blasian Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Beautiful result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noitsyou Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Teium actually don't actually perform rhinoplasty. They gave me a quote for rhino over email but when I got there and saw Dr Kwon, he said "uh, I'm the only surgeon here and I only do eyes". Why they even have a section for rhino on their site is beyond me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmehyung Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 I know that this has been done before on this forum, but I just wanted to share about my PS experience in Korea as a foreigner. I will try to be as thorough as possible about my experience here. I also think itd be useful for a male to add some insight to these forums, as our experience with PS may be slightly different than that of female purseblog-ers/soompi-ers/cozycot-ersWhere? Teuim Plastic Surgery, five minutes outside of Gangnam Subway Station Exit 11, Seoul, Korea. Who? Dr. Kwon Bong Shik (Surgeon and doctor/owner of the clinic), Alice the (rudimentary) English-speaking consultant, and his team of nurses and other front office staff What? Partial incision, ptosis correction, and magic epicanthoplasty Cost (Feb 2015)? 3.5 million Won (I paid in USD and they quote this price based on the days conversion buy-rate) How? Flights from another major city in Asia, accommodation from airbnb for 2 weeks that was rented (14 mins comfortable walking pace away from the clinic exactly), no significant Korean background, most/all communication in English Background: I am a fit, healthy East-Asian male in his early 20s who has wanted DES for a long, long time. I wasnt going to trust any doctor in North America with my eyes based on sheer inexperience with the surgery/different aesthetic tastes about what looks good on an East Asian person. I knew going into this surgery that Dr. Kwons pricing would be higher than that of other surgeons in Seoul. The only other clinic that I ever considered was Banobagi, based on previous research, but since they didnt get back to me in my initial e-mail, I assumed that they didnt want or need my business. I knew Dr. Kwon was extremely consistent with his work on double eyelids based on previous research, although there has been one horrible review on his work with Acculift (fat liposuctioning from the face) from a purseblog user (@hongkongphooey, link here: # Please be aware that doctors all have their specialities; Dr. Kwons is his work on eyelids, and so I 110% trusted him on this surgery. I cannot speak for his skill in any other surgical procedures, so please keep that in mind when reading this review. I did not consult with any other doctor or clinic during my trip. Consultation: I had previously e-mailed the clinic and made an appointment to see Dr. Kwon on the morning after my arrival. If you follow the instructions on finding Teuim, it should not be an issue locating the clinic. Google street view has a relevant view of the building in which the clinic is located on Gangnam Daero. The clinic is located on the sixth floor and is the first office space on the right after exiting the elevator. The sixth floor is shared with a travel agency and another non-PS office space, although I believe there is another PS clinic located on one of the floors below Teuim. When you walk into Teuim, you will notice that soft yellow lighting is used against a mishmash of European/modern furniture with two low set coffee tables adorned with books of his past work. Other than pictures from his collection, the books also contain reviews of his work (mostly Korean) and one from Soompi that I had previously read. The clinic doesnt have a high-tech/glass/minimalistic feel at all, perhaps to make patients more comfortable. The clinic also has a front desk, two consultation rooms (for pricing?), one office space, two recovery rooms for patients after their surgeries, one doctors consultation room where you will see Dr. Kwon, and one treatment room for bandage/stitch removal. When I first met Dr. Kwon, I was pleasantly surprised. His pictures on his website actually do his person no justice and he looks much better in real life (irrelevant, but true fact). He also had a deep, soothing voice. He was also not as deadpan-serious as I was made to believe from his reviews, although he did not make any extraneous conversation. He smiled in appropriate amounts and I trusted his judgement of my eyes. I had excess fat in my eyelids that had to be taken out and he gave me the option of full or partial incision, but strongly recommended partial based on the fact that I am a male and that full incision may leave some scarring. Knowing Dr. Kwon, I also knew I would have to get magic epi. I just have to reiterate here that Dr. Kwon invented magic epi, so he pretty much recommends it to all patients who want to get any kind of outfold-eye/in-out folder. I told him that I wanted my lids to be a medium crease and used my mom as a reference point. However, like Jillyqueen, he said that he could do a medium crease but no higher because of the space between my eyebrows and my eyes. At the same time though, I expect my lid to be thicker than Jilly's at the 8.5 month mark based on the fact that I did not ask for IU-like eyes, but eyes resembling my mother's (which he said he could do). Dr. Kwons English is definitely acceptable for addressing the complexities of DES, especially if you think about watering down any complicated terms you have in your questions. You may wish to note that Dr. Kwon himself has never elected to get rid of his own Mongolian folds. Perhaps he trusts no other surgeon to do his own eyes? Anyway, we agreed on the largest outfold possible that would still look natural on my face. I was then sent to one of the consultation rooms to speak with Alice. Her English was passable and she was nice enough. Just be aware that at the end of the day, these girls arent wanting to be your best friends but trying to make money for the clinic though. She initially quoted a price even higher than 3.5 million cash and based on prices from 2013, I knew this was definitely on the higher end for Korea. However, I didnt want to haggle it down too low because a) I wanted Dr. Kwon b) I didnt want Dr. Kwon to feel like he was doing the surgery for a crazy-low price c) I didnt mind paying for a good job and rewarding excellent work that would last me a lifetime. This is my FACE were talking about, not some internal surgery where effective but ugly stitches will be acceptable. With that, I paid a 10% deposit and set the surgery date for two days after the consultation. Surgery day: I wasnt allowed to eat 2 hours before my surgery, so please make sure you eat on the morning/afternoon of your procedure. When I got to the clinic, I was led to one of the recovery rooms to wash my face and change into a surgery robe and change into slippers. You are allowed to keep your pants and socks on and will be given a locker to store your personal effects. After waiting for a few more minutes, I was led to see the doctor one final time for last minute questions/changes to the surgery. I just reconfirmed with him that I wanted lids that would be noticeable after and not those super natural tiny-infolder eyelids favoured by so many Korean men. I also tried to reconfirm with the doctor that there was slight asymmetry in my eyes, to which he replied that it is not very noticeable. We are all our own harshest critics. After this, Dr. Kwon disappeared and Alice came into his office and took some pictures of me. After those were done, I was led into the surgery room at the very end of the hallway. I was told to get on the surgery table, where I was then strapped in (your arms and legs are velcro-cuffed into place so you cant move). A headband was then placed around my head to push my hair off my face, followed by another heavy face-isolating apron. I was covered with a really soft fleece, injected with an IV that connected to a drip bag (the nurse missed my vein the first time in my hand and had to insert the needle into my bicep), and attached to a heart rate monitor through a finger clip. Throughout all of this, I was really calm. I was probably one of their calmest patients ever. I guess I kind of saw DES like a natural progression of my life and I completely trusted Dr. Kwon with my surgery based on his reviews and my exposure to him. I lay there bumming around for a few minutes while the nurse cleaned my face and the music-player was switched on. After a bit, Dr. Kwon walked in surrounded by a team of nurses. He drew on my eyes for about five to ten minutes, telling me to constantly open and close my eyes. I was told to look between his eyes or at some point very far behind my head while he was doing this. When youre strapped down to a surgery table and told to stare into your surgeons masked face for a prolonged period of time, it becomes a strangely intimate experience (LOL). To be continued... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmehyung Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Dr. Kwon finished drawing on my eyes and from here on out, lets split my surgery into three parts. 1) I was lying there, still listening to my heart rate on the nearby monitor when Dr. Kwon said, You are going to sleep for a while. I wasnt aware that any non-local anesthesia was going to be performed on me (my bad for not asking I guess), so in surprise, I started counting the seconds between the moment he uttered that statement and when I started feeling strange. For those of you who have never taken drugs or been knocked out before, it will be an equally strange experience for you as it was for me. After I counted 15 seconds, my mind felt like it was being shut down or wrenched away from me, the music in the background screeching into one prolonged sound. The next thing I knew, I was seeing a kaleidoscope of colours that took the bass of the music to drum into one symphony in my mind. I was one with my mind, aware that there were cuts going my eyelids, but I was fine with that. I was also vaguely aware of where my limbs were, but I couldnt really move them. I was more occupied with my sensory experience at the time though. I felt like I was inside my conscious and that I was in complete communication with my own mind. I could feel my own breathing in my head and I could also control the patterns in the changing colours that I was seeing (they changed depending on the pressure being put onto my eyes/what was being done to me). I could also make specific words light up and explode with colour at will. It was a very cool experience and I am pretty sure that this is what taking certain illegal drugs can do for you (not that Im in a huge rush to go take illicit drugs now). Before I knew it, I was slowly regaining feeling in my limbs and my inhibitions were definitely lowered. I started laughing because I found this whole sensory experience so funny. Dr. Kwon left the surgical room while one/two nurses were left with me. One was applying pressure with icy patches to my eyes. At one point, she told me to open my eyes and when I did, I was like Oh Wow, what is this pulling feeling yikes (it wasnt painful at that point, just unpleasant) 2) Dr. Kwon returned after about 10-15 minutes, at which point he put some eyedrops in my eyes, and I started laughing out loud (he probably thought I was cray, because he said, Why? when I started laughing). I remember thinking it was funny that these drops stung more than the actual surgery. The doctor started doing the epicanthoplasty and also doing the embedding in my eyes. Other people have mentioned that epi was the most painful part of the surgery for them, but it wasnt for me. It was just a very strange experience that felt like I was getting a nose-job because of the strong, hammer-like pressure being applied in the top portion of my nose. It did feel very strange and definitely did not feel like that was where my eye-corners were. The holes/threading was also okay, until the very end of the second part of the surgery when I feel like my anesthesia was wearing off. I was whimpering under the hands of Dr. Kwon at that point because of how unpleasant the entire thing was. It was quite a painful experience feeling the texture of the thread being pulled through your eyelids and tightened. I started screaming in my brain, BEAUTY IS PAIN. BEAUTY IS PAIN. At one point, Dr. Kwon had to stop and inject more anesthesia in my eyes because he probably realized Id probably be in serious tears if he didnt. The additional local anesthesia shots were semi-painful but they really did not hurt compared to the threading I started feeling in both my eyes. Here, Dr. Kwon left again to let the drugs kick in and to take another break. 3) I asked the nurse how much longer she thought I had left in the surgery, and she guesstimated about an hour. I was really hoping that the anesthesia was kicking in with full force at this point as I did not want a repeat of the end-portion of the second part of my surgery. I also really, really had to pee because of the IV bag being completely emptied into my body, but obviously I could not so I held it in for dear life. I had gone to the washroom to empty my bladder before the surgery, but I guess that wasnt enough? Dr. Kwon eventually came back and finished the stitching on my eyes/final touch ups which took about an hour as the nurse earlier guessed. I guess the stitches were the easiest part of the surgery because Dr. Kwon engaged in some pretty friendly chit chat with his nurses at this point. From what I picked up, they were talking about one of the nurses boyfriends (namja chingoo?) who was a computer programmer. He seems to be on pretty good terms with his staff, which was nice. Anyway, towards the end of the third part of the surgery, it started hurting again, but not as badly as before. I just sucked it because I knew he was nearing the end of the surgery (you can guesstimate because of the direction that the stitches are going in). I thanked the doctor after the surgery finished, the nurse bandaged me up with two hard things between my nose bridge, Alice came in and showed me the fat that they had cut out of my eyelids, and I was led over to the recovery room. I felt tired, like someone had punched both my eyes with their fists, but was fine overall. I just really had to pee.Recovery: The first day was the worst. I felt really groggy when I got home and I could hardly open my eyes. I also felt really tired overall and was really low-energy. Teuim gives you two eye patches that you can use for icing/hot pack-ing, antibiotics for three days (that have a tylenol in them that you can take optionally. I did not), and some antiseptic cream that you can apply to your stitches after your bandages are taken off. While bandages are on (for one to two days), there is going to be a lot of buildup on your eyelashes from dried tears/eye mucus. It was hard for me to open my eyes in the morning as they were sealed shut. Dont hesitate to ask for saline water from the clinic and remember to bring Q-tips. to clean your eyes/eyelashes. The worst part for me was walking out in public with my plastic-surger-ied face after the procedure. Yes, it is a common sight in Korea, but do not underestimate the knowing looks on the peoples faces, especially in busy busy Gangnam. Taking off the bandages did not hurt very much, although when the nurse got too close to my epi stitches, it did sting. When the bandaids came off, I no longer had a huge issue with the eye mucus, but I did notice that I had uneven swelling and also dark red bruising under the inner corners of my eyes from the epi. I had to religiously ice my eyes for three days followed by hot compresses until my stitches were out on day 6, which was supposed to help with swelling, but I dont know if it made that huge of a difference. Better to be safe than sorry, I guess. Ive read people saying that taking out the stitches hurt a lot for them. Compared to my anesthesia wearing off during my surgery, the pain was negligible to nothing. It honestly felt like someone was lightly pinching my eyes, even when it came to the epi stitches. The most freaky part of getting them removed was the nurse peeling back my lower eyelid and removing the stitches from the inside of my eye. I guess I was also very calm and very still, so it probably gave the nurse an easier time not having a squirming patient on the table. I saw Dr. Kwon after and he told me that my swelling was going down unevenly and that I needed to icepack a lot more, but that my eyes looked fine otherwise. He told me that because I had asked for a higher lid, I should expect more swelling in general. I thanked him one last time and left the plastic surgery center. Six days later, with concealer under my eyes, I was able to walk out without sunglasses and look -relatively- normal. Sure, there was still that slight sausage-like effect on my eyelids, but I looked passable as a human overall. Will continue to update as time goes on, but I can say that I am pretty happy with my results so far and I have a very realistic mindset about healing/how long it will take for a full recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7chanel7 Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Thank you for sharing, Hyung. I would love to see post surgery pictures because I plan on going this year for my eyelid surgery with Dr Kwon as well. Your experience helped a lot and I appreciate your honesty and time to explain everything. I have to admit though, I am still very nervous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ulzzang-quest Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 @CallMeHyung, I'm glad to hear that despite the pain you endured, it did result in a satisfactory outcome. Great review, and thanks for sharing your experience in such vivid detail. I myself am now looking forward to hopefully be able to "make specific words light up and explode with colour at will" on the surgery table, though I'm not sure I'd like that strangely intimate experience staring in the eyes of the doc :lolots: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chlak5 Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Do you have Kakao? I would like to talk to you if you don't mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmehyung Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I don't think I want to private chat with anyone for privacy reasons. If you have questions, I can answer them publicly on here so everyone will be able to benefit from the knowledge. Will post pics up in a few weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zwc Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 CallMeHyung, Thank you for updating us on your experience. I am going to visit Dr. Kwon in May. Still trying to decide if I want ptosis procedure that he had recommended to me. I would like to find out how your ptosis procedure is turning out. Also, would you mind letting me know how many mm he did your epi? He has suggested epi as well. Since you paid with cash USD, did he give you the discount compared to paying credit card? I am debating whether to do cash or credit card. I have heard he had waived the VAT if paying cash, is this true? I am also from the US and it is good to know that he accepts US cash. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmehyung Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 @zwc. I still don't know the full extent of how my ptosis procedure turned out as my lids are still a bit sausage-y and swollen. I don't think I'd be able to ever accurately comment on it till my healing is finished. So far, so good though. My eyes were pretty 'big' already before, so honestly, this procedure hasn't been dramatic-dramatic for me. Re: mm of epi. Sorry, I have no idea. My eyes were a pretty ideal distance apart before, and I don't feel like I look cross-eyed at all right now, so I put the technical/artistic aspects into his hands. Re: cash. You should definitely do cash if you can. He won't be dealing directly with money with you... The consultant 'Alice' will. You can haggle with her, but I didn't really try to that much. Other forum-ers have commented on this in the past. They do add the 10% VAT if you try to go the credit route. I brought more than 10k USD into Korea and the customs officers didn't give me a hard time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmehyung Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Three tips about flying over and getting PS in general that I found with this Dr. Kwon experience: 1) On the day of the surgery, either wear a very loose fitting shirt or a button down shirt so you can change easily after your surgery. Trust me. You will not be wanting to bump or pull at your stitches and bandages from tight-fitting clothes 2) If you plan on going out and covering up your bruises/scars after stitch removal, remember to pick up/bring cotton pads and Q tips before your surgery, ALONG WITH a good bottle of eye makeup remover, so you can slowly take off everything with a Q-tip. You will not want to pull or tug at your eyes with a traditional milk/water/oil cleanser, but you most definitely will want to make sure that your eyelids are clean before you go to bed. 3) The icepack that Dr. Kwon gives you is good (it's pink), but try not to put it into the freezer for too long before using it, or else it will become very hard and not very malleable // becomes WAY too cold for you to ice your eyes and actually hurts the other regions of your face that it covers. I've found that putting it in for about 45 mins to an hour does the trick (or just take it out and wait for it to defrost for 15 mins or so) 4) One of the hardest parts about personal hygiene during the week between bandage and stitch removal is YOUR HAIR. You can wash your body and you can use a cotton pad w/ Bioderma or some other cleanser to gently wipe the unaffected parts of your face, but your hair will become rank (You aren't allowed to wash your face/get your eyelids wet till your stitches come out in 5-7 days). You have three options: a) Don't wash your hair and potentially develop a scalp disease/smell like unwashed human and look like an oily mess (half joking) b) BRING your own bottle of dry shampoo in your luggage that you can use as a pick me up on days 2/4/6 or as you see fit c) Visit any number of local hair salons and get them to give you a shampoo/blowdry combo, but you might feel uncomfortable going out, especially at a busier place. This will probably set you back about 20,000 Won at a half decent place. Remember to wash your hair well the night before your surgery (and don't put in too much conditioner/treatment close to your scalp!) That's all I can think of for now~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zwc Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Thanks for the advice. I am adding them on the list of what to bring. How about any electronics stuff. I plan on bringing my mac and cell phone. Do we need a converter for the different voltage there? What is the wall plug like? Do I need to buy another converter to just plug it into the wall? As far as getting around, do you just use english version google map on your phone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmehyung Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 @zwc, all the answers to your questions can easily be found online. Let's try to keep this post relevant to plastic surgery/plastic surgery recovery/Dr. Kwon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joycesxn Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Does Dr. Kwon show you what your eyes will look like during the consultation? Like photoshop a picture or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmehyung Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 During the consultation, he just uses the pointy poker to kind of show you where the double eyelid will be (there is a temporary crease formed after the poker is dug into your eye socket. Don't worry, it doesn't really hurt). No photoshop I believe. I haven't ever read of anyone getting PS done to their faces at Teuim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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