Revision DES Consultation Journey

[strawberrytea]

VERY VERY LONG JUST AS A HEADS UP LOL.

[Please do not post or repost anywhere. I am only posting here because of the strict measures the admins have made in an effort to stop the rampant marketing we’ve seen on other platforms. Your trust is appreciated!] 

Hi everyone,

As promised, I wanted to do a write-up of my revision DES journey. I plan on updating it as often as possible and as frequently as possible to share my thoughts and provide transparency.

For background, here is my full walkthrough of my journey with primary DES: (PLEASE READ AHEAD OF TIME)
My consultation journey
 

My current problem is this: 

• Before DES, my monolids were more almond-shaped and elongated. After DES, my eyes became rounder and more “dolly.”
• The larger eye shape made my natural asymmetry more noticeable, but the DES lines themselves are also uneven. (One is higher than the other, and thicker)
• The eye he worked on longer is the one I’m more unhappy with: the scar/line is more obvious, the gap between the lid and crease is larger and more “sausage-y,” and the line droops downward.
• I’m also pragmatic about what is due to my natural anatomy. The eye I like has a more neutral tilt, so the crease ends parallel, while the other eye naturally tilts downward and the crease follows it.
• Because of this, I have to do my makeup differently on each eye.

My goal: to lower the line while still ensuring my eyes still look big, keeping the in-out style, and evening the lines as much as possible. Ideally, I would want eyes that end neutrally or go slightly upwards, instead of having rounder, dolly eyes. (Im Bora, Irene from Red Velvet are my ideal eyes.) 

Based on my research, it seems like I would need to do ptosis correction again, incisional DES, and a double-line suture method. This means they try to unstick the adhesion points of the original line and connect them to the new line they make. This essentially creates two lines, but a skilled doctor can do their best to minimize this appearance and reduce scarring.

There are a lot of revision DES doctors out there, but you want to make sure that you have doctors who have done similar cases as yours. For example, many people who do natural adhesion/nonincisional get revision because it loosens. This is still a much more straightforward fix than my situation. I did not bother to look at doctors who had more cases like this, who did not have as many patients with thick, fatty skin like mine.

I also want to clarify that I am fluent in Korean and consulted mostly in Korean at all of these places, which is why I got (mostly) quoted lower prices than what you may see from other online reviews. For non-Korean-speaking patients, I expect that a similar case like mine may be around the 7 million won range. 

Based on my Gangnam Unni research, and my criteria, I narrowed it down to these clinics:

1. Hyundai Aesthetics
2. TS
3. Idel
4. Geunal (That Day)
5. Finish Plastic Surgery

I plan on getting in-person consults with all of them as well. 

I also did brief Kakao consults with the above, as well as

1. Luho
2. Marble

Here is my consultation write-up:
I consulted in Korean with all except for Marble and Luho. I also consulted with TS and Hyundai’s global team in English (as well as separately in Korean). This is because I realized that the Korean staff will not consult or provide any preliminary opinions and insist that you come in person. I realized that I needed to verify my own personal analysis with the opinions of the staff, and only the global teams are willing to consult. 

Luho 
As I mentioned, this is where I did my primary surgery. However, the chief doctor, Park Il, is quite well known for revision cases. I’m quite annoyed, actually, because they blew up internationally (I wonder if it was in part due to my review? haha) and the dynamic has changed. I did not really think about going back here, but I still wanted to get an opinion. I consulted with the global team, and they quoted me a whopping 8 million KRW for a fat transfer to my eyelids and incisional DES with line lowering. I did not really think about going back here, but I still wanted to get an opinion. I consulted with the global team, and they quoted me a whopping 8 million KRW for a fat transfer to my eyelids and incisional DES with line lowering. 

This price point is insane; I will just be straight up honest. On Gangnam Unni, you will not see anyone being quoted this high. They also told me I’d get 20% off if I booked my surgery date right now. Even after 20% off, I was so bewildered by this price gouging that I did not want to move forward. When I questioned why, they told me that this was because he’s the chief doctor and because he does not participate in any promotional events. I found this hard to believe, because I immediately saw a review on Gangnam Unni where a patient managed to book him and received event pricing. 

Marble
I remembered last time Marble was thorough in my Kakao consultations and very kind. This was still the same. I guess they still had our chat history, as they greeted me warmly and asked me a lot of follow-up and clarifying questions, asking why I felt a certain way about my eyes and whatnot. They came back and even drew on my pics again to demonstrate their explanation. 

They said that due to the incisional method, there is always a risk that the eyes will look more “done” and the line will be “dark.” This is true; however, they also said that this can be reduced if I get my lines lowered. They also mentioned how my eyes just end differently, which is why one line curves downward while the other doesn’t. They said the width of the eye that bothers me (aka the one that's more sausage-y; I mentioned that there was a bigger distance) could either be due to ptosis or just how my eyelid forms, and can only be verified with an in-person consult. 

They were honest and said it’s probably unlikely that all of my concerns can be magically addressed, but it can be greatly improved and suggested incisional DES, ptosis correction, and line lowering, and said it would be 7.1 million before any promotions. 

Hyundai Aesthetics -- will be doing an in-person consult
I had no idea that this clinic has been talked about for several years now in the international plastic surgery circles, to be honest. Usually, that does make me a bit wary, as I’m more hesitant towards clinics that aggressively market towards foreigners (is there a reputation among the local crowd that leads to this, etc), however, I really liked the results on Gangnam Unni and reached out.

I consulted in Korean, and they provided very detailed, thoughtful responses. They said it’s not always the case that I would need to do incisional again just because I did it before (but I did not send any photos, and I’m pretty confident that I’ll need to do incisional, so this is just more for an FYI). They mentioned there’s usually availability 3 days after an in-person consult. 

I asked for pricing just on average for incisional revision DES + ptosis + line lowering using the double line method, and they said that if I agree to partial photos and a review, I’d qualify for event pricing starting at 1.95 million KRW. Truthfully speaking, based on my research, I expect this number to be closer to 4 million KRW once all the add-ons are included.

TS Plastic Surgery -- will be doing an in-person consult
To be honest, this was and is my top choice. They are extremely well known for being perhaps the clinic for revision DES, but it’s also known for being pricey (even for locals). However, my perspective is that I’m willing to pay a bit more as long as it’s not egregious, especially if it means I’ll be that much more satisfied. At the same time, they have started marketing more to the international market. The B/As were so good too, so initially I just wanted to go with them, but thought I should do more due diligence lol.

One thing I didn’t like is how unfriendly the Kakao consultant was, though. They’re not necessarily unfriendly, but just to the point and a bit blunt. For example, they’re the only clinic that did not give me a quote and straight up said that it’s too difficult to give an average. (???) However, I know from reviews that it seems to be around 6.5 million KRW. 

I did manage to book a consult with the chief doctor, and they told me that there is a consultation fee of 20,000 won. They also told me that I don’t qualify for event pricing, but I’m not sure if it’s because I told them I’m American (they asked), or if it’s just because I asked for the chief director as the message was in the general confirmation that my consultation has been reserved.

Idel Plastic Surgery -- will be doing an in-person consult
I also liked this place’s B/As. They only have one doctor (the other is a dermatologist). They were pretty kind and very speedy in their responses. However, there was a bit of a back-and-forth as to getting the consultation booked because they told me that the doctor had a surgery on the date and time I was looking at and had to go to a conference after. I managed to book a slot, but it would only be for 30 minutes. I assume that’s pretty typical, but I’m kind of worried about whether there would be a long waiting period or if he’ll rush the process because he needs to go LOL. Would that be the case for the surgery too, you know? 

They said that there is a consultation fee of 20,000 won. They gave me a rough quote of 4-mid 5 million KRW for revision incisional DES + ptosis + line lowering via the double line method. I want to be clear that this isn’t what they suggested to me (I did not provide photos); it’s just what I’m assuming I’m most likely going to be suggested to do by most clinics. 

Geunal Plastic Surgery -- will be doing an in-person consult
This place seems to be trying to grow internationally, but the head doctor is really famous already. Their website is broken! However, once again I liked their B/As, so I managed to add them on Kakao and reached out. They were SO fast in getting back to me, which I liked.

Unfortunately, their consult will be the latest one, as they did not have time during the day I wanted to get a consultation. I’ll have to either push my potential surgery date to be after this consult, unless I find a place I like strongly enough. For here, it was mostly just making the consultation reservation.

They said for line-lowering revisional DES,  a rough estimate would start at around mid-3 million KRW. 

Finish Plastic Surgery -- will be doing an in-person consult
This place is on the newer side, but the doctors have worked at another clinic before opening up their own. I have some hesitancy because of this, but I liked the results I saw on Gangnam Unni, so I consulted with them. I also appreciated how they seemed to be focusing on building up their local clientele. It seems like they’re a bit more well-known for noses, but I still wanted to at least get an in-person consult. 

They were very kind when I reached out to them. They told me that the approximate cost for revisional eye surgery starts at around 2.5 million KRW. Similarly, I expect this to be closer to 4 million or so, seeing how that’s around the average I’m seeing (for local pricing). They also refused to consult with photos over Kakao lol, but were very kind and told me that consults take around an hour to an hour and a half because they’re very detailed.