How to go from 50+ to looking 20+ with plastic surgery rejuvenation.

[MissOrange]

Hi dannythedragon, here are the photos - before, D2 with swelling at its peak, D7 (i have really bad bruises and my incision line start from top of ear all the way to neck) and D8. I will be taking down my photos after some time. I was hoping the incision would start from around temple area so perhaps it would kinda "elongate" the length of my eyes but the doctor refuse to do it on me.

Hi @kathybunny, beautiful suturing at Asps! Korean surgeons are the best at suturing. May I ask what the current price is at ASPS?

If you have any pred left take 20 mg today as there is still a bit of swelling on one side and wear a head compression bandage until the swelling is completely gone. Pred definitely stopped you from having immense swelling. For the bruises, buy arnica cream from the pharmacy.

Thank you for sharing. I still approve and recommend ASPS for charging foreigners reasonably and doing smas facelifts and not invasive deep plane. Less is more!

My friend will be starting on 30 mg pred next month for her face and neck lift. The aim is zero swelling.

 

[kathybunny]

Hi @kathybunny,

I would have recommended going up to 30 mg pred for a week (which is the equivalent of 24 mg of methylpred in a medrol pack) when you were still swollen on 20 mg for 4 days. 10 mg is too little to have an effect. Swelling may be proportional to how much handling of skin and tissues were done during surgery.

ASPS does smas lifts so this is good. Are you wearing head compression day and night? On the right dose of steroids all swelling should disappear within hours.

Hi MissOrange, I wore the compression 2 hours on and off according to the clinic's instruction and stopped at day 5 when the swelling started to subside. You mentioned about the retaining ligament being severed for deep plane FL. Is it also common for SMAS FL? The doctor said there is no way the SMAS layer can be pulled up without severing the retaining ligaments. I also saw your post mentioning you remove the stitches on day 4? I wanted them to remove on day 6 and even propose to postpone my flight to day 7 just to remove the stitches there but they are adamant on not doing because they claimed it would tear the wound.

 

[MissOrange]

@MissOrange, I hear you about not doing a browlift and doing fat transfer to the eyelids when you have hollowness on your lids.

However, there are people such as myself who do not have hollow eyelids but instead I have excess skin and fat on my lids, which make the lids bulge out instead of being sunken. I think in this case having a fat transfer to the lids would exacerbate the problem, no?

So looking at my eyes (pls excuse the lash extensions - I hope you can see the issues and ignore the lashes):

1) I do indeed need an upper bleph.

2) The distance between my brows and my eyes is already quite short. After the upper bleph, the brows may be pulled down further, thus making this distance even shorter.

3) Due to ageing and a stupid threadlift with no steroids post-op, I have excess loose skin on the outer corners (all the way from the end of my brows down to my outer eye corners) - pls refer to the second pic where I've circled it in red. This is making the skin on my outer eye corners even more excessive, and also at the same time making my lateral/outer brows even more droopy. As such, I do think that I would benefit from a temporal or pretrichial browlift (ie. not a direct browlift) to lift & cut off this excess skin and lift up my outer eye corners. I note also that my brows used to be more arched upwards.

4) A fat transfer to the temples and perhaps under the eyes too would definitely help reverse some of the ageing.

5) I will also ask about fat transfer to the rest of my face (granted you can't see my whole face here), like you've done. Agreed that full face fat transfer - when done well - really helps the face to look naturally younger (ie. not a chipmunk face as fillers can do).

What would be your thoughts and advice please?
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Hi @Lien, find a photo when you were younger and compare height of eyebrows. It will help you decide if you need a browlift or not.

 

[dannythedragon]

Hi dannythedragon, here are the photos - before, D2 with swelling at its peak, D7 (i have really bad bruises and my incision line start from top of ear all the way to neck) and D8. I will be taking down my photos after some time. I was hoping the incision would start from around temple area so perhaps it would kinda "elongate" the length of my eyes but the doctor refuse to do it on me.

Hi kathybunny, thank you for posting because it helps that real patients post. It would be really interesting to follow your journey over time . I know it is early days and the real test would be in a year's time but it looks like it has knocked 20 years off you. You might have to face getting asked for ID for any over 18 activity like MissOrange lol.
You may have to consider separate surgery for your eye area but people say having FLs can enhance the eye area so I understand how you feel. Are you generally happy with everything? Heal well.

 

[MissOrange]

Hi MissOrange, I wore the compression 2 hours on and off according to the clinic's instruction and stopped at day 5 when the swelling started to subside. You mentioned about the retaining ligament being severed for deep plane FL. Is it also common for SMAS FL? The doctor said there is no way the SMAS layer can be pulled up without severing the retaining ligaments. I also saw your post mentioning you remove the stitches on day 4? I wanted them to remove on day 6 and even propose to postpone my flight to day 7 just to remove the stitches there but they are adamant on not doing because they claimed it would tear the wound.

Hi @kathybunny, wow you are a model patient. You went to the Korean clinic I recommended for smas facelifts, you had a smas facelift, you took steroids, you wore compression and you wanted your stitches out early too!

I am so pleased after dealing with a difficult British lady who refused my advice to start steroids after her face and neck lift so she ended up blind for a few days and tremendously swollen. She had revision deep plane that took 10-12 hours and the Turkish surgeon told her he trimmed zero excess skin!!! No wonder as the field was all swollen.

Smas does not cut any facial retaining ligaments so you are fine. Have you had your sutures out now? Day 8 is a bit late but not as bad as day 12 in some UK clinics. I only recommend removal on day 4 if you are a doctor with eczema and can remove your own. Most clinics suggest removal in a week. They must be itching you as you too have eczema. Nick told me to keep my sutures in for a week and take antihistamine tablets to stop the itch! But I know my body and when the stitches need to come out or else I will scar. I took out my eyelid sutures in 18 hours in Korea! lol. Again only do if you are a doctor please. We patients with eczema have skin that heals much faster than regular patients which is why my skin incisions closed fast.

 

[6098Sophia]

Hi dannythedragon, here are the photos - before, D2 with swelling at its peak, D7 (i have really bad bruises and my incision line start from top of ear all the way to neck) and D8. I will be taking down my photos after some time. I was hoping the incision would start from around temple area so perhaps it would kinda "elongate" the length of my eyes but the doctor refuse to do it on me.

Thanks for sharing your journey with us. I'm thinking of going to asps too. With Dr

Hi dannythedragon, here are the photos - before, D2 with swelling at its peak, D7 (i have really bad bruises and my incision line start from top of ear all the way to neck) and D8. I will be taking down my photos after some time. I was hoping the incision would start from around temple area so perhaps it would kinda "elongate" the length of my eyes but the doctor refuse to do it on me.

Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us! Was your surgeon Lee Min Koo? I think I will definitely go to ASPS in a couple of years. My only issue is how to get steroids prescribed? Anyway, happy healing to you!

 

[Lien]

Hi @Lien, find a photo when you were younger and compare height of eyebrows. It will help you decide if you need a browlift or not.

Good idea. I really think I do. Thanks.

 

[kathybunny]

Hi MissOrange, yes you are the one who placed ASPS on my radar haha. The other 2 clinics I consulted with was Vlift which was initially my first choice & Girin. I paid 11mil KRW at ASPS, slightly higher than the other 2 clinics because ASPS don't offer discount. Girin & Vlift offer 20-30% discounts in exchange for online review. By the way i'm not against posting review to get discount because i don't think anyone would post fake review if the clinic screw up their faces badly so these clinics must be pretty confident with their work to ask people to post review of them i guess.

Actually ASPS did cut my retaining ligaments. I specifically asked if my retaining ligament would be cut during my consultation with Dr Lee and the translator told me yes otherwise they can't do the SMAS FL. This is what i understand from Vlift too.

I still have the stitches as ASPS told me i can only get it removed around day 12! It's not itching but it's such a hassle to find a clinic to remove it in my own country. I wish i can remove it myself but i'm not a doctor like u haha.

Oh on top of the FL, ASPS also did botox for me at no extra cost so i will have to wait and see if my jawline stays almost the same after the effect of the botox wear off. The korean consultant was pretty nice to offer me free filler for my nasolabial fold as she said the FL would not eliminate that but as my stay in Korea is too short so she said i can only do it the next time i go Korea.

 

[kathybunny]

Hi kathybunny, thank you for posting because it helps that real patients post. It would be really interesting to follow your journey over time . I know it is early days and the real test would be in a year's time but it looks like it has knocked 20 years off you. You might have to face getting asked for ID for any over 18 activity like MissOrange lol.
You may have to consider separate surgery for your eye area but people say having FLs can enhance the eye area so I understand how you feel. Are you generally happy with everything? Heal well.

Hi dannythedragon, thanks haha. I'm in my late thirties so i don't think my face will be this saggy if not for the zygoma reduction i did a few years back no thanks to Banobagi recommendation. For those out there considering facial contouring surgery, my genuine advise would be to think thrice if you really need and start saving for the FL because chances are you are going to need it after FC. I think it's too early to tell if i'm happy with the result but i will update here in time to come.

 

[kathybunny]

Thanks for sharing your journey with us. I'm thinking of going to asps too. With Dr

Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us! Was your surgeon Lee Min Koo? I think I will definitely go to ASPS in a couple of years. My only issue is how to get steroids prescribed? Anyway, happy healing to you!

Yes my doctor is Lee Min Koo. I requested from the GP for my eczema but i really did have eczema flare up few weeks ago. My GP initially only prescribed the usual anti-histamine and hydrocortisone cream but i said i wanted to try the oral steroid too. Too bad he's only willing to prescribe 5 days course of 20mg a day. Try to get more if you can as its better to be over prepared than under prepared if you are prone to swelling like me.

 

[MissOrange]

Hi MissOrange, yes you are the one who placed ASPS on my radar haha. The other 2 clinics I consulted with was Vlift which was initially my first choice & Girin. I paid 11mil KRW at ASPS, slightly higher than the other 2 clinics because ASPS don't offer discount. Girin & Vlift offer 20-30% discounts in exchange for online review. By the way i'm not against posting review to get discount because i don't think anyone would post fake review if the clinic screw up their faces badly so these clinics must be pretty confident with their work to ask people to post review of them i guess.

Actually ASPS did cut my retaining ligaments. I specifically asked if my retaining ligament would be cut during my consultation with Dr Lee and the translator told me yes otherwise they can't do the SMAS FL. This is what i understand from Vlift too.

I still have the stitches as ASPS told me i can only get it removed around day 12! It's not itching but it's such a hassle to find a clinic to remove it in my own country. I wish i can remove it myself but i'm not a doctor like u haha.

Oh on top of the FL, ASPS also did botox for me at no extra cost so i will have to wait and see if my jawline stays almost the same after the effect of the botox wear off. The korean consultant was pretty nice to offer me free filler for my nasolabial fold as she said the FL would not eliminate that but as my stay in Korea is too short so she said i can only do it the next time i go Korea.

Thanks @kathybunny, 11 million won is $10k or £8k so a very decent price for a smas facelift and with no need to write a review or have your photos used in social media! Did the price include neck lift too as your incision goes back behind your ear into your hairline? If so, that is truly an incredible bargain price!

It is confusing about the facial retaining ligaments which lie in the deep plane. Here is another surgeon explaining that these ligaments are not cut in smas facelifts.

I wonder if some of this is lost in translation between Korean and English? Oh my, 12 days! No!!! Find a clinic asap and get your stitches out now. It has been 8 days!

In the UK nurses in NHS GP surgeries can take out stitches for patients who have had surgery abroad. Sounds like anyone getting a facelift at ASPS has to stay long enough to cover suture removal at 12 days if they can’t readily find a clinic to remove the stitches back home.

I would be wearing the compression much longer than 2 hours at a time. I bought an ebay china one which was very comfortable and could watch netflix for hours with it on.

 

[MissOrange]

Good idea. I really think I do. Thanks.

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Hi @Lien, your eyebrow tattoo is too low which then makes your brows look lower. You don’t need a brow or a forehead lift in my opinion. Once the eyebrow tattoo wears off your brows will look fine.

 

[Lien]

Hi @Lien, your eyebrow tattoo is too low which then makes your brows look lower. You don’t need a brow or a forehead lift in my opinion. Once the eyebrow tattoo wears off your brows will look fine.

Appreciate your input, @MissOrange. I haven't had my brows touched at all for the last 6 years. They've faded a lot but the hair on my eyebrows is exactly where you see. Besides, the excess loose skin where I've circled in red isn't gonna be removed, even with an upper bleph.

 

[rosie8800]

@MissOrange, I hear you about not doing a browlift and doing fat transfer to the eyelids when you have hollowness on your lids.

However, there are people such as myself who do not have hollow eyelids but instead I have excess skin and fat on my lids, which make the lids bulge out instead of being sunken. I think in this case having a fat transfer to the lids would exacerbate the problem, no?

So looking at my eyes (pls excuse the lash extensions - I hope you can see the issues and ignore the lashes):

1) I do indeed need an upper bleph.

2) The distance between my brows and my eyes is already quite short. After the upper bleph, the brows may be pulled down further, thus making this distance even shorter.

3) Due to ageing and a stupid threadlift with no steroids post-op, I have excess loose skin on the outer corners (all the way from the end of my brows down to my outer eye corners) - pls refer to the second pic where I've circled it in red. This is making the skin on my outer eye corners even more excessive, and also at the same time making my lateral/outer brows even more droopy. As such, I do think that I would benefit from a temporal or pretrichial browlift (ie. not a direct browlift) to lift & cut off this excess skin and lift up my outer eye corners. I note also that my brows used to be more arched upwards.

4) A fat transfer to the temples and perhaps under the eyes too would definitely help reverse some of the ageing.

5) I will also ask about fat transfer to the rest of my face (granted you can't see my whole face here), like you've done. Agreed that full face fat transfer - when done well - really helps the face to look naturally younger (ie. not a chipmunk face as fillers can do).

What would be your thoughts and advice please?
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Your temples look fine, I think if you fill it, it might look weird but if you really want to, I think a little is fine.
upper blepharoplasty will help if you like the O.O (eyes wide open) type of look.
Fat graft is fine, but your cheekbones are big and pretty so maybe not too much. I think you already look great.

 

[rosie8800]

Hi dannythedragon, here are the photos - before, D2 with swelling at its peak, D7 (i have really bad bruises and my incision line start from top of ear all the way to neck) and D8. I will be taking down my photos after some time. I was hoping the incision would start from around temple area so perhaps it would kinda "elongate" the length of my eyes but the doctor refuse to do it on me.

What type of facelift did you get? Is it a deep plane facelift or a regular smas type of lift? Can you explain any side effects if you have any? I think it currently looks great, but full results is usually 1 year post op