Hi Calikidd, I understand why you may think it's scary...I watched Game of Thrones and Khaleesi's brother died with molten gold poured over his head. So I totally get the feeling lmfao.
But in reality, the surgery is PAINLESS. Probably the least painful and rapid recovery surgery I had.
From a pain scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being absolutely the worst, I'd say the pain is at 3.
1) I dressed into surgery clothes and I stayed in a really cute room with a nice heated bed.
2) Went to the surgery room
3) The had me lay down with my face down. They wrapped some towels around my head, but I had no trouble breathing as there was plenty of room.
4) The doctor trims a bit of your hair on the back. He washes your head with antiseptic liquid.
5) Doctor applies local anesthesia. You don't feel anything. He also gives you some sleeping agent. You'll start tripping a bit but its kinda fun without any nervousness. It felt like I was traveling through space. I remember I met a talking choo choo train LMAO.
6) You may feel slightly uncomfortable, but no pain.
Surgery is done in 45 minutes, but the tripping thing speeds up time. Its all over way sooner that you think. Dr Song applies a cast to your head. My Airbnb host Tony jokingly said I looked like an ISIS terrorist with it on
... ;-;
So then you're ready! If you train at the gym, you won't feel sore. I was ready to walk over hills to go for Korean BBQ. If you haven't trained at the gym you may have a sore neck. Dr Song gives you some cold/hot compresses to use. Sleeping with the cast on is no problem, but make sure you get no water on the cast.
You'll come back the next day to get the cast replaced with a new one.
You'll come back 2 days later to get it removed altogether. But your scalp will have a bit of swelling that would go away after a week.
You'll come back a week later to remove the staples in the incision site. The incision is 2 inches long. I've healed well and no one can tell.
Hope this helps!