diamondskies Posted September 5, 2019 Posted September 5, 2019 I am hoping to share my primary DES experience, and hope that all queries can be consolidated here to serve as future reference for others. Please do not PM me here or on KKT on your queries. Please add your query as a reply to this thread, and I will address them as best / as soon as I can (would like to seek everyone's understanding that focusing on recovery is top of my priority list). >>> RESEARCH & SHORTLIST I consulted about 35 clinics online (via KKT), and shortlisted 3 for face-to-face consultation. Please note that I shortlisted the following clinics for f2f consultations based on the following criteria: - Doctors’ aesthetics sense for DES - high dramatic parallel crease style - Doctors' specialty - must include eyes, and not rhino or facial contouring or breast augmentation - Doctors' stitching style - should be neat and consistent (i.e. no messy lines, sausage lids, hooded eyes etc) - Doctor should ideally be from Korea's top 3 universities (Seoul National University, Yonsei University or Korea University) - Plastic Surgery Board-certified (or if suspended, only non-renewal of fees accepted) (to check if a doctor is certified, please refer to my other post https://beautyhacker.com/topic/1012254-checking-if-a-doctor-is-certified-by-the-korean-association-of-plastic-surgeons/) - Need not be on VAT refund list Sources that I based my research on include: KKT group chats (please only join the moderated chats and not those set up by clinic promoters), Beauty Hacker, Plastic Surgery apps for B/A photos (Babitalk (Korean), Gangnam Unnie (Korean and requires Korean phone number), Soyoung (Chinese)), Purseforum 1) Mate Plastic Surgery 메이트성형외과 Dr Kim Geun-Sik 김근식 Plastic Surgery Board-Certified Clinic not yet on VAT refund list (staff said that they are in the process of applying to be on the list) (Former Top Class – left in Aug 2019; Cinderella, Izien, Grand) Korea University graduate Nearest subway: Sinnonhyeon Website: http://mateps.co.kr/ 2) PR Plastic Surgery피알성형외과 Dr. Rho Kyoung Hwan 노경환 Plastic Surgery Board license suspended, did not pay renewal fees Clinic not on VAT refund list (Former Jewellery, Banobagi) Nearest subway: Sinsa Korea University graduate Website: http://www.prprs.co.kr 3) Item 아이템 성형외과 Dr. Lee Jun Woo이준우 Plastic Surgery Board-Certified Clinic on VAT refund list (Former BK) Nearest subway: Sinsa Website: http://www.itemclinic.com/ >>> CONSULTATION EXPERIENCE *Please note that i have indicated an indicative price as price varies from person to person. For a list of sample consultation questions to ask, please refer to my other post. (https://beautyhacker.com/topic/1015406-pre-surgery-pointers-list-of-consultation-questions/). Please note that for Mate and PR, I went with a translator from Gangnam Medical Centre. She charges 30,000 KRW per hour, minimum 2 hours. I find her to be very professional and impartial. If anyone would like her contact, I have listed it below: Name: JJ (tell her you were recommended by Lee) Email: [email protected] 1) Mate Plastic Surgery - Dr Kim Geun-Sik - 1st discussion with consultant: 10 minutes - Waiting time to see doctor: 5 minutes - Consultation with doctor: 25 minutes - 2nd discussion with consultant: 15 minutes - Recommended procedures & price: $2.2 - $2.7 mil (including tax) for Incisional DES + Epi canthoplasty + Lateral canthoplasty - My personal take on consultant: Consultant was professional (read not friendly) and not pushy. She speaks only very basic English. - My personal take on doctor: I was specifically looking for Dr Kim and messaged TopClass but they said he was leaving in end Jul and did not share where he was leaving to. I searched the Korean apps and found out that he was starting his own clinic. Managed to book a slot right before I left for Korea as his clinic only opened in 3rd week Aug. Doctor seemed shy but confident. He did not seem to have a fixed aesthetics sense that he favoured. In my opinion, he also did not over-recommend unnecessary procedures. 2) PR Plastic Surgery - Dr Rho Kyoung Hwan - 1st discussion with consultant: 15 minutes - Waiting time to see doctor: 30 minutes - Consultation with doctor: 15 minutes - 2nd discussion with consultant: 15 minutes - Recommended procedures & price: $4 - $4.5 mil (including tax) for Incisional DES + Epi canthoplasty + Upper canthoplasty + Ptosis (and you have to give them permission to use your pictures for marketing purposes) - My personal take on consultant: Consultant seemed insincere and started quoting at $6.2 mil before lowering it down to $4.2 mil. - My personal take on doctor: Doctor was very friendly and spoke intermediate English. Doctor seemed confident. 3) Item Plastic Surgery - Dr Lee Jun Woo - 1st discussion with consultant: 15 minutes - Waiting time to see doctor: 30 minutes - Consultation with doctor: 10 minutes - 2nd discussion with consultant: 10 minutes - Recommended procedures & price: $3.5 - $4 mil (including tax) for Incisional DES + Upper canthoplasty + Upper fat grafting (price for cash payment) - My personal take on consultant: Consultant’s English is good. She is also friendly and prompt in replies. Although I eventually did not select them, she followed up to offer assistance during my stay at any time - I found this to be a very nice gesture and thanked her for her kind hospitality. - My personal take on doctor: Doctor was very friendly and spoke good English. Doctor seemed confident. >>> CHOICE I eventually chose Dr Kim (from Mate) for the following reasons: - Based on my research, both Dr Rho (PR) and Dr Kim (Mate) specialised in dramatic high parallel crease. Dr Lee's specialty was more of overall transformation rather than eyes. - While all three doctors seemed confident that they could achieve the parallel look I wanted, and shared that epi would be required to achieve the desired crease, Dr. Kim (Mate) was the only one that pointed out that epi would be risky for me given that there is already a large amount of pink at the inner corner of my eye to begin with. - Dr Rho (PR) was the only doctor that recommended ptosis. He also initially suggested doing Lateral / Lower canthoplasty but the consultant dropped it from the quotes (after realising the other procedures already added up to more than $6 mil). - Dr Lee (Item) had an ideal crease height (which leaned towards being conservative) based on proportion, which I respected but I really wanted a more dramatic transformation. Also, mixed reviews of Item clinic swayed my decision. - During the consultation, Dr Kim (Mate) seemed to be more meticulous in designing the crease height and balance with my other facial features >>> SURGERY Morning of Surgery - Wake up early & wash your face - Make sure you are not wearing any accessories or nail polish - Bring your contact lens case to store your contact lens (if applicable) - NO breakfast (not even a small biscuit or a cup of water) - Wear comfortable clothes (button down shirt) and bring cover-ups like caps or sunglasses to protect your eyes after surgery - Prepare your appointment card including fees for the operation in advance so that you are on time for the surgery. - Go over to clinic early to check in - Bring socks - The surgery room can be a bit cold and socks can keep you warm thus calming you down before the surgery. - Make sure that in the contract you sign with the clinic before your surgery, it is clearly stated what the full name is of the doctor that is operating on you. The clinic is legally obliged to put this in the contract. This is to avoid a clinic using another doctor for your surgery. Pre-Surgery Process - Change into your surgery clothes. Take everything off except for your underwear. - Tie your hair back - Wash hands first, then your entire face. Make sure it’s completely cleaned. - Wait in patient waiting room - Consultant brief you about the risk, liability, warranty (in my case, for the 1st year it's free revision, and in the 2nd year it's free revision but you have to pay anesthesia and consultation fees). - Sign the waiver of liability form. - Go into another room to take a photo of you pre-surgery - Doctor comes in and analyses you for the second time (the first time should be at your consultation). He will make small notations on your face and discuss the shape again. This process for me took about an hour. - Go into surgery (mine took about 2 hours). - Rest in recovery room (I requested to leave immediately since I was super hungry; almost 24 hours since my last meal). The consultant helped me book a taxi and on my way back, she called the driver to check if I reached my Airbnb (the driver took the call on speaker mode). >>> RECOVERY - Day 0 / 1: I was tearing non-stop for the 1st 24 hours and most were tears with diluted blood. There was also a fair bit of bruising at my undereye area (which I religiously used Auriderm and found it to work like a charm). I did not ice much but should get down to being more diligent on icing my eyes. The recovery process has taught me the importance of patience; and the reassurances from the KKT chats were really helpful. - Day 2: My eyes still seem very swollen after 40 hours. Will be following up with the doctor later in the day and hopefully, I can return to the clinic to remove the stitches on Day 5. - Day 3: The swelling in my eyes has gone down a bit but still significantly swollen. - Day 4: Much more bruising at the under area of my eye to my cheeks area but excited for stitch removal tomorrow. - Day 5: Stitches are finally off. Stitch removal did not hurt at all. Hopefully my crease height doesn't drop too much from now on.
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