soohexo2811 Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Hey everyone! I have been a lurker of this forum for quite some time, and found some really helpful information that aided me when I was looking for hospitals to have my surgery. I hope that I will be able to help at least one person when looking into plastic surgery in Korea I flew to Seoul in early April and had my consultations the following day of my arrival, on a Friday with the help of Claire from Beautique Korea. My chosen clinics to have consultations at were Banobagi, JW and April31. The procedures that I wanted done were 1) Rhinoplasty with alar reduction 2) Non-incisional DES with ptosis correction, epicantoplasty and/or lateral cantoplasty 3) Accusculpt on my cheeks, jawline and chin. By the way, be prepared for a long post ahahaha >.< And for those who may be wondering, because I wanted to make sure I was fully healed, I stayed in Seoul for a month though it isn’t really necessary!JW First up was my appointment at JW which was at 10am. Claire, whom I decided to entrust with literally everything in regards to my surgery, arranged for a car to pick me up and drive me to the clinic. Side note though, throughout my whole plastic journey, Claire ALWAYS arranged a luxury car to take me everywhere. As these are professional drivers, they are more careful and gentle while driving compared to the regular taxi drivers, which is super important especially after surgery. Claire met me at JW and I was attended to really fast by the staff there. I filled in some forms and had to wait no longer then 5 minutes before I was seen by a doctor. The first doctor I met was the eye specialist, Dr Kim. When Dr Kim saw me, he actually said I already have beautiful, well proportioned eyes and that he did not deem it necessary for me to get non-incisional DES, ptosis correction, epi and lateral cantoplasty. Instead he suggested that I get an eyebrow or forehead lift to make my eyes look bigger, wider, and ‘fresher’ if that makes sense. Next doctor I met was Dr Suh, the rhinoplasty specialist. Dr Suh suggested that I get a 8mm implant as my nose bridge was basically non existent, as well as harvesting cartilage from my ribcage for my nose tip as the one on my ears wouldn’t be enough and give the best result. This did worry me quite a bit as the recovery time for me will need to be extended. I also saw either Dr Suh or Dr Hong for the accusculpt, but smart me decided to write up my experience 6 months after it happened and can’t remember which doctor I saw for it >.< Anyways, the doctor I saw recommended the same areas that I was concerned about to get the accusculpt too. Afterwards, I met with Jay, a consultant whom spoke fluent English and was also with me throughout my whole consultation, discussed the procedures mentioned and their prices.April31 Next up was my appointment with April31. Originally, my appointment time was at 1pm, however I finished up my appointment at JW earlier then expected, thus Claire called up April31 and they managed to slot me in at 11:15. Compared to JW, as soon as I arrived, I was greeted by the staff and English consultant, whom took me into one of the consultation rooms and took my X-Rays, CT scans and some fancy 3D machine that I forgot the name of As soon as I was done, I waited for no longer then 5mins and was seen by Dr Oh, the eye surgery specialist. Dr Oh also said that I had nice eyes, and that they were well proportioned. He didn’t think I need any of the cantoplasty or DES as I already had them. Instead he suggested like Dr Kim, that I either got an eyebrow or forehead lift for the wider, fresher look. The difference was not only at the price, but the results from the two different types of lifts. He slowly took the time to explain what the differences were, and how both procedures would be done. (If anyone wants to know the differences, pros and cons, and method, feel free to PM me!). Dr Oh was extremely patient and I felt that if I had my surgery done with him, I was in safe hands. Next up was Dr Park who specialises in facial contouring. Dr Park commented that I actually had a nice face shape and a natural V line, but I had a chubby face so it hid all of that. He gave me an example. It’s like a person with an amazing body, however they were wearing clothes that were thick and 5 times too big for their body thus hiding their true figure. He also patiently explained to me how the procedures would be done, recovery, scarring, and healing time. Since I was early, Dr Kim the rhinoplasty surgeon was still in surgery, so I went to lunch first with Claire, and came back at 1pm for my consultation. Dr Kim is an extremely well known rhinoplasty surgeon, and is famous for making a big but natural difference, as well as being able to do the ‘piggy nose’ after surgery. Dr Kim looked at my scan and X-Rays and also suggested a 7-8mm implant for my non existent nose bridge However, when I asked him if it was necessary to harvest cartilage from my rib to achieve the results I wanted, he said that there was no need, and that cartilage from my ear would be more then enough. He then drew an outline of the nose I wanted onto my 3D scan, to show me the results he would be able to realistically achieve for me. Despite being a well known and busy doctor, he was patient with all my queries, never rushed me, and gave me long detailed explanations. He also explained to me, that as my skin around my nostrils are rather thick, thus he would only be able to reduce my alars to a certain degree (I’ll let you know how it turned out and if I was satisfied with how much was reduced ) After all my consultations were done, I met with the Korean consultant to talk about which procedures I wanted done, price and if it’s negotiable. At this point in time I was rather confident at which hospital I wanted my surgery done. Honestly speaking, I felt that the consultant was quite uptight, and at times hostile. Claire would try to help me ask for a better price, but she would be rather firm and stoic about her answer. In the end after some discussion with Claire, we left the hospital without securing a surgery date at that point in time till they got back to us with a better offer. Just for reference, compared to JW’s price, I would be paying about $9-10k AUD more for the same procedures (except for JW it was with the rib cartilage for rhinoplasty). Despite leaving, even if they didn’t give further discounts, I knew that my heart was set on April31 no matter what. Claire then cancelled my appointment with Banobagi as I deemed that it wasn’t necessary to go there anymore, and reassured me that it’s fine for cancelling last minute. After all my consultations, Claire didn’t have to, but she accompanied me to a hair salon which she recommended (staff were amazing and the hair stylist did a great job). She stayed with me for a while, and helped me tell the hair stylist what I wanted etc. Long story short, 1hr into getting my hair done, while getting the most amazing scalp massage I’ve ever had, Claire messaged me to say that she managed to get the price that I was after! I was over the moon >.< She then promptly arranged me to have the surgery on the following Monday at 2pm. In the end, the procedures that I chose to do were rhinoplasty with alar reduction, forehead lift, accusculpt on cheek, jaw and chin, as well as a facelift for the extra skin from my accusculpt. To be honest, I never thought I would go with April31. The hospital that was my first choice was Banobagi before I went for any consultation due to the great reviews on youtube etc. But after having my consultation at April31, I was confident that this place would give me the best results I desired while in safe hands. And a side note, I was not paid or sponsored by April31 or Beautique Korea in any shape or form to write this post. I am genuinely grateful and elated from the bottom of my heart with all the help and care provided. A BIG shoutout to Claire for being so amazing, I can never praise enough about her. This will conclude my first post! Sorry for rambling a lot but I was trying to be as detailed as possible >_< I will try to write the followup within the next few days, which will include surgery day, recovery, and if I’m happy with the results 6, nearly 7 months post op. In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to comment or PM me, I’m happy to help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fresh_cucumber Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Isn't it scary to choose small sized clinics for PS? I mean in terms of safety and after care :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soohexo2811 Posted October 30, 2018 Author Share Posted October 30, 2018 Hmmm not sure which clinic you’re referring to as small. All three clinics are considered big and well known in my opinion! It’s just that JW and Banobagi do a lot of advertising aimed towards the international market thus more people would’ve heard of them from either YouTube or blogs. April31 doesn’t do much international marketing but they are extremely popular to the local Koreans especially since Dr Kim is arguably one of the best rhinoplasty surgeons out there. And if you’re wondering about safety and after care, April31 has their very own in house anaesthesiologist that is there throughout the whole surgery to monitor the patient’s vital signs. And I know for a fact that Beautique Korea only recommends clinics that have been thoroughly checked and approved by the government. Clinics recommended are also checked to have all the equipments needed if something does go wrong, as well as not using shadow doctors. The aftercare that I was provided was also amazing. Whenever I got my stitches checked, cleaned etc, all the doctors who had performed different procedures would come in and check on me and ask me how I was doing. Nurses were gentle while tending to my surgical areas. I also got the usual deswelling treatment, and they gave me an amazing facial as service! ☺️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kioku Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Are you comfortable with sharing Before/After pics of your rhinoplasty ? I believe I do have thick nasal skin and from just adjusting it and imagining alar reduction infront of a mirror (haha), I'm not sure if what I want would be within reasonable expectations and did you use any reference photos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soohexo2811 Posted October 31, 2018 Author Share Posted October 31, 2018 Sure but please PM me ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fresh_cucumber Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 Maybe I was mistaken about it size, because it wasn't mentioned a lot among pf reviews Thanks for your experience sharing, post op care is very important and not much clinics seem to provide it well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soohexo2811 Posted October 31, 2018 Author Share Posted October 31, 2018 Ahaha yes, April31 isn't as well known to the international market. In my opinion, they don't really need the extra advertising as their amazing results speak for themselves through word of mouth, and they already have a large client base in Korea thus not having the need to appeal to potential international clients. But that's just my opinion ahahaha. And yes I agree, post op care is extremely important! Glad that I had a great team of doctors and nurses looking after, forever grateful to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offtotheraces Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 Looking forward to your follow up post! I sent you a message as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elainecheng Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 Hi do you mind to tell how much is the surgery cost for your rhino and accuscult? Or the whole package in total including the forehead lift for our reference? Thanks a bunch in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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