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I didn't need to get a visa for my trip. I'm from Canada, but I think the same applies to the US. See this link: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/GK/GK_EN_2_1_1.jsp
This one toohttps://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/korea-south.html
United States citizens are granted 90 days visa free entry into South Korea.
Hope this helps!
I actually paid for my surgeries by credit card for convenience sake. The clinic was sooo nice and helpful and I didn't want to jeapordize the customer service I was receiving as I take my health seriously! Also, I didn't want to travel with cash. I'll be posting my experience with The View Clinic soon. I'm in Korea now and at Day 5 of my recovery from double eyelid and rhinoplasty.totally agreed
use the cash . only the smart way of of using it.
I also was doing epi and some more for the surgery and paid by cash. it got a lot discounted me
I went girin/ It was sooooooo gooood happy now
Sorry I don't know anything about that clinic but I would be careful about deciding on a clinic because of a sale price. Please consider your decision carefully on where to get surgery!
Hello! I'm in Korea now and just had double eyelid including ptosis and epi and rhinoplasty done at The View Clinic. I had a very good experience there and they have a number of English speaking staff. I would be wary of hiring a translator when you're money could be better spent elsewhere. Hope this helps!Hello everyone,
I was on this thread a few years ago while searching for a plastic surgery clinic for my ptosis correction, epi, lateral epi, and full face fat graft.
I did a lot of research and had it done at Girin. They did an ok job and I was happy for a while, until my non-incisional ptosis correction came off and my eyes looked sleepy again. Also, I did not like the way the lateral looked. my eyes just look droppy.
So..... I am back on this thread again. I am travelling to Korea in 3 week time and I just started my research again. what a dread!these are the clinics I plan to visit:
view
teium
girin
migo
asps
midam
april31
However, some of them actually don't speak English and I am looking around for a translator who doesn't get a cut from the clinic I plan to visit. I have had some bad experiences with translators the previous time and now I am more careful. Does anyone know someone who can speak Korean and English? Really need some help here..
vero1988 if your friend is doing revision again at banobagi does that mean she wasnt happy with her orignial result?
. I had a sore throat and a high fever that wouldn't go down. I whatsapped Jane and Chloe about my situation and they asked me to come back to Banobagi to see Dr.Lee. I was really out of it and literally just felt like I was going to die from my fever. Jane was really sweet and concerned, she came to fetch me and sat me down, within seconds she was holding an icepack to my forehead and even Chloe came to see me. They said that Dr.Lee would see me first and if there was nothing that he could do for me then perhaps I would have to go see an ENT. 
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Hey all! I've been a silent reader of most plastic surgery related threads here on purseblog forum and I really appreciated the vast amount of reviews and information that was provided during my research stage so I just wanted to take the time to 'give back' and share my recent experience at Banobagi. I've posted a review on another thread, I hope double posting is allowed seeing as this is a much larger thread.
Anyhow, here goes
I did quite a lot of research online trying to narrow down my choice of clinics, to be honest I feel that quite a lot of posts especially those found on blogs are to be taken with a pinch of salt because bloggers' representations are very often influenced by sponsorships and interests that don't benefit the readers. With that said, I'm certain that there are the very few who genuinely want to share the experiences (myself included haha)
For starters, I cannot stress enough how unnecessary it is to hire a translator. I've seen so many reviews of this 'docfinderkorea' etc. on forum and blogs. I don't understand what they are meant to do that we ourselves can't do. Refer doctors? I think that if you decide on getting any form of cosmetic surgery you should trust your own research and instincts because not one of these agencies will care about your body more than you do care for yourself. You won't have a conflict of interest with your own interests right? Translation? Most clinics have in house translators who are act as your consultant (they basically accompany you throughout consultation and surgery) you simply need to just ring the clinic and make an appointment yourself; hiring a translator is not necessary and most often hiring agencies/translators jack up your overall surgery costs. Pick up your medicine after your surgery? You could simply request to purchase your medicine before your surgery, I'm sure its a very reasonable request and can easily be accommodated by any clinic. Buy you food? Just grocery shop yourself the day before surgery! But I suppose at the end of the day if you feel much more comfortable hiring an agency/translator you should do whatever you're most comfortable with. I just wanted to put it out there that its not necessary and going solo is very doable lol.
Clinic Research
I combed through all major forums online and built a few shortlists, there are plenty of useful threads and reviews on purseblog. On top of that I looked up multiple plastic surgeon societies (such as ISAPS) and did a search on member surgeons based in Seoul. I also googled medical journals on the procedures I wanted to do and looked up individual doctors who authored them.
My final shortlist was:
1. Banobagi
2. Faceline
3. April 31
4. Bong Bong
5. JW
6. Teium
I personally rang them up to make appointments (friendly reminder that each consultation may take up to 3 hours so make sure to factor this in when planning your consultation schedule).
Procedures
1. Non- incisional double eyelid
2. Acculift
3. Alarplasty
Consultation Process
I don't really want to go into great detail here, as I'm sure this varies from person to person. But what I generally took away from my experience is that I didn't feel comfortable going with a doctor that completely didn't speak a word of English because that would mean that you would be 100% relying on translation and with that is a high possibility of communication errors or oversights.
My main procedure of concern was the double eyelid surgery, if anything went wrong it would be in plain sight for the world to see so I really wanted a surgeon who would give me natural results. At Teium Dr. Kwon told me that to achieve the parallel fold that I wanted I would have to undergo partial incision and have epi whereas at Banobagi Dr. Lee suggested ptosis correction and the non-incisional method. I ended up going with Dr.Lee mainly because I was in favour of starting off with the least invasive method (risks are relatively low and if you're unhappy with the results you could opt for a revision or more invasive method) and also because he would be able to perform the other procedures on me. My gut instinct also told me to go with him.
Review of Banobagi
Consultation:
When I stepped into the clinic it felt like a serious clinic, its interior didn't give off an over decadent vibe; to me that meant that it didn't need to compensate for lack of substance with grand decor. I was greeted by my consultant Jane who is the sweetest and friendliest consultant I met throughout my trip. She spoke perfect English and really took care of me during my experience with Banobagi.
She took me upstairs to meet another super nice consultant Chloe was also spoke perfect English, Chloe discussed the procedures I wanted to go for and is completely on hand in answering any of my questions. Shortly after I went in to see Dr.Lee. I liked his vibe, he has a very laid back demeanor and was very professional and patient. However, I would like to honestly point out that the consultation was very brief. Like very brief. I highly suggest going through all the questions and concerns you have in advance and be sure to raise them during your consultation with Dr.Lee and don't expect him to sit there and pick you apart for your concerns. Nevertheless, Dr.Lee was very precise and skilled in his opinions, he told me straight out what my 'problems' were and what procedures he suggests to 'correct' them backed up with explanations of the procedures. Dr. Lee understands English (I also understand a bit of Korean- but I never revealed this to anyone during consultations) judging from his replies, he actually understood everything I said. On a few occasions he responded to me directly in English without translation. This was important to me because I was assured that he understood everything that I said and didn't have to rely on someone else's interpretation of what I said.
Also throughout all my consultations, not once did Dr.Lee or Chloe try to push me for additional procedures. On top of that, Dr.Lee's aesthetics are completely in line with what I had in mind. I wanted very natural results and that was what he suggested and delivered. He understood and agreed with retaining my original characteristics while making improvements on them. The second I walked out of my consultation with him my gut instinct told me that he's the doctor that I should go for.
Back in consultation with Chloe she gave me a quote for all my procedures, she told me that there is a cap on how much of a discount Dr.Lee could offer. What she quoted me was very reasonable and the cheapest out of all the other clinics. I didn't negotiate on price because I felt that it was a very reasonable price; paying for plastic surgery is not the same as paying for a carrot at the wet market and I didn't want to lower Dr.Lee's motivation (not that I think that he even knows about how much we actually end up paying for surgery anyway).
Surgery:
On the day of surgery things were taken care of, my sweet consultant Jane was there with me throughout the entire process. We went to the pharmacy next door to pick up my medication in advance and she ran through my post surgery care.
I suggest making sure that you remove all personal jewellery before heading to the clinic and go in comfortable clothes (sweatpants, loose fitting t-shirts and shoes that are easy to put on) because after surgery you'll still be a bit groggy, so you want to make the process of changing back into your clothes a comfortable one. Also bring a hat and sunglasses, not to worry though, I've seen quite a few people sport mummified bandage looks in Gangnam and noone seemed phased about it!
I met with Dr.Lee before my surgery to go through the procedures in greater detail, we 'designed' my eyelids and he explained the procedures to me again and went through what to expect post surgery.
So off I went and before I knew it I was lying on the operating chair and before I knew it I was kind of high/happy and before I knew it I think I was knocked out. I remember being woken to 'open' and 'close' my eyes for Dr. Lee - I knew it was him because I recognised his floral surgery hat (I also heard him talking during my acculift). At some point I think I hummed along to some kpop song they were playing and I even talked to Jane. The entire process was painless, I drifted in and out of sleep. Memories in between and after was a bit fuzzy, it was still quite painless even after I woke up. I remember being escorted to the recovery room where I napped for a bit and cabbing back to my hotel.
Post-op:
I followed Jane's instructions on ice-packing as much as I could and swelling on my eyes went down considerably by day 3. My face however, was quite swollen from the Acculift procedure, swelling for this subsided by day 5. I went back to Banobagi on day 6 I think for stitches removal, it was relatively painless.
I'm really happy with my results. 10 days post-op and I only had a line of bruising along my eyelashes (it looks like eyelinder), the eyelid crease was clean and completely scarless by then I literally couldn't see anything on the crease. My alarplasty was very natural and exactly what I was looking for! Can't really comment on the acculift as I was still swollen from it.
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