It has been exactly a year since I had my double eyelid revision surgery with DR Kang from IOU to correct my depth.For the past 1 year, I have been very confused with the depth of my eyes because they look different in photos especially under different lighting and even the type of camera you used. Sometimes they look very natural and sometimes they look very deep. I am especially afraid to look at mirrors/have pictures taken under strong light/sunlight where they appeared the deepest.
I know deep inside my heart, the only way to confirm is to go back to Dr Kang’s office to have my pictures taken to see the comparison of the before and after. The same place, under the same lighting and camera will tell me the truth. Prior to this trip, I tried to email Dr Kang a few months back and I was shocked to see my mail was bounced back. I tried using another email to reach him and this time it went through. He said he will be free to meet me on that day. Then 2 weeks before my trip, I emailed him again to confirm my visit. I realized he blocked my other email again. Well I am truly offended by this.
I don’t have a choice so I reached him using another email that doesn’t show my real name. Finally he confirmed it will be ok. I was thinking maybe I have been an irritating patients. Something I won’t disagree. About 7 months after my surgery, I probably emailed him about 6 times and he was really put off… During this period, he told me that I will see my final result after 1 year and I promised him to wait.
At his clinic, I asked Dr Kang why the depth is still so deep especially my left eye. It looks exactly like before surgery but worst with scar and slight weird folding. He said every patient’s body reacts to tissues differently and I need another 6 months to 1 year for my left eye for the depth to improve and to look like my right eye. I cannot believe he asked me to wait again!
There is also a tiny slight line protruding out from my double eyelid line at the inner front corner of my left eye. Dr Kang insisted that it is scar but I told him it is due to bad stitching which I saw from photo of the suture a few days after surgery. He insisted it is scar and it will go away. When my left eye is closed, there is an indented olds scars from the line he removed. I asked if that’s permanent scars and again he said no. Well, the whole review session was very different from my 1st consultation where I was promised there won’t be any scar from his revision. (I visited a number of doctors and some said it is permanent scars and it cannot be removed even with scar revision surgery).
Throughout our conversation, he seems a little nervous. Then he told me I am a very worrisome patient and I wrote some bad reviews about him in forum and many people were scared after my postings. I was slightly taken aback when he said this. I said no and that it’s not me who posted any bad reviews on him. I think I did write something about me not sure about the improvement on my depth but I definitely did not post anything bad about him. Again I am pretty offended by this statement. He said he read it in forum.
He didn’t offer to take my after picture. But I requested for it. After the photo is taken, I asked if I could see them. He hesitated and said why is it necessary to see the photo when I could clearly see myself from mirror. I said I am curious. After I saw my photo, I nearly fainted and I could feel my heart thumping so fast that I thought it’s going to leap out any moment The photo has confirmed there is no difference between the before and after photos that were taken at his office. I told him there is no difference and he quickly added that “but I remove your deep lines and scars””. I could no longer breathe so I said thanks and left his office abruptly. . I had a mild panic attack at his office and I continue to break out in cold sweat outside his office. I get this whenever I am overly upset and worried.
Yes I do have a slight wrinkle scar condition on my left eye which he removed with fat grafting. But Dr Kwon from Teium didn’t even leave behind any scar on me when my eyes are closed and his stitching is so much better. I don’t know what deep line is he talking about? Dr Kang’s stitching is really terrible and looks like the work of an amateur. It is pretty bumpy and looks like centipede at the both corners of my eyes. I was watching Grey’s Anatomy the other day and Mark Slone said the basic skill of any plastic surgeon is the ability to stitch well and not leaving any scar marks on patients. I think Dr Kang doesn’t deliver in this aspect.
I regretted doing the surgery with him because there is no improvement. How can I not be worried for the last one year? All the anxiety, worries, constant selfies, money and time invested in this surgery and all for nothing? My double eyelids turn even darker than before and my left scar is worst than before. I don't think I can even do another revision surgery until about 1-2 years later.
Please do not get me wrong. I don’t look very ugly or very bad now. He didn’t give me a botch job either. But now I am starting to believe all the great reviews I saw in the forum might be advertisements/marketing. I didn’t even source for 2nd opinion and I trusted the reviews on forum hence I flew all the way from my home country to Seoul and had the surgery with him half an hour after my consultation. Big mistake. I shouldn’t have believed it will be a scar less surgery either, afterall it’s a revision and it comes with risk.
I agree that Dr Kang is a very nice, kind and patient surgeon as written in forum. I guess we are all look for surgeons who are nice and makes us feel comfortable enough to entrust our eyes to them. I realize now all those good doctors are usually very busy and who won't hesitate to turn you down. But I am not looking for a life partner but a doctor who will deliver. Did I mention that he said my depth was corrected 80% after the surgery last year? Yet he cut exactly the same depth for my new incision. This proves that he doesn’t know what’s he doing?
I wanted to undo my ptosis correction as I prefer my smaller eyes before. He said to me if I were his sister or cousin, he wouldn’t recommend that because from an aesthetic point of view, it wouldn’t look great. I got the same remarks from Dr Kwon from Teium, Dr Shin from Shinseung and Dr Shin from Duhans. For this aspect, he’s not that bad.
Also after my revision surgery with Dr Kang, I do not know what happened. My eyes look longer than before, visually. I know he didn’t cut my epic and he probably didn’t expect this to happen. People who saw my before and after photo all confirmed my eyes look so much longer. (I had epic surgery by Dr Kwon from Teium but it looks rounder and more subtle before revision). One of the doctors keep looking at my photos and told me my eyes are longer after my revision and he said it is weird and this is something that cannot be explained. Dr Kang said nothing is changed but he is nice to show me a patient’s photo and tried to convince me not to do epic reversal because my eyes will look smaller. For this, I think he is still a kind doctor!
Perhaps those patients who posted great reviews are those who had very serious cases. Very high and sausagy eyelids hence when their lines are lowered even though they ended up with scars, they are happy with the results. Dr Kang from IOU is definitely over-rated in this forum and if you do not have very serious case but just mild correction, I do not recommend Dr Kang at all because of the knife marks and stitching problem. I met another patient who had surgery with Dr Kang a few months back. She asked for very natural eyelids but her result is definitely deeper than what she asked and also ended up with indented scars that won’t heal like mine. She also posted her unhappy review previously. I know of another patient who had 4th surgery with Dr Kang and is super happy that her lids are finally lowered even though she also have obvious scars. I guess it really depends on your expectations. I am disappointed with the results and in myself for entrusting my eyes to simply words written in forums without much research. Apparently, some of the doctors said Dr Kang performs more on foreigners and local doesn’t really go to him. I wish I had done more research. The few doctors whom I consulted were curious why I had revision surgery. When I told them it's to reduce depth. Their faces either registered a shocked or trying hard not to laugh because they feel there is NO DIFFERENCE!
My word for advice is do not see blindly, do your research and consult more doctors to get a more objective opinion.
I'm planning to go to Malaysia in a few months and I need to do some research if it's cheaper and safe...to get eyelid surgery there.... I don't want an obvious line through my eyelids
as everyone heals differently but generally non-incisional has a risk of unravelling but the line isn't obvious at all. Read up on it on these forums as these helped me a lot
