I've just had Rhinoplasty in Seoul and have this forum to thank for giving me the information necessary to go about this. Plastic surgery seems like a scary process especially when you're traveling to a foreign country in which you may not speak the language. Here are some tips I'd like to pass as my thanks to this forum for providing me enough info to start my search.
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RESEARCH
1) Take the information on this forum for what it is, anyone can sign up and post here and unless they are willing to post their actual pictures you really don't know if the posts are legit or someone trying to advertise for their clinic. It could also be people who are purposely trying to discredit competitors, someone who had surgery who is upset bc of unrealistic expectations, etc etc. There are over 300, cosmetic surgery clinics in Korea, and there's a lot of competition. When I first start reading many of the posts and messages I became paranoid upon reading various things, in the end take the information for what it is, to get a general sense or feel of the different clinics.
Online Consults via email
2) Write down a list of clinics you may want an email consult with, (really you should send your pictures to as many as possible, it doesnt hurt to see their recomendations) Take pictures of your nose from different angles (copy the angles they use on the various clinics websites for example) and start emailing them to the clinics so you can get a response back. Most of the major plastic surgery clinics have a dedicated section where you can upload your pictures on their site but for me since time was an issue I simply went to each of their websites, clicked on the english translation site and then found their general email, then I made email and attached all the pics of me and told the I was looking for a rhinoplasty consult and sent that same email out to over 15 clinics. Most of them responded, some within the same day and some up to a week later. The responses ranged from very detailed (the doctor himself responding with a price quote and plan,) to the very general, (a consultant making general observations and simply telling me to come in for a face to face consult.
What you will realize when you get these responses is the various differences in what each clinic recommends and the overall pricing structure. Depending on what your price range is and what results you're looking for you'll be able to narrow your list down so when you arrive in Seoul you can consult with your top choices. Please realize that many of the larger clinics simply dont have time for the doctor to field all the emails they receive with pictures to access, and that doesn't mean that they won't do as good or the best job for you. Also, what ever price quote they give you is only an estimate, they need to see you in person since everyone looks different from their 2D image and the price they quote you may just be a range, the ability to negotiate can also bring the final price down obviously.
Booking your flight
Ok great so now you have narrowed it down to a few clnics you'd like to do consults with, what next? I'd say to book your trip (if you're only coming for rhinoplasty) for 14 days min. That gives you 1-3 days to do consults and have surgery, which is usually one follow up the day after surgery and another 7 days after. Obviously if you plan it right you could stay for only 10 days but that's really pushing it in terms of their surgery scheduling and if you decide on clinic quickly after consults.
Booking consult times
Next, through email, book your consult times and if you're doing multiple consults in the same day give yourself 3 hours in between consults. Check the addresses and make sure they are in the same area (as the PS clinics of Gangnam are all mostly in the same condensed area) So a good expectation is to be able to fit in 3 consults a day, so if you wanted to consult with 6 places for example, give yourself 2 days to do that etc.
Travel lodging
So at this point since you've booked your airfare its time to look for where you'll be staying. I would suggest staying near where your clinic is, most of the PS clinics are in Gangnam and I decided to stay at an airbnb in Gangnam as well which was a great move. The reason being,
1) There are many other people walking around Gangnam with surgical masks on post surgery so you don't feel as self conscious as you would usually be, people here are used of seeing that, nobody bothered to stare at me as I walked around to and from.
2) It's very close to the clinic for my consults/surgery/follow ups for me it was a 5-7$ cab ride each time
3) Tons of places to eat so it was easy to recover here
Now obviously the further away you stay from the clinic it will simply take you longer to get there, I didnt want to spend more on cabs to and from nor did I want to take the subway with my swollen face/surgical mask etc. But obviously many times cheaper places to stay may be further away from Gangnam.
Once you have booked your round trip airline ticket, set up some consults and found a place to stay, you need to prepare for your trip.
Preparing for your trip, things to buy
Go to a vitamin shoppe or GNC and buy Bromelain and Arnica Montana
Bromelain (Take before surgery for 3 days)
Bromelain is an anti-inflammatory enzyme that has been shown to reduce swelling, bruising, healing time and pain. If taken before your cometic procedure it may reduce the average number of days needed to complete disappearance of pain and inflammation. Bromelain is very low in toxic side effects and very safe. The dosage range is 1500
mg or 2000-3000 MCU's daily, divided and taken 3 times daily. Start Bromelain before your procedure.
Arnica Montana
Arnica may be helpful for controlling soreness and bruising after your procedure especially in the early stages of healing. Arnica is not toxic and very safe, it's recommended to begin the supplement one day after your procedure. The dosage range is 30x formula or higher, taken 3x daily.
Other things to consider
1 Sineech- reduce bruising and swelling
2 Vitamin K creme- reduce bruising
3 Kelo-Cote Scar healing and reduction gel
4 Vitamin C
5 Protein powder/bars quick meals
6 Ac adapter converter (if you bring your laptop they have the european 2 hole so you need this to plug in your electronics)
Part 2 continued below...
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