Monday 9 February 2015

Non-incisional Double Eyelid Surgery @ Cambridge Medical Group


*Disclaimer*

Those of you who follow me on Ig for awhile now would know that I went through a double eyelid surgery last November. Before I go into details about the surgery, I just want to say I'm neither encouraging nor discouraging anyone on plastic surgery or any other forms of aesthetic enhancement. Personally, I've always been one who's more on the "nay to plastic" side so it took me quite some time before deciding to get my eyelids done which is honestly? possibly one of the best decisions ever. 
This is my first and very likely to be the last (unless the double eyelid fades off/disappears over time) since I'm content with my overall looks. Besides I still stand by, imperfections make perfections. So, it's your call honey! Now, let's get to the deets and peeks.



 So the whole process started with a quick consultation on how high I want my lids to be. The nurse used toothpick to help me create temporary lids to show me the different heights and difference between parallel and tapered eyelid, and how it would look like after surgery. I picked parallel in the end cos tapered is too natural-looking for my liking. Here's the difference between tapered and parallel.

Pic cr : 8asians.com



She dotted the final line with a pen so it acts as a reference for the doctor. Easy peasy!

So here's my final choice. The doctor also explained to me beforehand that my eyelids on both eyes might turn out slightly uneven due to the difference in my brow bone height and the amount of fats I have on each eyelid. Thankfully he did a pretty good job and the difference isn't very big. I don't think there are perfect double eyelids cos both eyes are unfortunately and naturally somewhat different from one another. Eg my left eye is bigger than my right and my left brow bone is lower so it kinda makes my fats more compact leading to sometimes multiple eyelids which to me is fine (: Got double can already hahahah.


 Not the final look of course but fortunately my eyelids weren't very swollen right after surgery. It only started swelling up the next day!

Healing process 



As you can see the first 4 days my left eye wasn't healing as well as the right and I panicked! I called the doctor up and he reassured me that it's completely normal for one eye to heal faster and violaaaaa, he's right!

Scarring also went down by a lot within 6 days and now I have no scar at all! Nobody can tell I did my eyes even when my eyes are closed.

This was 2 weeks later when I could start applying make up on my eyes.

I took so long to blog about this cos I wanted to give my eyes a few months and see if anything went wrong cos after all I wouldn't want to get any of your eyes into trouble! It's been almost 3 months since my surgery and all is well! It's the best feeling to wake up looking prettier without any make up and double eyelids certainly help to cut down on my eye make up by A LOT! I hardly use eyeliner anymore. Maybe just once a week when I attend events or go out at night? I really really love it and wish I did it earlier. On some days I'll still get triple eyelids on my left eye after a long day but I know it's not my doctor's fault. It's just my brow bone born this way and I'm cool with it. Now here are some photos taken yesterday with no eyeliner!






It's very natural-looking but not too subtle. Best part is that I still look like myself which is something I don't want to change so phewwwww thank God I found the right clinic and the right doctor who could deliver what I want exactly. 

FAQ time!

What I did?

I did parallel double eyelid surgery using the non-incisional technique also known as the suture method. Basically, it's a non-incisional method that requires NO cutting but just stitching. Basically, it compresses an indentation into place and the whole surgery takes only 20 minutes under local anesthesia. I chose to stitch instead of cut because of various reasons. Firstly, it's scarless and full recovery takes only about 2 weeks which is really short compared to the incisional method. Secondly, it's reversible. So if I didn't like my eyelids after the 1st surgery, I can have a revision procedure to perfect/adjust it which you can't do for the incisional method. I definitely don't want to regret only after the surgery and not be able to do anything about it since it's for life! A lot of people told me that suture method doesn't last as long as cutting but I was assured by my doctor that the new suture method lasts longer than the traditional method or could possibly last permanently if I take care of it. I went for high eyelids so it look nice with make up as well!

Why did I do it?

I've always wanted double eyelids since young but it never hit me to undergo an eyelid surgery until last year. The eyes to me, is one of the most important features on the face and double eyelids help to brighten up your overall look. Some people thought that I've had double eyelids all along cos of my photos. But that's because 1.I could fake double eyelids by forcing it out but it only last for like 30 seconds, 2. I used to draw a line across my lid with eyebrow pencil and made it look like I have double eyelids, 3. I have a soft line across my eyelids but it doesn't fold when I look straight. It only folds and forms double eyelid when I look up (see pic below for better understanding).
So I kinda had it but not really which was annoying. Initially I thought I could just draw the line across my eyes for my entire lifetime but I realised that each time I drew, I was exerting force across my eyelid which might expedite the formation of wrinkles! Also, it looked ugly when I closed my eyes cos the drawn line would be evident. So after much consideration, I told myself OKAY LET'S JUST GET MY EYELIDS DONE ONCE AND FOR ALL. Don't need to force it or draw it anymore!



Where did I do it and how much it cost?

I did it in Singapore at Cambridge Medical Centre. The main reason why I chose Singapore over Korea/Taiwan was cos if anything went wrong, I could bring it straight up to my doctor conveniently and immediately. Imagine if I did it overseas and something cocks up after I'm back, then how????? Spend another $1.5K on air ticket and hotel to fly up to fix it? Secondly, I trust Singapore doctors and Singapore's surgical system. If I'm going through a surgery, I need to know I'm in good hands and that the surgical equipments are spanking clean. Most people have this misconception that Singapore has no good plastic surgeons and all the good ones are in Korea but that's not true! No doubt, Korea has more plastic surgeons but there are a handful of good ones in Singapore. You just gotta research and look! And that leads me to my second point, an established clinic and an experienced doctor.

My surgeon, Dr Shens has a long list of accolades and achievements in the field of plastic surgery. He specialises in double eyelid surgery and has operated on more than 500 patients. Dr Shens trained at Hanyang University Hospital in South Korea and acquired many surgical techniques unique to Korean plastic surgery. You can read more about him here. Cambridge Medical works with many big names like Utt and Jamie Chua who look so amazing at their age and they are really professional and experienced so I didn't hesitate too much. They also specialise in other concerns like hair-loss, breast augmentation etc etc. The clinic is conveniently located in Orchard so it's very centralised! If you're worried about post-surgery swollen eyes, don't worry! It doesn't swell much on the day itself. I even went laptop shopping after my surgery hahah. I won't even consider it much of a surgery since it's only 20 mins and doesn't even have open wounds. It's even faster than my secondary school Home Econs sewing class!

Cost of surgery : $2488 inclusive of GST
I say that's a good price considering I got to do it in my comfort zone.





Was it painful and how long was the recovery phase?

The local anaesthesia jabs were rather painful but tolerable. It was just that few seconds of discomfort anyways then you won't be able to feel a thing anymore. The surgery itself was not painful AT ALL. I  was awake but I couldn't feel a thing. Post surgery wasn't painful as well, just a bit uncomfortable cos of the swelling and tightness. Swelling and tightness will ease out within a week.

I have to warn you first that the day you do your surgery, your eyes won't be very swollen. It only comes on the next day and it might look a bit nasty so be prepared to stay home for at least 3-5 days.

Is non-incisional method suitable for everyone?

Generally, it's more suitable for people below 26 years old cos there isn't a lot of fats on your eyelid yet. People with fatty eyelid are encouraged to go for incisional method so you can extract the fats out at the same time. Of course, if you're past that age but don't have fatty lids then non-incisional method is okay for you too. It's better to have a consultation with the doctor first (:

When did I start applying eye make up and start wearing contact lenses?

I started doing both 10 days after surgery but you can apply make up on the rest of your face the whole time!

I've tried to cover as much as I can in this blog post but feel free to email me if you wanna know anything else that I've left out here!
sophia.chong@hotmail.com

And for those who are interested in getting your eyelids done in Singapore, you should definitely consider doing it in Cambridge Medical Group! They have a few outlets depending on the treatments you want to do so I went to their centre for cosmetic rejuvenation & surgery for my double eyelid procedure. Remember to look for Dr Shens!

Cambridge Medical
1 Scotts Rd
#03-03A Shaw Centre Singapore 228208

Tel: 6235 9911
SMS/Whatsapp: 9839 2541

Operating Hours:
Mon to Wed, and Fri: 10am – 6pm.
Thurs: 10am – 8pm.
Sat: 10am – 3pm
Sun and PH: Closed




XX
Sophia
Instagram and Twitter : @sophiachong

5 comments:

  1. Yes I agree with your observation. It is very difficult to answer which is better as both are different from each other and used for various purposes. Thanks for sharing this information....
    thanks
    Neha Verma

    ReplyDelete
  2. Whoa, Sophia! Your eyes looked very natural weeks after the surgery. That being said, the clinic you went to really looks high-end! It was a great move as well to document everything that happened during the surgery. It could be very helpful to others who are thinking about having the same procedure done to them. Really glad I stumbled upon your blog. Cheers!

    Victor Peterson @ DrFarole.com

    ReplyDelete
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