Truly Patient-centric Surgeon

I've had a weak chin all my life. In the first ever consultation I had with a plastic surgeon several years ago regarding my chin, I was recommended to get sliding genioplasty. However, I was too scared to have my facial bone cut and decided instead to get fat transfer. I had several rounds of fat transfer over the following few years to add projection to my chin, but in the end, I wasn't really happy with how it looked. I got a decent amount of projection but my chin looked fat and round rather than refined and structured. Because fat is soft, having a large lump of fat suspended on the front of my chin also meant that it started sagging, and I knew it would only get worse over time. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that for the look I wanted, I needed a sliding genioplasty. I had consultations with a few plastic surgeons in Seoul, who were well-regarded in the facial contouring field (i.e., facial bone surgery), but I wasn't overly convinced by any of them and ended up returning to my home country without making a selection (I don't live in Korea). Back at home, I continued my search over the internet and decided that for something as risky as cutting facial bone, a maxillofacial specialist was a safer bet than a general plastic surgeon. There was one such surgeon, Dr Kang, who came up on my searches with impeccable reviews, so without even seeing him in person, I booked my surgery via his office's KakaoTalk chat line and wired over the deposit required to book my surgery slot.

The day before my surgery, I flew into Seoul and went to 2YD Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery for the pre-surgery consultation and tests. Dr Kang was extremely attentive, listening to and answering all my concerns, and I was relieved that I had made the right choice.

The surgery went well. My chin bone was moved forward 6mm and up 4mm. Recovery was surprisingly easy. I was released the same day, and after just four days, I was able to go out without attracting much attention. People who knew me would definitely have been able to tell that my chin was swollen, but I was in a foreign country, and to random people in the street, I probably just looked like I had a fat chin and heavy jawline. Two weeks post-surgery, I flew out of Seoul to go on holiday with my husband, and he didn't even notice I'd had anything done (I didn't tell him I was getting the surgery). From then on, I lived a completely normal life, going out and seeing friends, etc. No one noticed anything. I was very happy as I didn't want anyone to know I'd had surgery and I didn't want to look noticeably different. I wanted to look like me but better without it being obvious what was different, and that is precisely what I got.

7.5 months post surgery (3 weeks ago), I got the pins removed, so now everything is done and all that's left is for me to enjoy my new chin. I highly recommend Dr Kang at Y2D. Not only is he an extremely skilled surgeon, but he really cares about what the patient wants and does his best to achieve that outcome even if the look the patient wants doesn't exactly correspond to his own sense of aesthetics. Koreans typically don't like strong chins or strong bone structure in general, preferring soft, rounded lines, so I suspect Dr Kang thought the amount of projection I wanted was a tad excessive. In fact, one of the reasons I didn't select any of the plastic surgeons on my original shortlist was that they were reluctant to give me what I wanted. All the other staff I dealt with at Y2D were courteous, kind and efficient. I'm the type to ask a lot of questions before and after any procedure I get, and response times have always been pretty much immediate. Oh, and Y2D is part of the Korean government's Cosmetic Surgery Tax Refund scheme, which is an additional bonus.

I'm adding a photo to show the difference from the front. The chin which was too long is now shorter and the asymmetry is less noticeable although still there. The lip looks less asymmetrical too. I haven't had anything done to the lips so this is either a result of the genioplasty or just freak coincidence.