This is going to be a super long review so please bear with me!! I personally loved reading other people’s reviews when I was doing my own research so I hope this will be helpful for many people. I will split it up into pre-op and post op, including the day by day recovery process and some extra tips.
Consultation:
I consulted with a couple of clinics (Marble, JT clinic, NANA, Shiseung and Hyundai) online before settling on NANA as they gave me the best overall vibe and I liked their results. I also couldn’t find any negative reviews on NANA which I saw as a positive thing. I paid a 10% deposit to secure a surgery time slot as this was a last minute decision and I only had 2 weeks to do everything. Unfortunately this also meant I couldn’t choose my surgeon. They recommended Dr. Park to me and I agreed to go with her after I had a look at her reviews on Gangnam Unni (I found out later that apparently she is really popular with locals at the moment).
During the online consultation, I was recommended to do the following:
- Ptosis correction
- Incisional eyelid surgery
- Epicanthoplasty
- Rhinoplasty with hump removal, osteomy and tipoplasty
Other clinics had also recommended lateral and lower canthoplasty but NANA did not mention these. For the nose, all clinics gave me the same recommendation.
I had initially booked with the English translating team but found out later that the Chinese team actually give cheaper rates and bigger discounts. After some back and forth I managed to get transferred to the Chinese team. The price difference was quite significant, so if you can speak Chinese I would suggest you try contact clinics via their WeChat (maybe other clinics do similar things and offer bigger discounts for their Chinese clients). The Chinese team were very responsive and helpful during my arrival, and they also booked a hotel room for me which was 200 metres away from the clinic (The Designer Hotel LYG Gangnam Premier).
I landed on the 9th and had a couple of days to shop and sight see before my face to face consultation on the 11th and surgery on the 12th.
Pre-op:
The face to face consult was on the day before my surgery. I checked in with the front desk receptionist and was promptly greeted by the Chinese consultant. She accompanied me through the entire process. She took me to an empty room and had a look at my face and told me she thought I would not need to get ptosis correction or epicanthoplasty. I had to wait for around 20 minutes to see my doctor as she seemed to be quite busy that day. She came in and confirmed that I didn’t need ptosis correction and that she did not think I should do epicanthoplasty either as it wouldn’t make a good difference (I already had enough white showing in my eyes). Then she used toothpicks to create a crease. She asked me if I wanted tapered or parallel and I told her I didn’t really care, as long as it suited my face. We both agreed on the same height, which ended up to be a parallel crease. Then we discussed the nose aspect. I brought in lots of reference photos which was really helpful. We ended up deciding to go with a small silicone bridge implant and tipoplasty with septal and ear cartilage. After she left, the consultant finalised pricing with me (somehow it was 2mil cheaper than what I was quoted online) and I decided to pay the full amount that day. They gave me a digital receipt which was sent to my Korean mobile number. After this, I went upstairs to do a routine blood test and they also took my blood pressure. The entire appointment took around 2.5 hours.
Since I was recovering alone, I stocked up on lots of juices and water as well as jelly pouches and fruit for the first few days. The local convenience stores had everything I could possibly need. I also found a food delivery app called Shuttle that accepts foreign cards (other Korean delivery apps require a Korean card and social security number).
On the day of the surgery, I was asked to arrive at 12:30pm for a 2pm surgery slot. As soon as I arrived, the consultant took me to sign paperwork and to explain the anaesthesia process and surgery aftercare to me. Then she took me to wash my face and change into the surgery gown, then I sat and waited to see my doctor again. She came in after around 5 minutes and confirmed my crease height, looked at my nose reference photos, then started drawing on my face. I was then taken into the surgery room where they told me to lie down. The anaesthesiologist attached me to an IV drip while we were waiting for the doctor. This was probably the scariest part since they have to strap your arms and legs down onto the surgery table. My doctor came in and drew the lines for where she would cut my eyes (she was very detailed and redrew them 3 times before she was satisfied they were perfect- which I appreciated). Then they put me under sedation for eyelid surgery. They injected something (probably more anaesthesia) into my eyelid (this was the only painful part) and surgery began. I was fully awake but very out of it. I wouldn’t say this part was scary, I just felt like I was floating around in space. I could feel pressure on my eyes but no pain at all. She asked me to open and close my eyes a few times which was a bit hard because I felt so drowsy. When she was suturing my eyes it smelled like bbq meat
When they finished with eyes, they told me to go to the bathroom if I needed to and then knocked me out for rhinoplasty. I honestly don’t even remember falling asleep. If felt like I blinked and the next thing I knew, I opened my eyes and I was in a reclining chair in the recovery room. The nurse came to check on me once I woke up and after about 30 minutes she told me I could go home. I felt really sleepy but walked home with no major issues. My consultant also gave me my medicine which she had collected from the pharmacy for me during my surgery, which contained pills to take three times a day as well as antiseptic cream for the stitches and some eye drops. The pharmacy packed the pills into little plastic bags labelled morning, noon and evening which was really convenient. NANA also provided me with an ice pack shaped like an eye mask.
Immediately after surgery:
The first night went by in a blur. I was still really hazy from the anaesthesia so I just got home and sat in bed propped up by 3 pillows and a neck pillow. I remember having a slight sore throat from the breathing tube and my eyes and nose felt so puffy and tight that I could barely open them, but there was no pain. However, I did feel some pain behind my ear from where they took the cartilage. The most uncomfortable part was the nose packing. Since I could only breathe through my mouth, it made the sore throat worse. Luckily I had packed sore throat lozenges. The swelling around my eyes was pretty intense the first night as well since rhinoplasty makes eyes swell in addition to the eyelid surgery. My area around and under my eyes were a dark red colour. I probably iced my face 5 times for 30 min each time during the first night. I didn’t get much sleep as I was struggling to get used to breathing through my mouth.
Day 1 post op:
I kept icing my face every couple of hours throughout the day. It was really hard to eat because I couldn’t chew and breathe at the same time, but I drank a lot of fluids. I recommend getting smoothies or protein shakes as you might struggle to eat like I did. And make sure you buy a pack of straws to make it easier for you to drink! I still had no pain other than behind my ear, but it was still kind of hard to open my eyes due to the swelling. The redness and swelling around my eyes went down dramatically by the end of the day, I think the constant icing played a big role in this. The nose packing started really bothering me as the day went on and I felt regret about doing the surgery because I was so uncomfortable. All I could think of was how excited I was to get it removed the following day. I started getting really congested in the head as well and just didn’t feel like doing anything. Make sure you prepare some TV shows you want to binge watch during this time because you won’t be able to do much. I didn’t get any sleep at all because I couldn’t breathe, and every time I dozed off it felt like I was drowning. Honestly this was the worst part of the whole process and it is just as bad as everyone says it is. But beauty is pain!
Day 2 post op:
I woke up and immediately started counting down the minutes till my appointment to get the packing removed. It was quite easy to open my eyes at this point and I remember thinking that I was recovering really well for only being 2 days post op. The creases also looked really even. I got to the clinic and my consultant had a look at my face and told me I was recovering really well. Then a nurse removed the packing- this was a little painful due to the dried blood that had collected, but the nurse moved really quickly and it was over in a few seconds. My nose felt really raw afterwards for a few hours and it was weird to get used to having air flow again. BUT THE RELIEF! I could finally breathe again and that made all the pain worth it. I felt like a new person. Then they cleaned the stitches around my eyes and under my nose and behind my ear and gave me a deswelling shot. I was pretty surprised when they asked me to pull my pants down in front of my consultant and translator lol since they do injections in the buttock area in Korea. I went home and finally got to eat some food. Remember when I said I was recovering really well? It all started going downhill once I got home. Suddenly I noticed my lower face was beginning to swell and it just kept getting worse and worse as the night progressed.
Day 3 post op:
I woke up and my jaw had swollen to the point where it bigger than my forehead. It looked like I had done wisdom teeth removal or even jaw shaving. It was so swollen I could feel my skin tingling from the stretching. I was really shocked since I had never read or seen any videos of anyone who had lower facial swelling after rhinoplasty so I didn’t expect this as a side effect. The rest of my face looked good though. After a quick google search, I confirmed that it was a normal reaction. I messaged with some photos the clinic just to make sure I had nothing to worry about and they told me it was due to gravity! Other than that, I felt pretty good and decided to venture out. I put on a mask and cap and got on the subway to see some cherry blossoms at Seoul National Cemetary. I felt pretty self conscious at first but by the end of my trip I honestly didn’t care anymore. People don’t really pay attention to their surroundings so I don’t think anyone really noticed me. Even when I went to a restaurant to get take out, the server didn’t really react when she looked at my face. I also moved to an Airbnb on this day and felt good enough to take the subway and haul luggage around on my own.
Day 4 post op:
Eyes deswelled enough for the fold to appear. My lower face was still extremely swollen in the morning and I started to develop some light yellow bruising around and under the eyes. My bf also landed in Seoul on this day so I walked around Hongdae and also visited Hangang Park where we rented a bicycle. I also ate at some road side vendors and didn’t really feel like I got too many weird looks. People mostly mind their own business. I think the exercise was beneficial to the swelling too because by the time we got home later in the evening, my face was less puffy and tight. The bruising got a bit darker by the end of the night.
Day 5 post op:
My left eye was a bit more swollen than the right eye. I have a feeling it’s because I tilted to the left side when I slept. But overall swelling had gone down again and the yellow bruises looked a bit lighter. My lower face was still swollen but it was very slowly deflating. The cheek swelling was probably the most annoying part for me coz it made me feel like a fat ugly hamster My bf said it wasn’t that bad and it’s cute but I think he has no choice but to say that. Spent the day sight seeing around Yonsei University and Ehwa.
Day 6 post op:
Eye swelling had evened out. My face was also a lot better but the left side was more swollen than the right side. I felt like once the cast was off I would look pretty presentable. I spent the day visiting Ikseong-dong and then shopping around Dongdaemun and Hongdae.
Day 7 stitch removal:
When I woke up my face was still a bit swollen, more so on the left side. I also noticed a little bit of yellow around the lower cheek/jowl area. Not sure if it was a bruise? Bruising around my eyes was barely noticeable at this point. Finally got my cast off and stitches out. Felt really good to lose the cast lol. The stitch removal mostly didn’t hurt but there was some stinging here and there. Then I got to see my doctor and she checked my eyes and the inside of my nose. Overall she seemed satisfied with the results and the nurses and consultant also said the nose shape was pretty. The process took about half an hour. I have to say my nose bridge was definitely very swollen but I was happy with the overall shape. Can’t wait for swelling to go down so I can see the final results!
What I would suggest for people going for surgery:
- Stay at an Airbnb instead of a hotel, or at least a hotel with a microwave. Convenience stores sell microwaveable porridges (that taste really good btw) and that’s honestly all you’ll be able to eat for the first few days.
- Prepare lots of reference pictures to help counteract the language barrier.
- Sore throat lozenges! Your throat will be so sore from the breathing tube and mouth breathing will make it worse.
- Straws for drinks.
- Ice your face as much as you can for the first 3 days. Will help with swelling especially in the eyes.
- Button up clothes so you don’t bump your nose while getting dressed.
- Cap or bucket hat with a large brim!
- Hayfever medication if you’re going during spring/summer.
- Toner pads are your best friend for when you can’t wash your face after surgery. I really liked the Azulene Hypoallergenic Cica Gauze pads.
- The first two days are definitely the hardest on you physically, but the following days might still be tough mentally as you have to deal with looking swollen and honestly a little deformed. Try to avoid obsessing over it and keep yourself busy as your only choice is to be patient. It takes time but eventually the results will show! I found it helpful to take one picture every day so that I could look back and see the improvement on the days where I felt like I would never look normal again.
