Hello. I’m Dr. Kim Jun-hyun, a plastic surgery specialist.
Today, I’d like to share the precautions we provide after facial contouring surgery, including cheekbone, square jaw, and chin surgery, at Midline Plastic Surgery Clinic, where I practice.
The results of every surgery depend on everything from start to finish.
The most important thing is, of course, the surgeon’s skill.
Facial contouring surgery consists of consultation, diagnosis (X-ray and CT scans), surgery, treatment, and follow-up. Postoperative precautions are also important.
So at Midline Plastic Surgery Clinic,
I will explain what precautions we advise after facial contouring surgery.
Cheekbone reduction, square jaw reduction, and chin surgery (T-osteotomy, chin advancement, chin setback, chin height reduction, chin width reduction) are performed through an intraoral incision, so gargling after surgery is extremely important.
Ah, in the case of the cheekbones, an incision at the sideburn area is additionally made.
➀ Gargling after facial contouring surgery
- For one week after all facial contouring procedures such as cheekbone reduction, square jaw surgery, and chin surgery, please gargle. You may brush areas without stitches (such as the inside of the teeth).
- Gargle before bed, when you wake up, after eating anything other than water, and whenever you remember it.
- Dilute 10 cc, which is half of the measuring cup on the cap of the prescribed gargle solution, with one paper cup of water before use.
- After consuming anything other than water, do not gargle immediately. First, rinse your mouth with water 3 to 5 times, then gargle.
- Since moving your mouth as usual may cause the intraoral incision site to open, keep the solution in your mouth and move your head gently left, right, forward, and back as if exercising your throat, so that the gargling solution reaches every corner thoroughly.
- If you cannot close your mouth properly, hold the upper and lower lips with your hand.
※ If you finish all of the gargle solution prescribed by the hospital within one week, buy an over-the-counter mouthwash (such as Listerine), and dilute it 1:1 with water before use. (Example: 70 ml gargle solution : 70 ml water)
※ If the gargle solution or mouthwash stings your mouth or does not suit you, you may rinse with tap water or bottled water. However, please do it more often and more thoroughly than when using gargle solution.
※ After one week, gently brush away food residue as if wiping it off, and never brush with strong pressure as you normally would.
➁ Eating after facial contouring surgery
- For one week, consume only liquids such as water, milk, soy milk, juice, porridge, soup, and yogurt.
- In the case of porridge, if there are solid ingredients that you can chew, you may eat them. If that is difficult, remove the solids and mash it before eating.
- Avoid irritating foods such as salty or spicy meals for two weeks.
- Eat in small amounts, divided into several meals more frequently.
- Since there are wounds in the mouth, using a straw can create negative pressure in the mouth and cause the wound to open, so place the straw tip inside the teeth when using it.
- After one week, a regular diet is possible, but avoid foods that are too hard or chewy for 3 months. (Tofu, eggs, etc.)
➂ Washing your face after facial contouring surgery
- Wash your face with wet wipes only on areas where tape is not attached. From day 4, water may also touch the sideburn area (if cheekbone reduction was performed).
Remove the tape on day 3 after chin surgery.
- Bathing or visiting a jjimjilbang is possible only after 1 month, because increased blood circulation can raise the risk of bleeding and may cause the wound to reopen.
- After showering, washing your face, or brushing your teeth, if the tape becomes wet and is left as is, a rash may develop on the skin. Please dry it immediately with a fan or the cool setting of a hair dryer.
- Shampooing is possible starting 3 days after surgery, and wash as you would at a hair salon. Until the day after stitch removal, be careful not to let water enter the sutured area. If you shampoo yourself, do not scrub the sideburn area with your fingernails.
- In cheekbone reduction surgery, a bandage is applied to the sideburn area on the day of surgery to protect the wound. From the next day, if you apply the prescribed ointment well so the skin does not dry out, the bandage is not strictly necessary. However, when wearing a compression band or using an ice pack, it is better to apply a bandage so it does not touch the wound.
➃ Swelling management and posture after facial contouring surgery
- Please wear the compression garment only for 3 to 5 days starting the day after surgery. Use it within a tolerable range that does not cause too much pain.
- Wear it while sleeping, and during the day you may remove and put it back on freely during meals, light walks, and washing your face.
- Cold compresses are used for 3 days. Before use, freeze the ice pack in the freezer. If it is a gel pack and does not freeze completely, use it once it feels cold. It should not touch the skin in a cold state, so wrap it in a thin cloth or towel before use.
- If you still feel warmth after day 4, continue using cold compresses.
- The compression garment is intended to help with hemostasis and reduce swelling, so wearing it for more than 5 days has no benefit and may actually impede blood circulation, making swelling harder to reduce.
- Do not lie down continuously. Walk or do brisk walking to help manage swelling. (This promotes blood circulation and helps reduce swelling.)
- When sleeping, stacking two pillows and sleeping with your upper body slightly elevated is helpful for reducing swelling.
- Please apply lip balm frequently so your lips do not become dry.
➄ Prescription and medication instructions after facial contouring surgery
- Take one packet three times a day, in the morning, at lunch, and in the evening. A pain reliever is included in the prescription, but if you still have pain, you may also take one over-the-counter pain reliever a day (such as Tylenol 500 mg).
- Other pain relievers may overlap in ingredients with the prescribed pain reliever and sometimes cause stomach discomfort. Please take Tylenol if possible.
- If your mouth or throat is too swollen to swallow the medicine, grind the medicine into powder and take it with water.
- Apply the prescribed ointment to the incision area morning and evening, and a regular bandage is fine for the tape.
➅ Common symptoms after cheekbone reduction, square jaw surgery, and chin surgery
- Facial contouring surgery is performed under general anesthesia. Due to the endotracheal tube used for general anesthesia, your throat may hurt for about 2 to 3 days, similar to a sore throat after a cold.
- Even if you take the appropriate amount of pain reliever, the pain may not disappear completely, and throbbing pain may continue to some extent. Do not take an excessive amount of pain reliever. Side effects from pain relievers may occur.
- The stitches inside the mouth dissolve naturally over 2 to 3 weeks, so do not open your mouth too widely during this period.
- Do not pull your lips with your hands to look at the stitches inside the mouth, and do not touch the stitched area with your tongue. If the wound opens, it may need to be sutured again.
- The stitches inside the mouth are dissolvable, so they will fully dissolve and come out after about 3 weeks.
No additional stitch removal is necessary. Because the oral sutures are done in two layers, it is not a problem if the oral mucosa appears somewhat open. Please rest assured. However, food can easily get trapped, so you should pay extra attention to gargling.
- Major swelling decreases after about 14 days, and most of the swelling subsides over 3 to 6 months.
- After cheekbone reduction, if you hear a loud sound from the surgical area and it continues to throb (or if you feel movement in the cheekbone area), contact the hospital immediately and come in for evaluation. The plate may have broken. If necessary, an X-ray may be taken and re-fixation surgery may be required.
- A reduced ability to open the mouth to a width of about one or two fingers (trismus) is a normal recovery process after surgery. Mouth opening improves depending on swelling and bone healing. Until 2 months after surgery, do not force your mouth open beyond the width of two fingers.
- If, even after 2 months, your mouth still does not open to more than two fingers, you need to practice opening your mouth.
- After cheekbone reduction, blood may flow from the nose for about a week. This is the process of blood that has pooled in the sinuses being discharged, and it will stop over time.
- Please wipe away nasal discharge, and do not blow your nose forcefully, as that may cause the discharge to flow backward and lead to inflammation. Refrain from blowing your nose for 3 months and wipe away anything that comes out. Also, tissues around the face become sensitive after cheekbone surgery, which can cause a runny nose. Never blow your nose.
- It is okay to gently wipe the inside of the nose with a cotton swab, etc., but do not do so forcefully. Also, blocking the nose with tissue can allow bacteria to multiply, so please wipe away what comes out.
- The symptoms above are general symptoms, and may vary slightly from person to person.
That concludes the post-facial contouring precautions from Midline Plastic Surgery Clinic.
After cheekbone reduction, square jaw surgery, chin advancement, chin setback, or T-osteotomy surgery,
if you have any questions or experience any discomfort, please contact the hospital immediately.
<If you have any questions, please leave them in a private comment and we will reply. Thank you.>
