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FULL BODY LIPOSUCTION - REVIEW (4 months)


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FYI: This is going to be a really long and thorough review because I wish I had all this first hand experience info available before I went to get it done.

Will also have numbers next to certain areas for notes at the end of the review.

Let me tell you, I definitely did my research. Extensively and intensively. I started out with about 10 clinics then I started removing some, adding some. Since liposuction isn’t a plastic surgery specialty, you literally can’t find a board certified doctor who “specializes in body contouring.” Usually, the breast doctor is the body doctor as well. So I took into consideration a lot of things.
  1. Years of experience in plastic surgery
  2. Years of experience in liposuction
  3. Machines and techniques used in liposuction
  4. Pre-surgery check-up like if they test for hemoglobin levels, if they use ultrasound to measure the layer of fat in surgical body parts.
  5. Emergency protocol if something goes wrong especially for liposuction
  6. How much fat the doctor estimates can be removed
  7. How many surgeries are done by one doctor in a day
  8. Post-operative care
  9. If compression garment is included
  10. Of course, how their before and after pictures look (but sometimes it’s photoshopped so hard to tell unless they have videos)
  11. Aesthetics, if the clinic can achieve the look I want
The list kind of goes on but you get the point. It really came down to three clinics for me: Pretty Body, LaPrin and Nana.

Consultation:
Pretty Body - honestly, before my consultation, Pretty Body was my first choice. I hunted down a bunch of reviews on Chinese sites to see progress and result pics, and they looked so GOOD. But when I went in for my consultation, I felt extremely rushed. It was my first consultation so I was a bit nervous but the consultant seemed like she was trying to get me in and out. I was there for exactly 34 minutes including seeing the doctor. I did like the doctor though! He said he loves shaping the waist and abdomen, and that got me super excited. But I left feeling kind of empty and not confident. The consultant rushed to her next appointment and didn’t even say bye so I just left...

Nana - I really wanted to go here because I’ve heard amazing things about Dr. Hwang for breast and body. He’s also board certified, and his results are really good! Nana’s before and after had the overall aesthetics I liked so I felt like they understood what I wanted. However, during my consultation with the doctor, he said my surgery would be done during one full day, 6-7 hours under general anesthesia and will possibly need blood transfusion so my body doesn't go into shock. That scared the **** out of me! I trust Dr. Hwang and I know for a fact that he wouldn’t put his reputation on the line if he wasn’t confident in doing it, but my concern was how my body would handle the trauma. Even if one day large volume was doable, I didn’t know how my body would react to such stress. Some people experience extreme hair loss, depression, uneven healing when their body experiences trauma so if I wanted the best results, I also needed to think about the aftermath. Upon doing more research after the consultation, I saw that large volume one day liposuction is actually how it's done in the States but patients are required to stay overnight under monitoring in case of fluid imbalance and your body goes into shock for the loss of large amounts of fluids and fats. But at Nana, they said it's fine to go back home the same day so that made me worried. Though this doctor is board certified, his speciality is in breasts and that is what he focuses on 99% of the time. It somehow didn't make sense in my head to go to a board certified breast doctor who mainly only work on breast cases.

LaPrin - This was the clinic I finally chose! Originally, their English website with the white girls kind of threw me off because it felt like they were really trying to market to foreigners. But when I went on their Korean website, it felt really well built. My consultant at LaPrin has got to be the hardest working, sweetest girl. Her name is Duyen and I’m so grateful for her. I got really sick during my trip to Seoul and almost couldn’t do my surgery. She put my health first and told me to focus on my recovery and that surgery can be done anytime in the future. She consistently checked on me, suggested home cooked recipes for me to boost my immune system. Anyways, I chose LaPrin because their clinic mainly does liposuction. They have a doctor for eyes and nose but fat manipulation is what people usually go there for. I went with Dr. Choi because he has almost 20 years of experience in fat manipulation/liposuction. Dr. Choi recommended me to do two-day surgery under IV sedation, and have my surgery days around two weeks apart. They also use Vaser with micro-air cannula. Out of all the clinics I visited, all the others use traditional tumescent liposuction. LaPrin is the only one that uses Vaser and I preferred this because it minimizes bleeding and helps more with recovery.

Experience:
Pre-op:

Since I’m two day large volume lipo, I paid for part of my surgery first. Also had to get measured for compression garment (1). Surgery comes with one set but I purchased an additional one in a smaller size. Also did ultrasound fat layer measurement and took before and after pictures. The medical staff works REALLY FAST and it made me a little anxious, but they’re all very professional. I think it’s less about bedside manners and more about being practical lol! They’re quick, efficient and they make sure you’re okay and ready to go.

Day 0:
Surgery: I changed into their surgery gown and underwear, moved into the surgery room. Kind of started panicking, but one of the nurses kept joking with me and telling me to relax. Duyen was also there the whole time making sure I was ok. They connected the IV on my foot since I was doing upper body first (2), Dr. Choi came in to do the design, they sprayed me down to disinfect and then laid me down on the table. Dr. Choi ended up leaving the surgery room and I started freaking out. I wish I saw him come back in before I fell asleep just because I tend to over worry about shadow doctors. The anesthesia felt cold and made my leg achy, but before I knew it, I was waking up. And I woke up crying LOL I don't even know why but I think I was so nervous and relieved that it was done. I just remember it was so cold when I woke up, and I already felt the pain. It’s more like this super soreness that just gets progressively worst. After about 45 minutes when I was feeling better, they sent me home. During my surgery, Duyen went to go pick up my medication and DIY dressing materials.

Day 1: Hurt like a *****, like this super bruised sore and achy feeling. My left side hurt the most and for some reason, I couldn't raise my left arm up. Peeing is a ***** too...it’s just really difficult to work with the compression garment especially when bending in any direction hurts. No one tells you this...it’s like you can’t really sit on the toilet because it's this excruciating pain, and then you can’t really reach back to grab the back flap of the garment to attach to the front (kind of like a diaper), so I’m in the bathroom thrusting and swinging my hips around so I can catch the back flap through my legs. Also, I went in for dressing today and almost passed out. I think my blood pressure changed too quickly after removing the garment. I was so nauseous and dizzy, the nurses kept talking to me but I felt like I was in an air bubble. They cleaned my incisions and changed my bandages, then laid me upside down on the bench to get my blood flowing. I felt MUCH better that I started doing this at home when I needed to do my own dressing.

Day 2: Still hurt and I got even more swollen. Compression garment is really tight, I woke up angry and frustrated. Went in for dressing and post-op treatment in the oxygen chamber. It's suppose to help detoxify blood, and bring in more oxygen into your body to speed up healing.

Day 3: My forearms look like they are about explode for the swelling that came down. Compression garment is ridiculously tight. I’m trying to walk around to help with swelling but also not too much because that will induce more swelling. Also trying to keep the garment crease-free around my abdomen but it's really hard even when I'm laying down. The creasing actually hurts a lot, feels like a sharp sting and burn. Bruising has moved down to my elbow and down to my inner thigh. Pain level has decreased. Started to do my own dressing.

Day 4: pain is now tolerable and manageable. Still hurts but I have a wider range of movement and can move my arms more. The bruising has gotten worse, forearm swelling remains the same, and I’m soo friggen hungry and tired all the time. I started warm water foot soaking last night to help with swelling. I was told to not walk more than 1-2 hours as any more than that will make swelling worse. Also started leaving the garment off for 20 minutes a day. The nurse told me 1 hour but I saw online it’s hard to get back into so I just do my 20 minutes to shower and do the foot soaking and then put everything back on. I had to be cautious not to get my incisions wet. I had my full upper body done but surprisingly my upper back has almost no bruising at all. It feels a bit sore and numb but other than that, I only have bruises on my upper arms, armpit, abdomen, lower back, and love handles. It was nice that there wasn't any bruising in the upper back but I'm also paranoid that the doctor didn’t work on my upper back...?

Day 5-10: Very little pain, only some shooting pain when certain areas are stretched. I've been able to move quite freely, the swelling also went down significantly. I can already see the results! My arms look WAY slimmer and my waist is very curvy ;) However, the compression garment is still creasing and it seems like the crease won't go away. I was worried about it so I took a pic and sent it to Duyen. She said we'll talk to the garment lady when I come back in for treatments. My upper back still looks wide but I think it's from the swelling. During this time, I had to eat a lot of red meat (mind you, beef is very very expensive there!) and take iron packets every day to boost up my hemoglobin levels. If it didn't pass the test, then I wouldn't be able to get my second day surgery.
 
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PROBLEM: During the day of my hemoglobin test, I didn't make it to their benchmark. This meant that if I didn't raise my hemoglobin levels up in the next three days, they would not be able to operate on me. Of course, this made me kind of upset and disappointed because my lower body was actually my priority over my upper body. I didn't know that this would have been a problem. If I did, I would have done my lower body first. (3). So they gave me an iron IV three days before my second day of surgery and I just crossed my fingers hoping my blood test the day of would pass.

ROUND 2:
Pre-op: same pre-op routine as before. It's been 13 days between my first surgery. My hemoglobin levels were barely at the go-ahead level so they processed me for surgery and also hooked me onto an iron IV during my surgery.

Day 0:
Surgery: I woke up feeling pretty good and energized. I felt like I could walk, nothing really hurt, and my mind was clear. Duyen said I actually woke up really fast. I spent some time in the recovery room to make sure I was ok, then I went back to my Airbnb. The thing I noticed was that when I got my upper body done, right when I woke up from my surgery, I could see the difference already - my arms and my waist looked significantly slimmer. However, when I got back to my Airbnb, I felt like my thighs looked the same. I told myself it's just because of the swelling.

Day 1: It became much harder to walk. Thighs felt really tender and sore, compression garment felt really tight. I was able to still move around though so it definitely wasn't as bad as my upper body pain. Went back for dressing and post-op treatment. We saved most of the post-op treatments for my lower body because I was flying back home after 3 days.

Day 2-3: Did more post-op treatments. Flew back home!


RECOVERY & RESULTS:
One month upper body & Two weeks lower body:
Upper body:
I see a really big difference in my upper body. My upper arms have a very nice shape, it's completely straight looking from the front as opposed to having a round bulge before. My back, even though it didn't bruise and I questioned if anything was done, looked amazing! I put on my sports bra and saw that my upper back and bra-line had no bulges! And my waist! Oh my damn, my waist! SNATCHED! My abdomen was really tight and hard from the scarring, I can see some dips all over when I stretch my abdomen out (Duyen told me it will go away with time), so the tightness made my waist and abdomen look even more flat and slim.

Lower body: I was really excited and looking forward to the results but I was a bit underwhelmed, to be honest. My inner thigh and back of the thighs were my biggest problem areas and I was really looking forward to those areas being fixed. I was able to see a slight difference, but it wasn't as drastic and wow'ing as my upper body. Also, my right inner thigh had this fat bulge...kind of seemed like the doctor missed that spot? I showed a picture to Duyen and she said let's wait until the swelling goes away to be sure. I did really like the outside of my upper thigh, where it connects to your butt cheeks. Before surgery, I had a bulge there that kind of made my butt look square-ish. That angle was removed and created really a nice round butt! I could feel the scar tissue in my thighs and like I said before, the scar tissue makes everything feel held up and tight. Will wait to see how the results are in a few months.

Starting Weight: 164lbs
After First Surgery: 158lbs
After Second Surgery: 154lbs
A week after second surgery: 149lbs (I think this was water weight lost because I was jetlagged and not really eating back home)
A month after second surgery: 155lbs

I was told to eat rich and healthy during my first recovery month - high protein but low fat. Then start dieting around 6 weeks and exercising after 8 weeks. My body still felt tight, and hurt when I did certain weight lifting movements, and when I ran, my legs would pull on my abdomen so I kept it pretty light for the first month and a half of exercising.

I was also given diet pills to help control my hunger in the first month. It's a hunger I've never experienced before...like you want to eat everything in the world. I think it's because your body is trying to replenish the fat lost. Anyways, the diet pills were pretty strong and though the instructions asked to take two packets a day, I only took one so I was able to stretch my medication into two months.

Three Months: Upper body looks great, abdomen scar tissue has started to soften, feels like there is water in my belly. There's unfortunately a crease and I think that was from the compression garment. As much as I tried to lay flat, it still cut into my stomach. Since it's starting to soften, there seems to be a layer of fat coming back - not that the fat grew back, just the skin and tissue softened so it looks more natural and I could actually pinch myself. Before I was as hard as a rock! Arm looks good, doesn't hurt as much when I stretch but if something pushes against my arm, like if I prop my head up laying on my bed, it really hurts - feels like skin is tearing. Lower body looks about the same, thighs look a bit slimmer, right inner thigh still has a lump, the scar tissue in the area is starting to soften. I feel like since my body wasn't in optimal condition during my second day surgery and had to supplement with iron IV, they didn't remove as much fat as they could. (4)

Four Months (now): I'm exercising harder now and really watching what I eat. Whole body feels softer, but the downside is that there is more obvious loose skin in my abdomen, and dimpling in the back of my thighs and you can pinch some areas of fat. My back of thighs didn't look as dimply before surgery as it does now but that's the trade off for having extra skin. Got to keep exercising and massaging. There's also this slight crease under my butt cheek, where I can pinch. I read online that it's because the thighs don't have the same amount of fat to support the butt cheeks anymore so the upper back thighs might crease/fold. With my back, now that it's softer, I can pinch some back fat. My abdomen still has that crease but more apparent now since it has gotten softer. There's like this lump right above the crease that makes it seem like there's a pocket of fat - only really obvious when I'm sitting down and the crease folds. Sigh...I miss how I looked when more of the scar tissue was present because everything was so tight and lifted. Just be aware that how you look a month after surgery is NOT your final results. You have to wait until the scar tissue completely goes away.

Full recovery is about 6 months, or 1 year max so I still have 2-8 months to go. Will update again at 6 months.

During this whole time, Duyen consistently checks in with me on Kakao and asks how my recovery is going. I can tell she really cares for her patients and I'm amazed at the service she provides. She knows that I tend to overthink and I'm paranoid about everything, and she is always patiently talking to me and making sure I feel safe and at ease. I mentioned to her again my lumps, and she said we'll wait until 6 months and if it's still there, they'll fix it for me when I return. I really love how La Prin will do this for you. A lot of clinics seem like they just want to take your money, do the surgery and send you off. But at La Prin, it really seems like each patient is their art masterpiece and they want to make sure you look good. That says a lot about a clinic.


Notes:
(1) - if you are doing full body lipo, I recommend picking the garment that covers your abdomen down to your thighs. And a separate top garment for your arms. I had a body suit with arms, and separate pants for thighs. The one piece really cut into my abdomen and left a crease, and the waist band of the pants didn't make it any better...
(2) - I wish I did my lower body first because that was my priority. It would have been a more uncomfortable recovery, but I think it would have yielded better results.
(3) - I did lower body second purely because of scheduling conflicts. I wanted early morning operations but the doctor’s schedule was packed so I got one evening surgery and one morning surgery. Because my lower body was a higher priority for me, I wanted the best case scenario for it. Granted, I should want the best case scenario for upper body too but I had to choose. Evening surgery happened first so I did upper body first.
(4) - I'm really happy that they were careful with my health and kept telling me that they would make the safest decisions for me. As a PS patient, you're really just focused on trying to get the results you want so having Dr. Choi and Duyen there telling me exactly what was doable and best for me, instead of just agreeing with me, was extremely important. Duyen also told me that if they couldn't remove a lot in my thigh or get certain areas because my hemoglobin drops too much, they would arrange for me to come back and finish.
 
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Can't tell you how much I appreciate this review! I feel so fortunate to be reading this before making my final plans, I'm definitely going to make adjustments.

Thank you for your honesty and paying it forward, I'm determined to do the same, hopefully others will too! :smile:
 
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There are a few more lipo reviews that popped up the last few days too! Make sure to check those out as well :smile:
 
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Hi! Thank you so much for your post. It has really given me some ideas as to what clinics to look into.
I was wondering if you have any recommendations for someone who would just like to do lipo around the abdominal area? I am extremely paranoid about these kinds of things, probably because I am generally nervous that doctors will treat me badly. I heard some stuff about LaPrin not having any board certified doctors and it kinda got me a little bit spooked.
Basically my question is: Would you recommend LaPrin to someone who would only like to do abdominal liposuction or do you think one of the other clinics you visited would be better?
Thanks in advance :smile:
 
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I did full body so my quote was put all together, not for separate body parts. I suggest messaging a few clinics to get a range of prices. Of course, what they quote you online can be negotiated in person, but it’s good to get an idea where the low and high ends are!
 
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I was worried about the board certification too...but liposuction isn’t a plastic surgery speciality in Korea so you won’t find any doctors that are board certified just for liposuction. Most board certified doctors for breast surgery also do body. This was where I was conflicted too...get a board certified doctor who usually does breast, or a liposuction focused doctor who isn’t board certified. I can’t tell you who to choose but go to consultations, do your research and try to look past all the marketing and the persuasion, and really try to see the skills of the doctor for what it is. I went with LaPrin because I cared more about how many liposuction cases my doctor did, and the results. I haven’t seen any reviews here for liposuction at other clinics when I first went so I didn’t have much to compare it to. I don’t know if my results are better or worse than other clinics, but I’m satisfied and I liked their customer service.
 
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I kind of have the same dilemma. Right now I feel like a doctors experience in the area is more important than being board certified in another area. I kinda like both Pretty Body and LaPrin too (also Evita), but I have had difficulties actually researching the different doctors and I can't find too many lipo reviews of the clinics. Since I will probably have max 14 days in Seoul I am unsure about how many clinics i can visit, especially since it'll be high season when i go (mid june).
Do you have any suggestions on where I could look for more reviews? I can't really find too many here on the purseforum.

(The major differences i can find is that you can get your VAT refund at LaPrin because they are "approved and registered with the Minister of Health and Welfare in accordance with an Act for Attraction of International Patients". I can't really find anything about Pretty Body on that list)
 
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  • 4 weeks later...
i looked on chinese sites like soyoung and translated the reviews... it's gonna be a little hard if you don't know the language ):
 
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  • 1 month later...
Thank you so much for your post! I’m doing research to find a good clinic to do lipo as well. This is super helpful! Looking forward to your update and hope those dimply places had gone away!
(P.S do you mind if I translate your post and share it with my Chinese friends?)
 
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  • 2 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...
@bootyfulgirl
Hi there! I am BUSTING for an update from you! As soon as the world begins to recovered from COVID-19, I am heading to S.Korea for lipo. Would love to know how you are going 6 (or so?) months on! Still pretty happy with everything? Would you do it all again, if you had your time over?
I'm considering a couple of the clinics you have mentioned....but it's a super tough decision!
 
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  • 4 weeks later...
Hi everyone, I'm a little early for my 1 year update (June 2020) but I think it's close enough :smile: I guess this experience has taught me a lot. So here we go!

Starting Weight: 164lbs
After First Surgery: 158lbs
After Second Surgery: 154lbs
A month after second surgery: 155lbs
Current Weight: 145lbs

Existing problems post-lipo:
1) Inner thigh fat lump (one side)
2) Upper abdomen fat fold
3) Lower abdomen uneven scarring
4) Overall incision scars
5) Arm fat (one side)

The inner thigh fat I mentioned before is unfortunately still there. And it bothered me so much that I actually went to see two local PS surgeons. I also went to a medspa doctor because I was considering non-invasive solutions too. Both surgeons said my abdomen was done a bit too aggressively and unevenly - hence some of the scarring when I stretch out and the extra fat left over on my upper abdomen. My inner thigh - both said the doctor missed that spot. Both agreed my butt/hip was done well, arms were done well. Both said more fat could have been taken out in my flanks for a more accentuated waist. Both said that the incisions could have been made in more discreet places.

My two cents:
With clothes on, I love my body shape - it's curvy and clothes fit the way I like. Clothes off, I feel a bit insecure because of all the unevenness and incision scars that's left behind. I'm considering non-invasive procedures for remaining problem areas. Incision scars on my arms have pretty much faded, abdomen is starting to lighten, but butt scars are still very dark.

I wish I had taken my time and put in the work to lose some weight before I got my surgery. I figured that they can give me the body shape I wanted first, then I can continue to lose weight after surgery and just keep that shape. But I guess I didn't think about how weight comes off (or gains) at different rates all over your body.

I definitely think I would still do this again but with the knowledge I have now, I would have done some things differently:

1) Be at a weight you're comfortable at - this way, you see exactly where your problem areas are and can target those areas only. Plus you'll have a diet/exercise routine in place that already is sustainable and works for you. And you don't have to go through large volume - which is more at high risk for irregularities.

2) Consider the incision scars and how you would feel about their locations if they never fade. If you're not okay with the incision locations, talk to more doctors and understand their methods.

3) I live in a big city with amazing plastic surgeons (but expensive af!) so I wish I actually went to consultations with some local doctors, see what they recommended and how they would do it, and take those advice with me to Korea. Also, I was surprised at the cost when I went in for revision consultations... it wasn't as expensive as I thought. With the cost of flights, lodging, food, medication... I pretty much could have done the surgery at home without all the hassle...

4) All of the tips that I have mentioned in my earlier updates!

Overall, I'm happy, but I feel like I could be happier with a better job done maybe if I wasn't so persistent on doing everything in one go on one trip.

PM for before and after pics.
 
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