Double Eyelid Surgery Thread

[paperbunny 93]

hi everyone! after lurking this thread for about 7 years now, i finally found the opportunity to get the surgery! i also have an anxiety disorder so i hope i can help others out there who also have panic attacks and over thinking problems.
i'm from los angeles, but decided to go to Teuim in Korea to get the procedure done after not being too satisfied with the surgeons in LA. i was originally going to go with dr. andrew choi, but i didn't really like his results and the receptionist quoted me ~$3600 for epi and non-incisional. i really liked the results at Teuim, and ended up taking a trip for a week with my friend who also got it done there. our plane ticket was only $1100 for ticket and hotel. we spent 6 days there (the first day we landed we had the surgery, and the 5th day we had our stitches taken out).
I can honestly say that Korea IS a lot more advanced than American doctors because they do have advanced techniques, specialization in the eyelid surgery, and are a lot cheaper. my whole trip to korea evened out to be the same price as if i were to get it done in LA, which i didn't mind because i knew i was receiving better results. i also think korea can also get the eyes you want, while the doctors in LA tend to prefer one or a few eye looks.
Dr. Kwon from teuim is amazing and very meticulous about his work. he is an eyelid surgery specialist so i knew i could trust him. i didn't bother to meet with any other clinics because i was so set on Dr. Kwon from all the good reviews. when i was there, he also had his niece Julie help in translating and she is a really big sweetheart. she was such a pleasure to talk to. i eventually agreed to do non-incisional eyelid surgery, non-incisional ptosis, and epi.
after the consultation, i was given a surgery the day of that was in 2 hours. i was brought into a recovery room with my friend in which i was told to take off all my earrings and body jewelry, wash my face with the face wash provided, and to wear a robe. i was really really nervous before going in! 
when i was brought into the surgery room, my heart was pumping like crazy. i wanted to opt out as soon as i laid down on the bed. the nurses prep you really really really quickly, and its hard to absorb everything that's happening. maybe it was my anxiety that started to kick in, but i started to get really scared and it became almost unreal for me. thank God julie was in the room with me for a couple of minutes, i asked her to talk to me about dogs and having a small conversation with her really lightened my mood and relieved some anxiety. while talking to her, the nurses put my anesthesia and IV needles in and it didn't really hurt (this comes from a person who is sooo afraid of needles). as they started to put the blanket on top of me, and my needles were in, julie left. i kept asking the nurses where she was.
then you start hearing your hurt pump through the heart meter thing, and you can feel the IVs going through you for a bit if you concentrate on it. Dr. Kwon then drew on my eyes and told me to sleep. Dr. Kwon sedates you for 5 minutes to do the epi and to give you local anesthesia shots on your eyes when you're asleep. i couldn't fall asleep, or maybe i was trying to fight through it but it took a while for me to sleep. the nurses and the doctor told me to sleep, and eventually my surroundings became blurry and i went to "sleep." I was not completely asleep though, like knocked out, i was unconscious but conscious at the same time. i figure this is the same thing that happens for everyone. i didn't know what was happening and i couldn't hear anything, i felt like i was in a dream world where i was awake. i could see changing of colors. i am usually very afraid of hallucinogens, and i experienced very bad panic attacks from weed, but having to hallucinate during the sedation was not a big deal. i was scared that i was going to imagine something scary but i just told my mind to focus on good things and ended up just dreaming about cartoons. i somehow still knew that i was being operated upon. i just knew they were doing, and it was a little uncomfortable to me but i stuck it through by just dreaming about whatever.
eventually, i started to regain my consciousness. i can feel the numbness of my eyes as i had no idea what they were doing with my eyes but i felt a tiny tiny tiny bit of pressure. time seemed to pass really slowly. i was still really scared and i felt my heart beat. i tried to regulate my breathing to calm myself by also taking big breaths and deep inhales. Dr. Kwon takes like 5 minute breaks inbetween. it feels like every 30 minutes, he takes a small break and the nurses press some cold pad on my eyes. i always felt like it was over whenever that happened, but i knew that my procedure was going to last 2 hours. i got kind of bored on the bed, and started to think about random things like what i have to do when i get back home to LA or like things i want to buy. eventually, time passed and the anesthesia started to wear off a little. i felt the sewing, tugging, and pulling. i tried to keep it in for a little bit but i made noises to make sure they knew that i was uncomfortable hahaha. Dr. Kwon insisted that I get more anesthesia, and I initially fought it and said no its okay I will fight through it. when i started to make more noises that i was uncomfortable, the nurse eventually put more anesthesia in my eyes. maybe my eyes were already numb, but i didn't feel the anesthesia shot at all. Dr. Kwon then took a break after what felt like 2 hours. i asked the nurses if i was done yet when he took a break, and she said no not yet 1 more hour but no hurt. i got so sad and i started to whine a little lOL because the first hour was torture and i couldn't imagine another hour. overall, the first hour was the worst and i think the ptosis hurt the most! the ptosis was the most uncomfortable. overall, the pain was probably a 3-4/10 and the uncomfortableness for me (also considering that i have anxiety) was like a 9.5/10 lol.
when Dr. Kwon came back, i was relieved because the next hour he was just checking the evenness of my eyes for a good while and cutting some threads. Dr. Kwon kept telling me to open and close my eyes. for the next hour, he is just very meticulous and i am glad that i chose Dr. Kwon in the end because i knew he was very careful about how my eyes looked. most doctors spend 30min-1 hour on a patient but Dr. Kwon really goes above and beyond his work as he takes an extra hour to make sure it is perfect. when he was done, the nurses took out my needles and i knew that the procedure was over! i was sooo happy! they then helped me off the bed because i was still a little dizzy from the anesthesia. they moved me to my recovery room where i sat with an ice pack for an hour. they have a gauze paper inbetween my eye pack and i could see some blood. i expected to bleed some more but it was just a small spot of blood. i was sooooooo glad that i was done. lol
i don't think i heal that well, but my eyes were very swollen after that. no bleeding though. but i had like a lot of crust my first few days. especially when they put bandaids on your nose the first day. my ptosis was the most swollen out of everything. i am still only on day 7 so my eyes are really swollen but i hope to update you guys some more on pictures!
overall, i like my eyes so far but it is also hard to tell with so much swelling. i am still recovering from all the breakouts on my skin because the first 5 days you can't wash your face. my epi is still really swollen so i really hope it starts to look better. its starting to look round at its edges but when i originally came out it was pointed, so i am hoping it starts to lessen in roundness. they're also still uneven because one side of my eye is more swollen than the other. im just going to miss putting on makeup since Dr. Kwon told me to wait a month (so 3 more weeks since i am on week 1). i can't wait esp since i bought so much makeup in korea lol

[Guest dreamycandy_stv]

Has anyone had surgery with Cho Soo Ho in Los Angeles? I'm trying to decide between him and Andrew Choi. Also, does anyone know either of their current prices? Thanks!
Oops, forgot to ask if anyone has Cho Soo Ho's number or address... Not sure if he's the right one I'm finding on Google lol 

[paperbunny 93]

dreamycandy_stv said: Has anyone had surgery with Cho Soo Ho in Los Angeles? I'm trying to decide between him and Andrew Choi. Also, does anyone know either of their current prices? Thanks!
Oops, forgot to ask if anyone has Cho Soo Ho's number or address... Not sure if he's the right one I'm finding on Google lol 

[Guest rachelkk_stv]

Just had my double eye lid surgery in LA. Found an amazing doctor, Dr. Kenneth Kim, through referral of a friend. He is actually affiliated with a well known Korean Medical group called Dream Medical Group, which reassured me a bit as I wanted to get my surgery done in Korea. Heard they were more advanced in this procedure. Glad they had an LA office and I didn't have to waste my money and time flying there. Met with him for a consult and found him to be very pleasant and easy to talk to. Dr. Kim has been in the game for a while. I was able to see both picture and video testimonial which was so reassuring on top of already seeing my friend's perfect double eye lid results. He explain the procedure and what I could expect . Even the fact that I would be awake which was scary to hear, but I would be given numbing injections so I would not feel pain. After surgery, I would have a week with stitches. My recovery time of course varies with the individual including the amount of swelling. On surgery day I came in and was attended to promptly. Nurses and then doctor were very good at calming me and checking my status. The actual surgery itself was pretty quick. I was in and out of the operating room in about an hour or so. I had a few questions after surgery, which Dr. Kim kindly answered for me before I went home. A week later I was back and I had my stiches removed. Very quick process. Could see the rough shape of my eye lid. Once I removed the stitches my eyes healed faster. I was lucky enough not to experience a large enough of swelling. Never thought this surgery would be so easy. I feel a little silly worrying so much. You should save yourself time and money and check Dr. Kim out!! Highly skilled and nice surgeon.

[Guest dollyfrench]

Hi everyone! I'm done with my DES and just got my stitches out today.
Because there are barely any reviews on Singapore doctors, I thought I'd share mine.
I took a couple of months to finish this entry, with before & after pictures. 
My surgery was the incisional method, done by Dr Andrew Tay.

You can read it here: http://doubleeyelidgirl.blogspot.sg

[sheep7 12]

I naturally have double eyelids, but they are always covered with skin underneath my eyebrows so they appear very, very minuscule. It makes it hard to apply eyeliner/makeup in general and when I do... it looks very messy and cakey. Do you think surgery can make my double eyelids more pronounced? I don't know much about surgery. Thanks!

[paperbunny 93]

sheep7 said: I naturally have double eyelids, but they are always covered with skin underneath my eyebrows so they appear very, very minuscule. It makes it hard to apply eyeliner/makeup in general and when I do... it looks very messy and cakey. Do you think surgery can make my double eyelids more pronounced? I don't know much about surgery. Thanks!

[Guest tangorined_stv]

hello! i decided i am going to get double eyelid surgery in the next two or three months. I came across this thread while researching and thought I'd ask everyone's expert opinions
I live in the Seattle area and was wondering if anybody has been to Philip Young's clinic in Bellevue, WA? Or does anyone know of any surgeons in the Seattle area? 
I'd rather not have to fly to LA or Korea (fear of flying) but may have to if it comes to it...
Thanks!

[Guest WillardRamirez]

As Dr. Laura Phan who successfully treated for Korean actress Jang Yoon-Joo said "Cosmetic surgery always involves a personal aesthetic ideal. "It's true for Asian patients and non-Asian patients, where a patient gets fixated on what they perceive as a problem, and I'm sitting there trying very hard to see what the patient sees, and I don't see it,"

[Guest beefnoodo]

I've been contemplating on getting DES and I think I've decided that I would like to get them done in Korea..
This will be my FIRST cosmetic procedure ever performed, I'm super nervous and just trying to do all my research so I can feel a little more ease when I do decide to go.
I've submitted several online consultations with various clinics in Korea but I think I'm really leaning towards Dr Kwon from Teuim. Has anyone else had their DES performed my Dr Kwon? He has recommended I under go non-incision DES (including ptosis) + epi, but I'm a little bit skeptical about "non-incisional" as I've read about it coming undone in the future... Has anyone else had non-incision? I would love to hear about your experience!

[paperbunny 93]

**** DELETED PICTURES. PLEASE PM ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE INFO *****

i don't want to leave these pictures on for long so if anyone has any questions please feel free to pm me! id be happy to help soompi has definitely helped me so much with this journey!

Edited November 25, 2015 by paperbunny

[Guest Kate2015]

paperbunny said:


i don't want to leave these pictures on for long so if anyone has any questions please feel free to pm me! id be happy to help soompi has definitely helped me so much with this journey!

[paperbunny 93]

Kate2015 said: paperbunny said:

[Guest beefnoodo]

Your results look REALLY natural! It healed really well! Yeah, from what I've read epi takes a while to fully heal but do you think it makes a big difference?I'm impressed with Dr Kwon's work.. the only thing I'm a bit skeptical is that I already have existing lids but they're not very prominent.. and I've heard that Dr Kwon tends to steer towards the more "natural looking" crease.
He initially quoted me to have non-incisional but then I asked him if I would be considered for incisional (just want it to be most permanent)

[Guest Kate2015]

Kate2015 said:Hi paperbunny,

I want to get my double eyelid surgery done at Teuim as well. I really like your result! Can you please tell me how much the surgery was? Because I think I would need the same procedures as you.

Thanks!

[Guest mostlycloudy_stv]

Does anyone have experience with Charles Kim from CK Surgery? I'm trying to decide between him and Andrew Choi. I'm still doing searches but Charles Kim looks like he might be expensive... does anyone know his prices as well? I think Dr. Choi is $2500 incisional.

Thanks!

[Annavevo 37]

 

Hi everyone!

after much deliberation, I've booked a surgery date for mid June (right after my exams) for double eyelid surgery, opted for the laser/incisional with local anaesthetic, about ~4.5mm tapered according to my doctor.

its about $2300 all together.. which isn't too bad imho. Thought I should include this info as I don't see a lot of aussie girls on this thread getting it done hehe will post pics soon

[Guest AnnEBananE]

Hey! I'm interested in getting DES this summer and was wondering if any of you guys can recommend me some good surgeons in NY. 

[Guest candydoge]

Hey! I'm interested in getting DES this summer and was wondering if any of you guys can recommend me some good surgeons in NY. 

​I think the most popular NY surgeon is Eric Choe but honestly, I have heard mostly negative/mixed reviews about his work. I live closer to NY than LA but I would rather go to LA than take my chances with him.. just me though. I've seen him mentioned here too so make sure to look through older posts!

[oryxncrake 98]

Anyone have any experience with Dr. Chase Lay in California? Even if it was just a consult?