Facial Contouring Surgery: How to Avoid a Gangnam-Style Face

Hello. I am Hyun-woo Jo, the chief director of Apgujeong 3D Plastic Surgery.

If you are reading this, I think you are probably looking into various details such as hospitals, costs, and side effects while considering facial contouring surgery.

I wrote this because there are many misconceptions about facial contouring surgery, and there are also things you must understand before surgery.

If you take just 10 minutes before surgery to read this post all the way through, I think you will have one more condition to ask for during your consultation, and you will be able to achieve a satisfying surgical result.

I completed my specialty training in plastic surgery at Severance Hospital, and for many years I served as the chief director in charge of the facial contouring department at a large hospital in Apgujeong, performing about 10,000 facial contouring surgeries to date.

Based on my 16 years of experience, I currently work as the sole director at Apgujeong 3D Plastic Surgery, handling facial contouring procedures. Today, based on my experience over the years, I will talk about the right way to achieve successful facial contouring surgery.

Why does the face become a Gangnam-style face after facial contouring surgery?

Contour plastic surgery frontal effect

Facial contouring surgery refers to zygoma reduction, square jaw reduction, and chin reduction. When people think of facial contouring surgery, they often use the term "shaving" and imagine it as surgery that makes the face smaller.

However, the purpose of all plastic surgery is ultimately to create a "beautiful face." In that sense, contour surgery should be approached with the goal of "balancing the face," rather than simply making it smaller. If the surgery is performed with the sole aim of making the face as small as possible, it is easy to end up in trouble.

This is not only related to aesthetics, but also to postoperative side effects, which I will explain one by one below. ^^

Even in zygoma reduction alone, the ultimate goal of facial contouring surgery is to correct the balance of an unstable face by considering the ratio between the width of the forehead and the width of the lower jaw.

I call the sense of balance created from the front through contour surgery the "frontal effect of contour plastic surgery."

For easier understanding, I will explain using zygoma reduction as an example, along with photos.

Contour plastic surgery frontal effect

If you look at the woman above, you can see that the cheekbones and square jaw are developed, and the chin is also blunt. In fact, many of the people who visit for facial contouring consultations have face shapes similar to the woman above.

Facial contouring surgery, frontal effect of contour plastic surgery

(Though my skills are lacking, I created a virtual zygoma reduction result using Photoshop. ^^)

The photo on the left shows the result when the cheekbones are reduced as much as possible, and the photo on the right shows the result when surgery is performed while leaving some of the cheekbones in place, considering harmony with the width of the forehead and the width of the lower jaw.

You can see that the face is actually narrower on the left, but doesn't the woman on the right look much better?

The reason the woman on the left looks awkward and unattractive is that the result was based on the narrow idea of "reducing face size" without considering the overall harmony of the face. In fact, among people who have undergone facial contouring surgery, there are many who end up with a face shape like the one on the left.

Facial contouring surgery, frontal effect of contour plastic surgery

When a person’s face is seen from the front, if the line from the cheekbones to the lower jaw drops in a path close to a straight line rather than diagonally, the central part of the face (from the eyebrows to the tip of the nose) appears relatively longer. The longer the central part of the face, the older the person looks; the shorter it is, the closer it is to the standard for a youthful look.

If the cheekbones support the face to some extent and then lead down to the jawline, the face gains stability like the woman on the right, and a natural beauty like that of a movie actress can be created.

If you look again, the lower jaw has not changed. Even if only the cheekbones are balanced to harmonize with the lower jaw, the beauty the person already has can be fully brought out. If, at this point, you recommend all three contour procedures—cheekbones, square jaw, and chin—and perform a shaving-style surgery, it will turn into an unremarkable, mass-produced face.

I think wise readers will now understand that overall facial harmony is more important than simply reducing face size.

Contour plastic surgery frontal effect actual case Facial contouring surgery, Dr. Hyun-woo Jo of 3D Plastic Surgery

3D Plastic Surgery, frontal effect of contour plastic surgery

This is a photo of a patient who underwent zygoma reduction and agreed to the use of their likeness.

If you look at the preoperative photo on the left, the cheekbones are developed broadly outward from the middle, making the balance among the forehead, cheekbones, and jaw unstable. In this patient’s case, I considered the harmony between the width of the forehead and the lower jaw, and also took into account that the chin was somewhat rounded, so I performed the surgery while preserving the cheekbones to an appropriate extent.

As a result, you can see that the overall balance of the face has been corrected, changing it into a natural and harmonious facial shape.

3D Plastic Surgery, frontal effect of contour plastic surgery

Let’s compare this with what happens when surgery is generally performed without considering the frontal effect of contour plastic surgery.

The photo on the left is a virtual image of the expected result when surgery is performed without considering the frontal effect. Doesn’t it look like a face you’ve seen somewhere before? Let me say this again: in reality, there are many women who end up with the kind of look seen in the left photo due to incorrect contour surgery.

There is no actual difference in the length of the central part of the face in both the left and right images. However, because of the difference in the angle of descent, the central part of the face on the left appears much longer, giving the entire face a longer impression and making it look older. The jaw also appears to droop downward more by comparison.

3D Plastic Surgery, frontal effect of contour plastic surgery, before/after surgery

This is a CT scan. In the preoperative state on the left, the cheekbones protrude unstably, but in the photo on the right, you can see that the overall balance of the facial bones has been corrected. You can also confirm on the CT scan that the cheekbones that provide support were preserved instead of dropping in a straight line.

Sagging cheek side effect caused by broken balance Facial contouring surgery, Dr. Hyun-woo Jo of 3D Plastic Surgery Balance and proportions in contour surgery are not only related to aesthetics, but are also closely connected to postoperative side effects. When people think of side effects from facial contouring surgery, the first thing that likely comes to mind is sagging cheeks.

Sagging cheeks after facial contouring surgery refer to the phenomenon in which, after bone is removed, the remaining soft tissue in the empty space where the bone used to be is pulled downward by gravity. However, under the condition that the surgery was performed properly, this kind of sagging is almost impossible to confirm with the naked eye.

If too much dissection is performed beyond what is necessary, the retaining ligaments that support the skin of our face may be cut or the periosteum may be torn, causing the skin to gradually sag and leading to sagging cheeks.

If, like in the left photo, the supporting cheekbone is not preserved and the bone is removed as much as possible, over time the soft tissue is likely to droop downward due to gravity, eventually leading to a face that flows downward like in the right photo.

Therefore, surgery that considers proportions is related not only to the frontal effect of contour surgery but also to postoperative side effects, so extra caution during surgery is necessary to achieve the best results.

I have a separate column that summarizes side effects, so if you need it, I recommend reading the column below.

Contour plastic surgery frontal effect

This is a photo I use during consultations. ^^

The post has become long, but once again, I must say that good results can never come from thinking in a simplistic way.. In addition to contouring, the shape of the soft tissues such as the degree of hollow cheeks—fat and muscle—must also be considered in order to achieve the result the patient wants. I will talk about this in the next column.

Facial contouring surgery is better described as refining the face rather than reducing it, and before surgery, a precise diagnosis that considers the width of the forehead, the width of the cheekbones, the width of the lower jaw, and the shape of the fat and muscles is absolutely necessary.

Therefore, methods such as OO osteotomy and XX osteotomy are not really that meaningful in practice; what matters most is an accurate diagnosis that understands the patient’s overall contour and soft tissue condition, as well as predicting the postoperative state.

So if you are currently considering facial contouring surgery, before you tell the specialist, "My cheekbones are bothering me," "Please cut my square jaw," or "Please make my face smaller," I hope you first ask for a surgical direction that can make your face harmonious.

Otherwise, many hospitals are likely to recommend unnecessary triple contour surgery or perform surgery focused only on size reduction, which can lead to a mass-produced face. Before surgery, I recommend consulting at least two or three hospitals.

Thank you for reading this long post.