maskd2003 Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 I'm in Taiwan right now... 8 days post op from nose 7 for eyelashes. Nose is really REALLY swollen after surgery initially so you can't judge a doctor by what the patient looks like when they are stepping out... because my nose has deswelled like crazy in the last 8 days. Anyway, eyelashes by Dr. Jong is instant gratification, although, I know they will be falling out a week or two later... this is what happens when you do it. then they grow back later and just keep growing and growing. Dr. Jong (lrclinic) did a SUPER job, way better than the docs in the US, and the pics that he has up on his website are nothing compared to what he did for me. He's crazy perfectionist and wouldn't stop until he had it perfect! He put 50+ implants into each eyelid! I was whining and complaining about laying there for so long... but I'm glad that the doc was so persistant even though I was being a little baby... because my eyelashes are so dense now! WAY better than false eyelashes. Oh! I loved doing this one the best... and although this is a minimally invasive procedure, it was the scariest! The nose is deswelling... currently, it's larger than my previous nose... I got a very slight implant and tip refinement, as the doc said that the width and alar of my nose is very small already and I had good height already. Anyway, I think Dr. Chuang also did a very good job... although I still have to wait at least 2 months to see the final result. A friend did alar reduction, nose is much smaller already and very natural. Anyway, I don't have too much time to write... I will write in a lot of detail when I return! Either way, I think I chose well... I'm happy with both LRclinic and Wishclinic! yay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meowgirl Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 hey maskd! SOOOO happy you're happy with the results! Hopefully your nose would have gone down abit more when you go back home otherwise I think youre boyfriend will know what you did When your scheduled to go home now? did u do both proceedures under local or general? once again, you've done it! YAY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas3n Posted May 9, 2007 Share Posted May 9, 2007 hey maskd2003 congrats on getting ur nose done! hope ur recovery is going well.. take care for now!! hope 2 hear the good news from u soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maskd2003 Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 Ok…. So here’s a long entry to come… First, let me start off with the easy stuff. Taiwan is pretty fun… lots of shopping and cheap food, although, where the hotel and clinics are… it’s very expensive…. Lol… I even took a picture of 30 US dollar bunch of grapes in Sogo grocery store. But, if you go elsewhere in Taiwan, shopping can be pretty fun. Food in general should be pretty cheap… like a few bucks for some great stuff. Both docs know broken English and charged me the exact amount that they said they would. They give a pretty good exchange rate for the US dollar at the Taiwan airport (Tau Yuan).. about 32.9 TWD=1 USD You can also just call your credit and debit card companies to tell them that you’re going to be in Taiwan, and just use that too… although, there will be an additional charge from the clinics and the card companies. Ok… the eyelash surgery is pretty awesome… no regrets at all about that. The only thing that concerns me is some paranoia… afraid lost some of my own lashes, the implants won’t take hold… but I’m just being paranoid. It’s minimally invasive (least serious type of surgery)… you just put a robe on over your clothes… for more serious like nose, you undress and put robe on. The technique that Dr. Jong from LRclinic did it is the same way that the US docs does it… with the curved needle thing… I watched part of the procedure as he was sewing… The procedure itself can be a little scary though… it’s done under local… First, they give you 6-7 shots of anesthetics to a little section located on the back of your scalp… then, after a few moments, they cut that section off… put the section into some stuff that keeps it alive, and then stitch you up… (this is the only difference between Dr. Jong’s procedure and US’s… Dr. Jong uses a black stitch that needs to be removed a week later, and the US uses a dissolvable one… The dissolvable one leaves a scar for sure… but since it’s the back of the head amidst hair, most people don’t care)… I honestly don’t feel a bald spot right now… which is a little weird. Then, they send you to the rest room where you watch a little tv or just lie there in anticipation… while they section the roots of the hairs through a super microscope or something… about 2 hours… Then… they bring you back and give you anesthetic to your eyelid, put eyeguard (like a thick contact lense into your eyes) and start sewing it in one by one… It starts to hurt a little at the end when the anesthetic wears off… but it’s bearable… but during most of it, you just feel it, but no pain… really weird… Your eyes will be bruised for the first 2 days… and then it’ll start disappearing like crazy.. at least for me, it did. Dr. Jong put about 50 eyelashes onto each lid which is a lot compared to what most docs can put… but this is his standard… Towards the end of it, I was getting pretty annoyed, partly because of the little bit of pain and that I had been on the table for almost 1 and half hours by then under a thick warm blanket.. but he kept saying he had to make it make perfect and “mimi” (meaning thick, dense) Dr. Jong is a definite perfectionist and he’s VERY good with a needle… 30000 TWD for the whole thing with him… which is about 900 USD So now, I have a lot of long thick lashes… though I can’t curl them yet L… in the first 2-3 weeks, the implants will actually fall off (as they become dormant and seed) and then slowly, they grow back… it will actually be 6 months till you can start trimming them … this is the same with the US docs. Dr. Jong had 5 procedures total that day (he does other procedures such as nose, calf reduction, etc too) … yea… I got done at 8 pm! Started at 2! Last and longest procedure…He actually didn’t think that I was going to come... He said that a lot of his foreign customers lie and don’t show up… VERY bad! This makes the doc potentially lose A LOT of money… His other ones weren’t minimally invasive procedures… cuz I overheard one girl going under general by counting… I didn’t do my nose with Dr. Jong just because I didn’t hear about his work on the two forums that I look at. Ok… now nose. While Dr. Jong is more serious, and discusses risks and what will happen afterwards first and foremost, Dr. Chuang is more friendly… You have to know the questions that you are going to ask with Dr. Chuang, or else, he might not address them. Dr. Jong will discuss aftercare right after the procedure, and his nurses are REALLY nice, especially nurse Huang… she came in every 10 minutes to check up on me while I was waiting and was giving me advice on deswelling my nose (done it the previous day with Dr. Chuang)… SO sweet… Ok… for Wish, you’ll want to come in the morning… like 9:30… they won’t be open then, but if you just ring the bell, they’ll come to the door and let you in and give you a head start (need to schedule with both docs at least 2 weeks ahead of time) … Wishclinic can be very busy in the afternoon. Wish clinic is definitely more yuppie and girlier than LR clinic… Wish has soothing music and it just looks girly… So, for the nose, it was local too, and they monitor something on about your internal through an IV… but I fell asleep during the procedure… but I woke up a little early… and felt the final stitches… didn’t hurt at all… nose takes about 2.5 hours… I think… not sure… as I was a little drowsy afterwards… I slept on one of their rest beds for 2 hours after the procedure… your nose just feels numb and heavy afterwards… not really any pain… some discomfort because you breathe through your mouth for some time… Let me just say, you must be prepared with the swelling… your face will look crazy afterwards! The bridge will look really thick… in fact, you won’t even see a bridge for the first two days because of all the swelling. It’ll take 3 months for all the swelling to disappear. The tip is the last to deswell. The tip will be hard for quite some while. Ok… according to Dr. Chuang, there are a lot of misconceptions about implants on this forum. Silicone can be obvious after a while because the wrong size of implant is chosen… so if you have a small bridge currently and want a larger bridge or A LOT of height, you should choose goretex. Goretex, in his opinion, is better for larger height increase (opposite of what is being said). If you have a large bridge, then you can go with larger height increase without using goretex. A good silicone implant should never be a lot taller than it’s width or else you risk the chance of it looking obvious over time, in special light or in general. Extrusion happens because of misplacement by the surgeon… since Asian skin can handle silicone weight… The silicone is actually placed UNDER the cartilage of the nose. Both I and L implant are placed in this way. And, he said elderly patients who get goretex… when they stretch their skin, they can see white. He’s concerned because the goretex bonds with your own cells and overtime, it becomes difficult to remove without removing nose flesh and bone with it too… and goretex has only been used for noses in the last 7 years. He said whether you do silicone or goretex, you should always do open rhino as this really lowers your chance of extrusion in the future. With silicone, you can still move your nose tip side to side in the future… and can do piggy nose, but it will hurt because you will be pushing the implant up… For me, he said that my nose already had decent height and my alar and base of the nose was already very narrow… so he just did tip refinement, and silicone implant. The girl who went with me, got silicone implant, tip refinement and alar reduction. Her alar is much smaller and looks very natural. Um… I’m still getting used to such a tall nose (3 mm increase) … and tip is still unswelling…so I can’t see the final result yet… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exoticasian Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 Thanks for the info Maskd and congrats to your new beautiful face. but i was wondering, if the silicone has more of a chance to be mobile in the future than goretex. did the doctor say that the silicone is permanent? that u wouldn't have to come back to get a revision? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maskd2003 Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 He said chances are that it will never become mobile. He said there is a very small chance that it may in 15-20 years, but most likely it will not because of how it is implanted. Mobility, according to him, is correlated with the surgeon's skill. Goretex is a white porous material. I actually touched it at his office. It's almost like a tough foam, but very soft compared to bone... I asked him about this... He says it gets hard like bone when it absorbs liquid in your flesh... and yes, goretex will bond with your flesh and bones... so, over time, it has less chance of becoming mobile. I think goretex is probably ok... but don't take my word on it (I'm not in the medical field)... I'm just scared because there is no history past 7 years on this material being used as a nose implant... and if you have to remove it after a long period... it might leave your nose disfigured. And, yes, my implant is supposed to be permanent. Dr. Chuang does use both materials: goretex and silicone. So, does Dr. Jong... My bridge feels very real, and although, my tip is still swollen, it's much softer than the bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keropijennifer Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 Congratulations Maskd2003! Hope u recover fm all the bruising and swelling soon! It must be quite different to suddenly have eyes full of long lashes! Thank u! Uve realy given us some realy useful info! I never knew that old ppl's nose skin when stretched goes a whitish colour due to the goretex! eeekkkkss.....im now worried about when Im 50! Did the Dr say that's always the case? Will ur nose (with goretex implant) look deform when u get old? Also...a closed op realy increase the risk of extrusion by quite a bit? Sorry...but I kinda have to consider the worse poss cases. R u planning to put b4 and after pics of ur nose for us after the swelling has gona down? Im planning on having an implant of a similar size...so it wd b really useful to see the differences in height and size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maskd2003 Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 Dear Keropi, I'm not going to post pics... I'm not that brave... sorry... I will say that 3 mm is a significant increase though... in my opinion of course... I can definitely see a difference... the whitish color can only be seen when the elderly person stretches the skin that covers that area... I don't know how it will look when you get old... as goretex has only 7 years history as a nose implant. yes, closed does increase your risk for extrusion and mobility by a lot... because it doesn't ensure the best placement of the implant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maskd2003 Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 Dr. Chuang has example photos of before and after according to implant size and type... so you can look at that before you make the final decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maskd2003 Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 no bruising at all now... just nose is still swollen... but to a stranger, I look normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maskd2003 Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 hehe... and I swear... that the implants have grown on my eyelid even though they haven't fallen yet! my head hair grows pretty fast too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justwhisper Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 hi mask! congrats on the successful surgery.. please do keep us updated =) which boards/forums do you go on? I am actually going to Dr. Chang at 2youngclinic in september for both nose and eyes surgeries. he is very well known and well respected in the field.. although his charge is way higher compares to other surgeons in taiwan. are you taking any med (western/eastern) and topical cream? i know there are some that will help the swelling.. but i only know them in chinese.. let me kno if you want to kno what they are. good luck on the recovery! remember the ice/warm packs are very important! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kel Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 Hi, Im a girl from Europe. I would like to know which surgery you are going to visit? And the eyelash implant, does it hold forever? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kel Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 Congratulations with your successfull surgery! Im a girl from Europe who really wants a double eyelid and nose "implant" surgery done this month. Do you think that Dr. Chuang is good at double eyelid surgery too? Do you have any idea if it's possible for me to get my double eyelid and nose "implant" surgery as soon as possible? I mean does Dr. Chuang have so many patients that you have to be on the waiting list? Best regards kel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maskd2003 Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 yes.. the eyelashes last forever. they are just like head hair... umm... the doctor gave me three types of pills... pretty much just antibiotics, and on top of that, I took sinnech for faster healing. If you contact Dr. Chuang at Wish clinic at least 2 weeks ahead of time... it should be ok... just be sure to let you know... that eyes will look unnatural for a while though... like a week and a half at least usually. Yes, Chuang does double eyelid... but not eyelash... Dr. Jong can do both. Double eyelid is not considered hard compared to nose job at all... I go to a Singapore expats forum also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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