Dr. Park Jung Keun's Treatment Principles

From first considering surgery and looking into it, to finally deciding to go ahead, takes a great deal of deliberation. Even choosing a clinic alone involves far too many options. And even after you have decided on a clinic, various worries arise, such as side effects and the effect of the surgery.

Seeing the people who visit the clinic for consultations or surgery, I have come to learn what they commonly worry about. The most important thing is to minimize side effects while achieving a satisfying result. People also want any problem that does arise to be resolved smoothly. If you were ignored or brushed off after surgery, to whom could you possibly turn with your complaint?

In a way these are natural expectations and wishes, but in reality, because you hear stories through various channels of cases where this was not so, it is not easy to feel such assurance.

Visiting several clinics to gather information and compare is a good thing. The unfortunate part is that you take in far too much information, get buried in the flood of it, and find it even harder to make a judgment. Listening to people who have had consultations at several clinics, I find that very many of them have plenty of information and knowledge about surgery but are confused because they cannot judge what is important and what is not.

In fact, many of them have consulted experienced and skilled doctors, and in most cases what they were told does not differ greatly.

So, how can you

1. minimize side effects,
2. achieve a satisfying result, and
3. resolve any problem smoothly if one does arise, without creating a major problem?

First, the consultation stage before surgery is important. At many clinics, mostly a consultation manager handles the consultation, and the surgeon who performs the operation sees the patient only briefly on the day of surgery. Of course, for a very simple procedure this is not a big problem, but the pre-operative consultation stage is very important.

First, it plays a decisive role in planning the surgery. Surgical methods and the degree of correction vary widely. Performing a lot of major surgery does not by itself produce a satisfying result.

It is not good to operate just so that the change is obvious. The specific surgery is decided according to the patient's personality, preferred shape, recovery time, concerns, and so on, and these can be properly judged only after a thorough consultation in person.

How high you prefer your double eyelid to be, whether you like a glamorous look or a natural one, whether you want to change your impression dramatically or keep it as much as possible, and so on... How high you prefer your nose to be, what relationship you like between the nasal tip and the bridge, and so on. If we take enough time to listen, we can eventually get a feel for exactly what you want and proceed.

So the pre-operative consultation is not simply about deciding the content of the surgery; it is an essential step for sensing each person's specific sensibility. Hearing each patient's personal story is therefore very important, and that is impossible without a thorough pre-operative consultation stage.

The process during surgery, and of course after surgery, is also very important. This may sound obvious, but it is a process that is truly difficult to put into practice. Before surgery there is no need to see the patient often or many times, but it is in any case the stage where, through a thorough consultation, we find out and understand specifically what the patient wants.

The post-operative process is a little different. Through the visits after surgery, other side effects or problems can be identified and resolved. It lets us identify problems as early as possible and resolve them at the appropriate time.

Why does this matter? Problems can arise with any surgery. Many of them are very simple or easy to resolve. But if such problems are left alone or ignored, they grow bigger and bigger. A problem that could have been solved simply can become a troublesome, major one.

In other words, the post-operative process is the most important stage for resolving these issues. It is the most important process for preventing major side effects or problems.

The patient must be seen even more often after surgery.

In many cases, a clinic sees the patient attentively and treats them kindly before surgery, but after surgery barely sees them and ignores their discomfort. A patient must never be neglected.

Patients likewise must not ignore their own symptoms. If anything seems even slightly wrong, tell the medical staff right away. Ignoring it is also a form of neglect.

This is neglect not by the medical staff but by the patient. This too can cause major problems. Seeing patients often after surgery is the best measure for detecting even small problems early and, going further, preventing bigger ones.

We must think of it as the patient's one and only chance.

In war, there is no next chance. Once a war has begun, you must win, and there is no half-hearted compromise. In this sense, surgery is similar.

Better not to operate at all than to compromise halfway; one must aim to obtain a good result in the end. Doing it carelessly this time and redoing it next time is out of the question. Only by operating with the thought that this is the patient's one and only chance can a good result be obtained.

Unnecessary, excessive surgery must never be recommended.

Only surgery that is truly necessary should be performed. Of course, doing a little more usually produces a better result. Still, recommending truly unnecessary surgery indiscriminately must be avoided. And where possible, it is better to operate with a simple method.

Plastic surgery is not art. It is medicine.

It is not like sculpture or clay, where you can enlarge or reduce any place you like. The areas that can be operated on are fixed, and the range that can be operated on safely is also fixed. Operating within that range is what is stable and safe.

Therefore, a good result is not obtained through an aesthetic eye alone. Proper anatomical knowledge and a thorough prediction of the surgical result are essential.

Nor can everything the patient wants be done. Even to pursue the goal of beauty, medical practice must be applied, within its limits.

These are things patients often say.

• "I had surgery, so I thought it was supposed to be like that."
• "I thought it was swelling, so I just waited."
• "They told me it was swelling and to just wait."

Of course, after surgery the statements above are correct in most cases. However, there are occasional cases where they are not. By simply waiting as above, or by being neglected, a bigger problem can sometimes arise.

If you feel even slightly uneasy or something seems wrong, visiting the clinic quickly at any time to have it checked is the best way to prevent major side effects. It is advisable to choose a clinic where you can do this.