to the international consultation floor instead of the lobby to check in. When we got to that floor, I told the receptionist I was here for a consultation and she just kept shaking her head and walked away. She was incredibly rude and just pointed to the elevator. My mom and I were going to leave the hospital because of how rude she was and when we got into the elevator we saw a sign that said to check in at the lobby, which was previously covered by another lady when we were going up to the international consultation floor. After checking in at the lobby, they brought us to another floor where I filled out some forms and ushered us into the consultation room. Before even talking to the consultant, Dr. Jeong Cheol and the English consultation came in in a rush and asked me what procedures I wanted to do. The part with the doctor lasted no longer than 15 min and felt very impersonal and rushed. Dr. Jeong recommended non-incisional with ptosis correction for my eyes and bridge and tiplasty for my nose. Although the price they gave me was very fair for the procedures that I wanted to do and they have an amazing facility with 14 years of no accidents, I did not have a good gut feeling about it due to my negative consultation experience.

Wannabe: I ended up late to my appointment but Alexa, the English consultation, was incredibly nice about it and she was already at the desk waiting for me when we arrived. After filling out the forms and doing a CT scan, I discussed with Alexa what my concerns were. During my online consultation, she recommended epicanthoplasty, along with non-incisional eyelid surgery and ptosis correction. But after seeing me in person, she said that she doesn’t think epi is necessary as the distance between my eyes is fine. She said that the eye with the double eyelid looks like Korea actress eyes and that I only needed a little bit of enhancement (non-incisional and ptosis). This was reassuring as it did not seem like she was recommending unnecessary procedures just to upsell. Similarly, Dr. Cha gave off a very kind and gentle vibe. He showed us the CT scan and drew on the scan to show how much he can lift the tip and bridge of my nose. He also noticed that the unevenness of my eyes was due to the lack of fat in my left eye. As a result, he recommended a nano fat graft for my upper eyelids along with non-incisional and ptosis correction. For my nose, Dr. Cha recommended tiplasty using ear and septal cartilage and silicone for the bridge. Overall, I had a great impression of the clinic staff and the doctor. The price was also in line with my budget and I really appreciated how they were the only one to take a CT scan and they took the time to answer all of my questions.

Uvom: this clinic was a very close second as I really liked the results on their blog and website. The English consultant, Jay, was very friendly. She helped me translate the form that I was supposed to fill out and kept us company while we were waiting for the doctor. I met with Dr. Lee for nose and Dr. Kang for eyes. Both of the doctors were incredibly friendly and I felt reassured as both are specialists in their field. I’ve spoken to several of their patients that I’ve met through the Kakao groups, so I felt very confident about their care and their work. Dr. Lee recommended augmenting the bridge of my nose with Goretex and the tip with septal cartilage and another dissolvable foreign material, which I can’t remember the name of but he said it’s mesh and similar to dissolvable stitches. Dr. Kang recommended non-incisional ptosis correction. However, I decided against them as I did not feel confident about Goretex implants since it’s harder to remove for revisions and they use general anesthesia for both des and rhinoplasty, which I was not comfortable with. Also, their price was much higher than the prior two clinics.

Ultimately, I chose to go with Wannabe. What stood out to me about my consultation experience here, is that both Dr. Cha and Alexa focused on how this would be an enhancement and I would not come out looking like a completely different person. I really liked their philosophy of less is more and keeping the aesthetics as natural as possible. I felt very confident in Dr. Cha’s ability as he was the only one to point out why my eyes were uneven and he noticed that symmetry would be nearly impossible without the fat graft. I explained to Alexa and Dr. Cha what I did not want for my nose (pinched and upturned) and they both were very adamant that would not happen. An added bonus that I considered was that their post-operative care includes deswelling laser treatments and hair wash.

Click to expand...