My Experience-Facial Contouring and Rhinoplasty at Banobagi Clinic Surgery Review + blog

trini707

Member
Sep 17, 2016
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Hey everyone!
Recently, I've been receiving 1 or 2 messages everyday asking for my blog about my plastic surgery recovery and a lot of questions about my rhino. At first, I didn't want to give my url out because I don't have a lot of blog posts. I finished uploading my week 3 post-surgery reviews today and I now feel more confident that I can upload more reviews every week, as well as original content related to plastic surgery in Korea.
Idk if I'm breaking PF rules but if you just type in trinayau on blogspot, or trinayau surgery on google, you'll find it. edit: Link in my signature ^^

Also I wanted to make a thread in case anyone had any questions + I can't send pics over PM. I also didn't mention some of these details that I'm about to write below on my blog ^^;
*super long post ahead*

What surgery did I have?
I had facial contouring surgery and rhinoplasty at Banobagi in Seoul on December 22nd 2016 in the morning. Dr. Lee performed my rhinoplasty and Dr. Oh took care of my facial contouring procedures. My facial contouring involved angular jaw reduction, zygoma reduction and genioplasty. The focus was on correcting my asymmetrical jaw, elongating my chin and reducing my protruding cheekbones.
For rhino, Dr. Lee suggested silicone implant for bridge augmentation and using septal + ear cartilage for tiplasty. My concerns were: exposed nostrils, very short and flat nose. My nose was super small and non-existent from side view >< My friends literally called me Voldemort (lol)
I think I'll go through my experience fairly chronologically:

Banobagi as a clinic
Because I went during peak time in winter, the clinic lobby was always packed. I asked my coordinator and she said it was because people have a long break during winter, so they try and fit in their surgery and recovery now. So as a result, about 85% of the names called out in the lobby were locals. I just mentioned this because some people said in PMs that they felt Banobagi was really foreigner-oriented, but this didn't really correlate with my experience. During my research for clinics, I didn't really aim to go to smaller, locals-only clinics ^^

So my first impression of the clinic was that it was very clean, modern and well-trusted. Everyone was waiting patiently for their appointment, so there was a relaxed atmosphere. I just went up to the counter and gave my name and they knew who I was ^^ When I came back again for appointments, they already knew my name so I felt really welcome.

Consultation
I had my first consultation on Tuesday and again before the surgery on Thursday. Before the consultation, I had photos taken of my front and side view, as well as like up my nose with my chin tilted upwards. I also had to fill out a medical disclosure form with my coordinator to declare if I had diabetes, high blood pressure etc.

Facial Contouring Consultation
I went to meet Dr. Oh first because Dr. Lee was swamped with people. The facial contouring floor was pretty calm and had its own radiographer. She was really pretty (this is unimportant but I just wanted to say) and very professional. I had my X rays taken first and then CT scans.
Just as a side note, recently I read a blogpost saying that CT scans before rhinoplasty are unnecessary and expose you to dangerous amounts of radiation. When you think about how many times in your life you will require costly scans, it's actually not a lot. So spread out over your lifetime radiation exposure, the radiation you are exposed to is negligible. I feel worse for airline attendants who are exposed to all that cosmic radiation :/

I passed through about 4 machines and it was really quick and efficient. I only had to wait about 5 minutes for Dr. Oh to call me in. He already had my scans up on his computer but he focused on me primarily as his patient. I was treated to a short face massage and then he discussed what was wrong with my facial structure. Also he spoke perfect English, I didn't need a translator.

Full disclosure: Dr. Oh actually said my case was quite difficult and made more complex by my low nerve line. He showed me the X-ray to see that my nerve on my left side was low and close to the base of my skull. As a result, he said that he would have to be careful and conservative during my surgery to not impact the nerve. He also mentioned my short chin and how he would take my own jaw bone to add to my chin.
^ That was seriously impressive and nothing short of wizardry. Let me show my CT scans:
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Look at the pins holding my chin together in the after photo- amazing. Dr. Oh wasn't hesitant about letting me have the CT scans at all. I have the other CT scans on my Day 15 blogpost :smile:

Rhinoplasty Consultation
Most of the PMs I received were about rhino, so I'll be more detailed on my consultation with Dr. Lee.
Originally from my photos, he had suggested lateral canthoplasty and maybe raising my crease height. When he saw me in person, he actually said that my eye shape was pretty and that he didn't want to change anything. Maybe in photos I look like I have no crease haha. He also demonstrated really good integrated knowledge about my facial contouring, saying that my eyes would look much bigger after surgery when my face was smaller.

My nose, he said, was more problematic. He pointed out what he felt was lacking about my nose and listened to how I felt about it. He even pointed out things I never noticed like exposed nostrils, which contributed to my dissatisfaction with nose. Sometimes it's like I **know** that I don't like my nose in photos, I just cannot pinpoint exactly why I feel that way. Dr. Lee zeroed in on flaws with amazing precision. I had a short, upturned nose that he said would look obvious after facial contouring. He drew on my photo directly what type of nose shape he would like to give me and after taking a look, I loved it immediately. It wasn't too high and looked very natural. The most important thing was that my nose would be in harmony with my facial features. I did not want a celebrity nose, I just wanted a nose that would look natural and complement my eyes and new facial structure. Dr. Lee understood my concerns implicitly.

Like I mentioned earlier, he recommended silicone implant for the bridge augmentation because my nose was so short and flat. Tiplasty involved ear and nose cartilage, to reduce the upturned nature of my nose a bit and also to cover half of my exposed nostrils. This is a fairly standard 'package' for rhinoplasty and the most basic.

I sound basically clueless in my consultations and I pretty much let the doctors take charge of my face. Their understanding of anatomy is far far greater than mine and they have probably seen so many faces like mine in their years of experience. I trusted them a lot ^^ Obviously, you don't have to take my approach. I would say both doctors had amazing bedside manner and if you had very specific wants, they would take it fully into consideration. They definitely were not the super domineering male doctors that insist upon procedures that I sometimes experience in hospital placements.

Surgery/Operating Room
I wasn't in the OR too long before I was put under general anaesthesia. It just looked like a normal, clean OR. The nurses were super nice though! I was so, so nervous suddenly when I walked into the room, like it had just suddenly hit me that I was about to have major surgery. The nurses were like it's okay~ don't be nervous~ and were massaging my back and stuff. It really helped me to relax and breathe in the gas. Actually thinking back, I'm really touched by all the care that was shown by the staff to me ;;
 
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lmao my post was over 10,000 characters, so 2nd post:
Aftercare
Aftercare was really good! Right after the surgery when I woke up from GA, my consultant Devon was there with me and telling me that the surgery went well. She had basically been with me from when I arrived at the clinic from 9am, to all my consultations with Dr. Lee and Dr. Oh, so it was comforting to wake up to someone I was familiar with. She helped me out of the bed and onto the recovery floor, then stayed with me for another hour until her colleague Jessie came and took over ^^
There was a call-button attached to my IV drip to call nurses/Jessie. The anaesthesia isn't the type for you to press yourself. I actually felt no pain, just discomfort from my nose dripping fluid and my jaw being a bit sore. The nurses can all speak English and told me exactly what they were doing while checking my blood pressure or delivering a deswelling shot to my IV. I felt fairly in control.

After discharge, the aftercare involved deswelling treatments in the form of facial masks and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. I heard that other clinics give deswelling in the forms of a shot/IV, which I'm not a fan of >< I would prefer to avoid the higher risk of infection when my body is weak after surgery. Also the deswelling treatments were given in the dermatology department of Banobagi, away from the main clinic itself. I felt that this also reduced the risk of infection, but maybe I'm too sensitive after doing hospital placements back home haha.
Everyone said that my swelling went down really fast, especially when I was swollen like I got stung by 50 wasps on Day 2. So I think that the deswelling treatments really worked!

Also by the time I woke up, Devon already arranged for the exact dates for follow-up appointments and deswelling treatments for me and wrote them on an appointment card. I didn't have to worry about anything ^^

Results
This post is getting kind of long now and there are better details on my recovery- what I ate and how I felt etc on my blog, so I'll jump straight to my results.
I'm currently in week 4 atm and this is how I look like:
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Why is this photo so big? I can't resize it TT I'm in week 4 of my recovery. I think I look more mature compared to before, which is a good thing for me. People never used to take me very seriously because I looked so young.
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A before and after that's actually an after and before. >< My nose bridge looks quite high, but I think I was told it would look a bit more natural at 3 months. My nose before was so small!

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This is from one of my new blogposts. My asymmetry has improved a lot. However my cheeks are still huge, so I probably will need acculift >< I was born with a fleshy face and my mother has very chubby cheeks even though she's 60. I don't think the sagging is bad, as I haven't experienced a double chin effect. I'm 21 so maybe I haven't experienced it yet?

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Before & after of how I look like in photos taken by other people ^^ I feel confident when other people take photos of me now. I feel really shameless uploading all these photos of me haha.

Of course I'm only at 4 weeks after surgery. I still have a long recovery ahead of me and more procedures to do in March. I hope this helps people ^^ If you have any questions please let me know on this thread or through PM, as I definitely left out a lot of detail.
I also stayed at Banobagi's guesthouse to recuperate after surgery. Let me know if you're interested in hearing about it :smile:
 
Congrats! [emoji322][emoji322][emoji322] Glad everything went well for you and that you're having a smooth recovery. It's a relief seeing such a positive review for such serious surgeries. I think you're looking great so far especially your nose and maybe it's just me, but you look even younger. Just a little bit haha
 
Wowww you look amazing! Especially your profile. You're really pretty.

I love your hair too haha.

Banobagi did a great job. I probably won't be going there as I heard they're pretty conservative when it comes to facial contouring (but it won't deter me from getting a consultation there), but your results are really nice. You could probably pass the FC off as losing some kgs. Your nose changed a lot though. It's really pretty now :smile:

Congrats!
 
Congrats! [emoji322][emoji322][emoji322] Glad everything went well for you and that you're having a smooth recovery. It's a relief seeing such a positive review for such serious surgeries. I think you're looking great so far especially your nose and maybe it's just me, but you look even younger. Just a little bit haha

Thank you ^^ Facial contouring is a pretty serious surgery, I don't want to give the impression that it's not. However I think it was really worth it! I don't want to look younger - I get asked for ID for 16+ movies [emoji102]
 
Wowww you look amazing! Especially your profile. You're really pretty.

I love your hair too haha.

Banobagi did a great job. I probably won't be going there as I heard they're pretty conservative when it comes to facial contouring (but it won't deter me from getting a consultation there), but your results are really nice. You could probably pass the FC off as losing some kgs. Your nose changed a lot though. It's really pretty now :smile:

Congrats!

IMG_1485026423.812981.jpg

I think the results can be really dramatic as above if your facial structure allows ^^ it's just that for me, it would have been dangerous to cut too much of my jaw because my nerve was so low. I would say go for a consultation and see what the doctors say after your x rays and CT.

I got my hair cut to distract from my surgery haha :')
 
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I think the results can be really dramatic as above if your facial structure allows ^^ it's just that for me, it would have been dangerous to cut too much of my jaw because my nerve was so low. I would say go for a consultation and see what the doctors say after your x rays and CT.

I got my hair cut to distract from my surgery haha :')
Did they say anything about sagging over time? :O
 
Beautiful result and very detailed review. A friend is considering Banobagi but when I got a quote from docfinder it was very expensive. I, like you, am based in London. How much did they charge you for each of your procedures? Also why are you going back in March? You look perfect now. You are 21, way too young to need acculift! I am 50 and still too scared to get any kind of facelift.
 
Hi Trini, thanks for the super detailed review of your surgery. You look really good now! Congrats for having gone through such a successful surgery! I am also considering banobagi for the same procedures. Could you share how much you paid?

Also I do have another question regarding your fc.. at this stage have you noticed some narrowing in the width of your mid face i.e. the cheekbone area? And is there still significant swelling at that area?

Thank you and do keep your updates coming :smile:
 
Beautiful result and very detailed review. A friend is considering Banobagi but when I got a quote from docfinder it was very expensive. I, like you, am based in London. How much did they charge you for each of your procedures? Also why are you going back in March? You look perfect now. You are 21, way too young to need acculift! I am 50 and still too scared to get any kind of facelift.

I'm going back in March for BA and accusculpt :smile: I think quite a few people get it after FC- my results aren't too obvious now because I still have a lot of facial fat that will most likely sag over time. I think it's better to have facial lipo now when my body can still recover well than to do it when I'm older and my skin will sag from the weight of the fat? >< I saw the result of facelifts on some older ladies in the clinic and tbh it was a bit disconcerting, so I understand your concern [emoji33]
 
Your results look really great - symmetrical and natural but still a noticeable result when the pics are side by side.

It's great to see more B & A with pics from banobagi, I think I may need a larger hospital/clinic with more facilities and was starting to feel discouraged from some negative reviews.
 
I'm going back in March for BA and accusculpt :smile: I think quite a few people get it after FC- my results aren't too obvious now because I still have a lot of facial fat that will most likely sag over time. I think it's better to have facial lipo now when my body can still recover well than to do it when I'm older and my skin will sag from the weight of the fat? >< I saw the result of facelifts on some older ladies in the clinic and tbh it was a bit disconcerting, so I understand your concern [emoji33]

I've heard also that if fat transfers and removals are done young then the results can look more natural, this is also why I'm trying to get everything I want done before I get too old, and my skin can hold onto new fat and smooth out easier.
 
Sagging was actually my main concern after surgery [emoji24] I asked dr. Oh about it twice and he said that because of my age, I might not sag too much. Accusculpt was also recommended in 3 months time, so I'll update you on how that goes ^^
Hey Trini. I'm almost 4 months post op from my FC and ASO plus rhino 3.5 months. My skin condition is pretty good. lil breakouts once in a while but overall my skin is still firm. I'm thinking of doing accusculpt as well although, my doctor did mention that I shouldnt do anything before 6 months. Btw, you mentioned 3 months. Are you planning on doing it?