I have been researching clinics all around the world for double jaw surgery for approximately 6 years and I am beyond happy with my decision to choose Why OMS and doctor. I’ve done so much research done on maxillary (upper jaw) due to the fact that mine is recessed and underdeveloped. As for my mandible (lower jaw) it was overly developed. I have always wanted to correct this issue not only just for aesthetic reasons but for functionality as well and having the ability to get braces since surgery is required for a class 3 malocclusion. I’ve never had surgery before and I knew this one was going to be a major one so I was prepared for the worst in terms of pain and discomfort. I don’t have a high pain tolerance or anything but I would say that the only thing difficult about this surgery is having a hard time sleeping and breathing. The pain and discomfort was more of an annoyance than a struggle. In South Korea there has been cases of ghost doctors so I really liked the fact that there is only 1 doctor here and how CCTV footage is recorded and able to be watched live from family or other guardians. At Why OMS the staff was very attentive and caring and if you’re a foreigner they provide a translator who is very knowledgeable and helpful. Dr. Seok Jae Lee was the exact doctor I was looking for who specializes in Maxillofacial surgery and has a very well understanding of functionality and aesthetics when it comes to altering facial bone structure. I was very impressed with the Doctors knowledge since I’ve done so much research on this surgery prior finding Why OMS because I have been wanting to fix my underbite for a very long time. His Youtube videos showcase how deep of an understanding he has about maxillofacial surgery which comes through many years of experience. I also appreciate how he chooses overall health and functionality over just aesthetics since appearance isn’t the only thing that is important. In terms of his choice for aesthetics he has great principles and knows the limits of each individual patient and what they can achieve so he can be careful around the nerves. I’ve seen many patients in America who get their double jaw surgeries done and they end up with a longer philtrum and wider nose. The doctor at Why OMS understands about this since he has history of working at a plastic surgery clinic for aesthetics and understands the importance of this issue. He has methods of stitching such as the V-Y Suture. I highly recommend looking at the Why OMS staff and especially the doctor and his prior experiences on the website I will link above. I found this clinic from purse forum then continued to research more on the UNNI app, Instagram, and YouTube and decided to take a deep dive into the website which is very informative. I am going to talk about my first week in depth because it would be nice to know what you will experience since it’s the difficult part of this surgery.
(WEEK 1) Day 1: I was told it was going to be a difficult time with pain and discomfort and although I would say it was difficult, I’d rather experience this level of pain and discomfort than to go through past painful events such as really bad food poisoning I once got or Phenomena I got when I was a kid. I was very impressed with how caring the staff and nurses were, they check up very often, give clear instructions, and apply a new frozen ice pack when needed. I’ve never been put under sleep before and it felt like the surgery was literally 3 seconds long. I was nervous while being put under anesthesia but once I opened my eyes again I was like wait that was it? And the pain wasn’t even that bad. Day 2: My face was super swollen and half of the pain and discomfort went away and I could finally walk around. I honestly thought I was going to be bed ridden with no energy but I only feel tired from lack of sleep. I was on my phone most of this day since I was kind of bored. Definitely take time to walk around to help reduce swelling later on. Walking gets your blood flowing and helps clear out the fluid in your face. Ask the doctors how much you can walk and how long you can to help reduce swelling, I’ve heard from most people they try to walk 1 hour a day by week 2. Day 3: Huge improvement in overall feel, I still have a very numb feeling face but pain is significantly reduced and discomfort isn’t as bad and drinking stuff is way easier. Also taking pills is much easier for some reason now, maybe it could be due to the fact I have way more upper jaw space in my mouth. I am also finally able to get good sleep now. Day 4: I feel like I should mention a temporary symptom after this surgery not a lot of people talk about but I think it would be nice to know. That temporary symptom consists of ears becoming so plugged from the high sinus pressure resulting in hearing volume being reduced and listening to music causes the pitch to be transposed negatively (28-35 cents) in my case. I use a program on my computer to increase the pitch of all audio by (28-35 cents) so I can enjoy music. If you’re a musician you would understand this well and can hear the tuning of A4 which is 440 Hz not being accurate due to this symptom. Because of this symptom I am not able to produce music while recovering because everything is off pitch but I am hopeful it will go away soon. Swelling has continued to increase and I feel so swollen that I can’t bite on my wafer properly this day. I was starting to get sensations back and due to this I could feel pain in previously numb areas once again. Day 5: I noticed that my swelling is not as bad as the day before, I also am gaining more facial movements back due to my swelling going down and nerves repairing. I can open and close my jaw with more control. I only nose bleed out of one nostril now and I feel like I’m recovering very well at this point in time. Drinking fluids has become much easier and I am able to drink greater amounts. Day 6: The hearing symptom I mentioned early has improved and now I don’t have to alter the pitch of music as much anymore which means nasal congestion is improving! I am also starting to get my jaw movement and mouth movement back. Day 7: I’m going in for my 1st follow up (disinfection) today and swelling is finally starting to stop increasing and yellow bruising is starting to become very apparent which is a good sign of healing. I am also able to feel more sensations around my cheeks. I was shown new x rays taken of my results and I am already impressed based off the images. I can tell that once the swelling goes down the results will look great.
Week 2: Swelling has gone down greatly but still needs a lot more time to reduce. Regained feelings and sensations have also been a big improvement along with mouth movements and jaw mobility.
Week 3: Due to the fact I have gotten so much feeling back and that my chin is finally starting to regain feeling I am experiencing quite a bit of pain in my front chin area. This is to be expected but I wasn’t ready for it to be quite honest. One thing I found that drastically helps the pain and sometimes gets rid of it completely is wearing the head band provided from the clinic to apply compression. It only gets bad at night time when inflammation is at its peak. Swelling has also reduced slightly.
1 Month: I’ve been told that my face is starting to look like its normal state in terms of swelling and now it looks a lot less puffy and bloated. I feel like I’m gaining my feeling and nerves back a lot faster than others since I can feel everything but my front left part of chin and the left of my bottom lip. The left of my bottom lip is starting to slowly get feeling back at this week since I can feel slight sensations when I touch it now. I will be updating with pictures and better angles on month 3, month 6, and year 1.