Rhinoplasty Journey - Kowon > Real Review

Hi Purse-forumers,

I've been stalking many threads over the last few years, since I was hoping to get DES and rhinoplasty done in Korea back in 2019. Due to COVID, that obviously changed haha. But I am actually currently here in Korea, where I have received DES (a future post/different thread on that) and have put down a deposit for rhinoplasty at Kowon later this week. Full transparency, I was able to get a good negotiated price (So sorry, I can't disclose the price! But I will say it is one of the lower ones that I was given across clinics) from a freelancer (Jude - he's awesome and seems to be popular on PF recently, more on him later!) with Kowon Plastic Surgery. Kowon was hoping to have me write a review on the consult, procedure and results, as part of the negotiated price, which I agreed. This post will focus on my rhinoplasty journey with Kowon and I'll make sure to update it, including my experience with 5 other clinics that I consulted with (Sinsa area - JT, Apgujeong area - Zestar, Miho, Sinnonhyeon/Gangnam area - ILAC, Vibe).

Also, a big thank you to these 3 threads that I've followed, which helped me decide what clinics to consult and other helpful surgery tips...

-Paul/PJKB (https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/my-korean-rhinoplasty-journey.1055785/)

-Stroboni (https://forum.purseblog.com/threads...korea-consultations-decision-surgery.1057258/)

-Freethebird (https://forum.purseblog.com/threads...mprehensive-list-of-clinics-in-korea.1017523/)

Kowon consultation for rhinoplasty

[KakaoMap] 코원성형외과의원

110, Dosan-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul http://kko.to/uRtWqJ-RqL

-Tip: If you are using Kakaomap, try looking for clinics with the Korean alphabet. Usually their official Korean websites will list it somewhere down on the bottom of the page. You can also googletranslate to help find it! Kowon is steps away form Sinsa station!

I was interested in Kowon from Freethebird's thread. They mentioned that it was popular for locals, and may possibly be more affordable compared to other clinics. I reached out to them through Kakao by using their website (http://kowonps.com/). Find the quick menu that pops up on the right side, where there is a Kakao option. *There wasn't much of an online consultation before arriving to Korea, like some other clinics, so the consultant mentioned bringing a translator once we chose an in-person consultation day.*

A freelancer who had translated for Kowon was able to contact me through Kakao and we were able to meet on the day of my consultation at the clinic. Jude was really friendly and even prior to meeting, was really quick at responding to messages. He confirmed that Dr. Kim was an ENT specialist and popular for noses. Jude helped me fill out the papers and we met the consultant Ju Yeon, where we discussed my concerns with my nose and did a CT scan. She was bubbly and friendly, as well. Soon after, we met Dr. Kim Hyung Taek. He was also friendly and smiled a lot. He was able to go through the CT scans with us and discuss his recommendations...

-Tip plasty (using septal cartilage + ear cartilage) - have a bulbous and drooping tip

-Alar reduction - alars are quite large

-Deviated septum - through the CT scan, Dr. Kim was able to demonstrate in more detail.

*This aligned with what I was hoping to get, prior coming to Korea.

Also...

-Dissolve previous filler in nose bridge - done 2019, still remaining, asked to come back at least a day before the procedure.

-Remove "dissolvable threads" in my nose tip - still remaining, but done on the day of the procedure

After speaking with Dr. Kim, Ju Yeon was able to walk us through a review of what was mentioned by the doctor, as well as scheduling and quotes. She mentioned that for a rhinoplasty I would have to come back 3 days after the surgery, 7 days, as well as before I leave Korea for a final check-up. The initial price was 5.5 million, which wasn't too different from the prices that I would get from other clinics. I really enjoyed the consultation but still hadn't finished consulting with the other clinics, so I mentioned that I would hold off for the meantime but was interested.

Once I completed all my consultations, I was able to speak with Jude and mentioned that I was interested in Kowon for rhinoplasty but it was still out of my budget. Luckily, he was able to negotiate a much lower price and we were able to secure a day for my surgery later on in the week. I really recommend getting a translator, if you plan on going to a clinic that may be more popular with locals. Freethebird's post mentioned that you may get a lower price with these types of clinics, and in my case, Jude was able to do that for me (Kakao ID: SPQQ) or (010 9600 6825). He charges around 40,000 won per hour, but I think it was worth it in my case (wasn't that successful in negotiating at clinics with their own in-house translator, but this depends on the person haha). He also gave some feedback on other clinics that I was consulting with (tend to be more popular with eyes/nose etc.), as well as aftercare/pre-surgery tips.

-Tip: Jude mentioned that clinics and doctors may be more popular for certain procedures. In my case, I was initially hoping to do 1 clinic with both procedures, but that kind of swayed my decision to consider going to 2 different clinics.

My procedure is booked in 2 days and I will be updating this thread with my results, as well as how my other consults went =).