My Experience in Tham My JW in Vietnam (Rhinoplasty + Double Eyelid)

[callmejay]

Disclaimer: I have not gotten any compensation or even told the clinic I would share this experience online

INTRO
Hi, I'm just a guy who got some ps done in Vietnam and would like to share my experience. This forum has a lot about Korean and Thai clinics, but I don't see many from Vietnam, so I hope my experience helps anyone who is considering going to VN for some work done.

WHY VN?
For starters, though I'm from America, I can speak Vietnamese pretty well, so I could communicate with the doctors. And the other main reason would be of course the cost. It is cheaper than Korea or Thailand (I think).

WHY THAM MY JW?
I chose Tham My JW because they are supposedly a branch of the actual JW clinic in Korea and the head doctor trained under JW doctors. I figured this was my best bet for quality work, as I had absolutely no experience with this stuff, did not know anyone who did, and trying to find reviews online for clinics in VN was quite difficult.

The website (http://thammyhanquoc.vn/) is only in Vietnamese, but it looks quite professional. They also have a youtube channel that has quite a number of videos (all in Viet) that helped me feel like they were legit.

BEFORE GOING
After doing my research, I emailed the clinic my pictures and told them what I would like to get done. This was in English. They replied in English as well and told me the costs and what procedures were recommended. They said I should plan to stay 2 weeks.

I chose a nice hotel (Silverlands Sakyo Hotel) because I knew I would be spending a lot of time there and wanted something very comfortable. It was not very close to the clinic, but taxis are so cheap in VN, I had no problems riding one to and from the clinic.

So I booked everything, set the appointment, and off I went.

Day 0
The first morning, I arrived for my interview. The front reception area is really nice and clean and the girls working at the desk were friendly and helpful. Some spoke decent English, so if you do go you won't really need a translator, as they will help you.

Since I was doing both my eyes and nose, I saw 2 doctors. One doctor talked to me about my eyes, told me I can get double eyelids as well as cut that Epicanthic fold (on the inner side of the eyes) to make my eyes larger. I said ok.
The next doctor was the head doctor whose pic is all over the website. He spoke to me about my nose and his English was quite good. He was a little fast with everything though, did not explain much, and I felt like he was very confident in that it would be a routine thing. This was a mix of good and bad...I felt like he didn't really take time to talk to me, but at the same time it was kind nice knowing he was a pro at it and it would be simple stuff for him....
Some people may be turned off by his demeanor, so that's something to note. The eye doctor was less arrogant sounding.

This was when they also took some of my blood for testing and of course the usual papwerwork, do you have allergies, etc.

Day 1
After waiting in the waiting room with a numbered ticket, I was brought up and went straight to do my eyes first. The numbing shot hurt a bit, but after that I felt nothing. They did have me hooked up to something, but I wasn't sure what it was because it didn't knock me out. I was up the whole time, just resting my head back as the doctor worked on my eyes. It was fairly quick, and before I knew it I was in another room waiting to do my nose.

This part sucked. I laid in a kinda hard hospital bed in a very cold room with a thin blanket and just waited for almost an hour. I had no idea what was going on, no one checked up on me and for a while I was afraid I wasn't supposed to be there. But finally, they called me into the operating room and the rhinoplasty began.

This part was horrible. They shot me up with some real painful shots and they had me hooked up to some kind of anesthesia which I thought would knock me out. But it did not. I was awake for the WHOLE procedure. And I wish I wasn't....Obviously I could not feel pain, but it was just gross to feel them tugging stuff, cutting, etc. They had to take cartilage from my ear as well. The worst part was then they had to break part of my nose off (the hump). The doctor was literally hitting it with a hammer thing. I could just feel the BAMP BAMP CRUNCH ughhhh thinking about it makes me queezy........

I don't know how long it took, but it felt like forever. Then, as they started stitching me back up, the anesthesia started to wear off and I could feel the stitching, and it hurt like a b*tch. I started tearing and the doctor noticed, but he said bear with it I'm almost done....good lord, it was painful.

After everything, I laid in a waiting room with bandages holding some gauze to my nose. It was bleeding profusely, but the nurses told me not too apply pressure because they blood will dry to it and then rip again when I pull off the gauze. It was quite horrible how much blood kept coming out, but they assure me it would stop soon and sent me back to my hotel...needless to say, the hotel staff gave me looks as I walked through the lobby lol....

I went to sleep very quickly, though I did sneeze once and a crap ton of blood spurted out....ugh....

DAY 2
I ordered room service for breakfast because I did not want to go down to the hotel buffet. Then I taxi'd down to the clinic, where they checked up on me. They asked whether I had any side affects from the medicine, etc. And they said to come back that day for some red lamp sessions to decrease the swelling and to get some injections.

Now the injections....I figured would be some shots. Instead, it was directly into the vein of my hand. And because they needed to do it for 1 week every day, they left the needle head in my hand and closed it up. It was so scary to have that in my hand the whole week. Here's what it looked like:

They injected some kind of fluid that was supposed to help the swelling. I could feel it cold, going through my veins as they injected a large amount of it....
I should add that I had the splints in my nose, as many of you who have had rhinoplasty would know. It sucks, can't breathe, full of blood, etc. But aside from discomfort, no pain at all. I did not even take painkillers, just antibiotics.

Day 3
I did not do much, other than sleep and eat from room service. I did not even leave my hotel, could not wash my hair or face, just felt gross as hell. And of course went in for my lamp and injection treatments.

DAY 4
They removed the splints my nose and bandages. It hurt when they pulled it out, but it was such a relief. This was quicker than what I have heard other people say. Some kept it in for a whole week. I'm just glad I did not have to.

DAY 5-10
After the splints came out, I had no problem walking around outside, save for the fact that I still had stitches in my eyes and nose and ear. But with a dust mask on, most people didn't notice. My friend also came over from the states and we would go out to do stuff.

DAY 11
They removed the stitches from my nose and eyes, as well as removed the needle in hand. I still had the stitches in my ears though in the back. That made taking showers kind of hard. But because I wanted to go out, I did wash my head and consequently got the bandages wet.....

DAY 13
Removed my ear stitches. Everything looked like it was going well, my swelling was not noticeable at all except in my eyelids, but it wasn't so bad. The nose was great, I could not believe how not swollen it was considering they were smashing a hammer into it.

DAY 14
Went back to the states. My friends all noticed my eyes, as the lids were still a little swollen. But they did not notice my nose, or they did but didn't want to say anything. So I didn't say anything.

June 2017 (6 months later)
Here are my before and after pics, 6 months post op.
Sorry for crappy quality.

Eyes: Double lid and inner fold cut


NOSE: Hump straightened out, beak tip fixed


Price for both procedures: $3600 USD

CONCLUSION:
So I think the final price is really cheap for what I got. I'm very happy with my nose.
My eyes, on the other hand, are ok....I mean they look way better than before, but you can't see in the pic, they have extra lines under the double eyelid...I think this was because they had cut the double eyelid first, and then cut the inner fold. It isn't super noticeable unless you look closely, but yeah, they could have done better. It seems a little uneven with my eye shape too.
Nose though is great, feels great, scar is very light and minimal. Hated my old nose and feel like my profile is so much better now.

Now the cost you pay for cheap surgery is def in the bedside manner. The nurses weren't very kind, the fact that they didn't knock me out for rhinoplasty, etc, all really made it a crappy time. I'm pleased with the results and don't regret it, but I can see why people would pay extra for more professional staff and service. But this is Vietnam and as a Viet, I can say customer service sucks in VN.

Still that cost could not be beat. I was a foreigner too, so I feel a local would have had an even cheaper price.

On a side note, after I came home, I got an infection from the cut on my ear. This may have been my fault for getting it wet when it was healing. But after a week of antibiotics, it healed fine.

I hope that helps anyone considering VN for ps. It'll be cheap, I think they do decent work, but do not expect great service.....if cost is not a factor, do hit up Korea instead. But if money is a bit tight, JW is not a bad deal if you can handle being awake for rhinoplasty

 

[caliroll]

Thanks for the review. I've looked into this clinic for a while, although I have never read any first hand accounts from actual patients. I'm guessing you only had tip work and shaved down the hump. No implant right? The work looks good.

 

[fairybox]

Awwww congrats!! Your review is very, very detailed and will be helpful to those looking into Vietnam !

 

[andy-l-park]

how much u spent money for that job?

 

[caliroll]

It's right beneath the picures. $3600 USD.
Ugh, I totally wished I would have considered this doctor for my surgeries. He seems to be one of the best in Vietnam. I've watched his video with Dr. Suh. Supposedly, Dr. Suh was very concerned at first in regards to allowing this clinic to use the JW branding. He wasn't sure that this doctor was a real plastic surgeon at all, but I guess everything checked out. In the end, they must have trusted this clinic enough to license the brand. I also think this doctor has trained with Dr. Suh on his techniques. Being vietnamese myself, when he speaks in his interviews, you can tell he knows what he's talking about.
This clinic also does pretty extensive surgeries like maxillo-facial surgery. The thing I am concerned with though is the lack of multiple views of their before and afters.

@callmejay , was there no general anesthesia option at all? We're you not given a choice? Considering the fact that they do more extensive surgeries, I'm surprised it wasn't given to you as an option.

 

[madsterv]

Hi Jay,

I am considering JW for an eyelid uplift; do you mind letting me know who did the eyes’ surgery for you? Also, was there any food you had to avoid & limit your sun exposure during the recovery time?

Thanks in advance.

 

[callmejay]

Sorry I totally forgot I posted this....

@caliRoll I had ear cartilage used for the tip, but I did not need an implant anywhere else because my bridge was already high.
When you come, they show you a book of pictures of before and after pics while you are waiting.
No they gave me no options....I don't know why. I didn't even ask because I just assumed I would be put out, but yeah it was kinda scary being awake for it all. After the stints came out, the worst part was having that needle in my hand for days....

@fairybox You're welcome!

@Madsterv Doc who did my eyes was this guy http://thammyhanquoc.vn/bac-si-nguyen-anh-minh

 

[callmejay]

I should add I did not do a good job post op in taking care of my eyes, with going out doors a lot and not moisturizing all the time. So there is a visible scar when I close my eyes, you can tell there's a cut there. It's not a huge deal, but I would recommend doing a better job than I did with post op healing....

 

[madsterv]

@callmejay, the doctor is Vietnamese instead of Korean?

callmejay said: ↑

Sorry I totally forgot I posted this....

@caliRoll I had ear cartilage used for the tip, but I did not need an implant anywhere else because my bridge was already high.
When you come, they show you a book of pictures of before and after pics while you are waiting.
No they gave me no options....I don't know why. I didn't even ask because I just assumed I would be put out, but yeah it was kinda scary being awake for it all. After the stints came out, the worst part was having that needle in my hand for days....

@fairybox You're welcome!

@Madsterv Doc who did my eyes was this guy http://thammyhanquoc.vn/bac-si-nguyen-anh-minh

Click to expand...

 

[callmejay]

Madsterv said: ↑

@callmejay, the doctor is Vietnamese instead of Korean?

Click to expand...

They are all viet from what I saw.

 

[ciaochryseis]

Hi Jay,

Thanks for your review! I’m keen on exploring rhino and double eyelid surgery in Vietnam too! I shall contact them!

Other than the customer service part and them not knocking you out fully for the procedure, I think they did a great job on your nose and eyes!!

 

[nochu]

Thanks for sharing your experience! You organized your post well. Really informative and easy to follow.

Yikes the surgery experience sounds terrifying. Sounds like you had local but no twilight sedation. I’dhave so much anxiety, especially with the long wait on the table beforehand. You handled it well.

 

[catelet]

Your nose looks great and I think your eyes do as well! What a great price for both.

 

[callmejay]

Thanks everyone. It's been over a year and everything seems OK.
My nose is fine. My eyes still have a noticeable scar when I close my eyes. That hasn't really healed as nicely as I'd like, but still, not that bad given the price I paid and the results overall.

But yes, if being knocked out is a must for you, make sure you ask your doctor about it beforehand. I don't know if it's normal to not be knocked out in VN for rhino, but it is a scary experience and just something you should check (I didn't and just assumed they would...lesson learned)

 

[ciaochryseis]

I just tried to contact them but I couldn’t get an English speaking translator to speak to me. Do you have a direct contact via LINE of WhatsApp? Or an email to share?


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