silverneedle Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 I had my first surgery done in Korea a few months ago. Purseforum has helped me to research the whole thing, so now I would like to give back. The procedures I had done were DES and medial epicanthoplasty. Some of you might not be aware that most clinics that cater to foreigners have people who are constantly monitoring this forum and ps kakao group chats. Therefore I don't feel comfortable posting the clinic's name publicly. But I can tell you privately if you DM me. Purseforum contains good advice, but unfortunately there are plenty of bad information to be found here too. I am going to share which advice works and doesn't work based on my own experience. I wish I had known all of these before my first trip to SK. 1. Deciding what procedures you should get you should at least have a rough idea of what you need. if you don't, you are going to be so vulnerable to a clinic's sales pitch. a good place to start is the golden ratio. measure your face and see which parts need improvement. 2. How to find clinics you can trust You want to get the best results possible don't you? Then make sure you do your homework properly before choosing any clinic. - Don't go through any agent. Agents will only promote clinics that pay good commission, not the ones that give the best results for your money. The best clinics won't need agents either. - You should check if your surgeon is board certified. go to this website to check http://www.prskorea.co.kr. But keep in mind that ENT doctors won't be listed here because that is a different medical specialty. Skip this step if you are researching ENT surgeons for rhino. - Use this forum's search function to research the clinic you're interested in and make sure you read ALL posts that come up. personally I would put more weight to negative reviews and mixed reviews than positive reviews. try to chat up the reviewer and see if they are willing to share more info with you. Be wary of glowing reviews from members with little post history and who won't respond after posting the review. Most likely she is getting a discount in exchange for a perfect 5 star testimonial lol - A specialized clinic is a safer bet than a general clinic. A doctor who is doing breast augmentation 3 times a day is going to be better at it than a doctor who does it once every week. same goes for other procedures. I wish I had chosen a specialized clinic instead of a clinic that does everything. -I would avoid clinics that feels more commercial than medical. signs: hiring many consultants, trying to fit in so many surgeries in a day, only one anesthesiologist while having many surgeons, or worst of all having no in-house anesthesiologist. other red flag is insisting on using general anesthesia even though it is unnecessary for the procedure. they do this so the patient is easier to control, and thus they can do the operation quicker and maximize volume of patients. but your body will take the toll. 3. A doctor's "style" some people said that this does not matter because a doctor will tailor his work according to the patient's request. I learned the hard way that this is false! I had requested a natural double eyelid with infolds like the singer IU's eyes. I still got super dolly eyes! when I complained the doctor said but it looks natural to me even though I had shown him pictures of what I want and what I don''t want. other people I meet while recovering also shared similar experiences. You MUST look at before and after pictures before you decide the clinic. Sure, those photos are filtered, photoshopped and the models are wearing full makeup. but if you don't even like the edited result, what are the chances that you will like the original result? If you can get real pictures from people on purse forum or kakao, that's even better. Don't bother visiting clinics that do not match your aesthetic. you will never get what you want over there. 4. On medial epicanthoplasty I must say I don't recommend doing this procedure. the doctor insisted that I need it because the space between my eyes are too wide. he said that this will widen the "whites" of my eyes and make them look bigger. the result is no "whites" are shown, instead it's the pink flesh that shows more. I also got irritation on my inner corners often after this procedure. and honestly I think no one notices the distance between your eyes anyway except yourself. 5. Price negotiation I have met people who opted to get surgery on clinics that can do every procedure so they get discounts when they do multiple procedures at once. I must say that this does not really work in practice. most clinics already know people will ask for discounts, so they will inflate the cost of each procedure and then they will offer discount if you buy the whole "package". they make you feel as if you are getting a sweet deal while in reality they purposefully inflate the price of individual procedures. one clinic quoted me 7 million for rhino. I simply replied "I will think about it", and repeated the same sentence over and over . then they gradually decrease it further and further until 4 million lol. try this sentence when you are negotiating and make sure you look like you have other clinics in mind and see what they say I would say that the clinics that feels more professional during consultation also don't quote ridiculous prices. but they are not that flexible on prices, their attitude is take it or leave it. I prefer these types. offering your before and after pictures for the clinic's marketing also does not always work. they will only want the most dramatic results to be shown on their portfolio. I know because I tried ^^ what seems to work well is if you bring in 2-3 friends with you. if you come as a group, or offer to bring in your friends if they give you a discount, this usually works. 6. Accommodation - choose accommodation that is near the same subway line as the clinics you choose. transit is exhausting and daily taxis can be expensive. the subway is so cheap and English instructions are clear, make use of it if you can. besides taxi drivers also cannot speak English so it can be a hassle. -look for accommodation that have direct line from the airport bus. taxis from the airport are unbelievably expensive. maybe I'm the one who do not know how to order a reasonably priced taxi from the airport but if you don't know any better keep this in mind. - last time I stayed in an airbnb, but next time I will definitely stay in a hotel. the host was super nice and helpful, but she is doing it for the 5 star review lol. she keeps trying to chat with me all the time. It was nice at first but when recovering from surgery, all I want to do is rest. but I can't because I don't want to oftend her lol if you are an introvert like me I would caution against airbnb 7. Miscellaneous - don't exchange money at the airport. you can easily do it in any local banks you come across. I always do it on banks near the clinics and the exchange rate is so cheap. no need to hunt for money changers. - I would not recommend the city bus to be honest. the instructions are hard to understand and it was uncomfortable. -chat up other people on purse forum that are going at the same time as you. join ps kakao group chats for the month you are going. you will feel less lonely and they will likely share consultation experiences and before after pics. you can meet once you are in Korea too. 8. Recommended threads These are threads that I believe everyone considering plastic surgery in Korea should read. you should read more threads, but at the very least read these two.https://beautyhacker.com/forums/topic/1025176-korean-plastic-surgery-clinics-to-avoid-w-evidence/#post-33681258https://beautyhacker.com/forums/topic/964094-how-to-go-from-50-to-looking-20-with-plastic-surgery-rejuvenation/page-122#post-33678422 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverneedle Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 My surgery results I am not satisfied with the result. I can't say that the result is botched, because my eyes look much bigger and dolly than before. I don't have the sleepy look any longer. But the result is asymmetrical and honestly it looks kind of unnatural. All of my friends noticed the difference and asked me whether I got surgery done. The only person who didn't notice is my dad lol. I am going to get a revision. if you want to see my before and after pics, DM me. but please keep it to yourselves and don't spread my pictures around.Free revision offered by clinics The clinic where I got my DES done offered free revisions. But now I don't think I would take their offer. if you are researching clinics and are tempted by their offer of free revisions, please thick twice. If they cannot do it right the first time, will you let them touch your face again?More tips on price negotiation guys I forgot to mention another bargaining tactic that works quite well too. First, if your clinic offers promo at Misooda, you're in luck because you can simply show them the promo and ask them to match their prices to the promo price. Remember that Misooda prices are not actually promo prices, it's their real market rate before they jack their prices up to clueless foreigners. the second tactic is to use the promo prices on Babitalk, Gangnam Unnie etc. These apps are plastic surgery apps that are targeted to Koreans. they are full of promotions and heavily edited before and after pictures but their prices are cheap (because Koreans won't accept jacked up prices). I have tried this method when negotiating. The clinic consultants all replied that they cannot give that price to foreigners because there are additional taxes for foreigners , plus translator costs. but at least they won't dare to inflate the price too much anymore. You should do this to show that you are not stupid and you are perfectly aware of what locals pay. If you have questions after reading this post, please don't hesitate to ask me. I will reply when I have free time. Thank you for reading my post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
areti77 Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 I will probably be going to Korea this summer and I have so many questions, but nobody who has been through it seems to be willing to answer them. I don’t feel comfortable asking them here, in public (and I don’t know how to pm you here) so could we talk over KakaoTalk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverneedle Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 Hi @Areti77 I don't use kakao talk now because I am trying to reduce chat overload. I have sent you a PM. Please check your inbox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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