TopFace Seoul Plastic Surgery Forehea Lift
My experience with Top Face Global Seoul — Endoscopic Forehead Lift with Endotine
My experience with Top Face Global Seoul after having an endoscopic forehead lift with Endotine implants performed by Dr. Jae-Sun Shim on May 21.
This was my first-ever plastic surgery procedure, so I don't have anything to compare it with. I contacted the clinic through the UNNI app on May 14, and my first in-person visit was May 19. A translator was provided
Overall, everything went smoothly. The procedure was explained to me beforehand, although in retrospect I could have asked more questions—I went into the consultation unprepared. The staff were pleasant and professional, and I felt comfortable throughout the process.
The results
The biggest improvement for me wasn't actually the forehead wrinkles, although those have definitely diminished. The most important result was eyebrow symmetry. One eyebrow had been noticeably lower than the other, and the lift corrected that asymmetry quite well and made eyes look the same size. My eyes also don't look as small anymore, which was another noticeable improvement.
Swelling gradually went down, and the bruising was essentially gone by about two weeks.
As of today, August 19 (almost three months post-op), I still have some numbness. The forehead itself is almost completely back to normal, while there is still partial numbness on the top of my head. As sensation has been returning, I've occasionally had brief shooting/electrical-type pains around the areas where the implants were placed. The Endotine implants are still palpable under the skin when I feel for them. None of this has been particularly troublesome for me, but I mention it because it's part of my experience at this stage.
Cost/payment-around 3500 (including the 5% credit card fee)
I can't really comment on whether the price was good or bad because I didn't shop around. Top Face was the top recommendation on UNNI for this particular procedure, and I decided to go with them.
A deposit was required to reserve the surgery/anesthesia, which I thought was completely reasonable. I paid partly in cash and partly by credit card. There is a 5% fee for credit-card payment.
Post-op medications
Pharmacy-provided pills weren't clearly labeled with what each medication was. I took the prescribed antibiotic for five days(I asked the pharmacist and also checked the picture on line and it smelled like an antibiotic).The prescription ran for 14 days I think.I didn't take the pain medication because I didn't have significant pain, and I used my own bromelain instead of the presumed bromelain tablets.
I'm an MD, so I felt comfortable stopping the antibiotic because the 4 small incisions of the scalp were healing well without evidence of infection. I don't recommend to anyone do the same.If you're not sure what a medication is, I would ask the clinic/pharmacy to identify it, with explanation of what it does
I also used an arnica/vitamin K/vitamin C cream.
One difference I noticed compared with the U.S.
I thought the process was less detailed in terms of explaining exactly what would happen and who would be doing each part of it.
For comparison, with my U.S. dentist, GI doctor (for screening colonoscopy/EGD), and urologist, will explain the procedure in more detail( or maybe they do that only with me)—what, when, how, where, why, and by whom. If I am awake during procedure they usually talk at every step saying what they are doing, where, with what etc.
I didn't consider this a negative, but it was noticeable to me. I also don't remember the anesthesiologist introducing himself/herself by name-I might be wrong if they gave pre-anesthesia before the anesthetist came in the room
If you're coming from the U.S., I would recommend going into the consultation prepared with a list of questions(if you have any) rather than assuming everything will be explained at the level you may be accustomed to.I would use an AI engine to understand the procedure and ask the relevant questions.I would recommend to ask even detailed technical questions if there are different techniques of doing the procedure-the more informed you are the better .
Overall,
I would do it again, and based on my experience I would recommend Dr. Jae-Sun Shim for this procedure. The results have been good, particularly the eyebrow symmetry and the improvement in how open my eyes look.
I can only comment on Dr. Shim because he was my surgeon—I didn't interact with the other doctors at the clinic, so I can't give an opinion about them.
