Introducing Director Huh Jae-won, Facial Lift Surgery Specialist at 입체성형외과

Hello, I’m Director Jo Hyun-woo of 입체성형외과.

In my last column, I talked about our hospital’s expansion and relocation, as well as the broadening of our dermatology services.

As the anti-aging field continues to expand, we are preparing to begin lifting and facelift surgery care by bringing in a director who specializes in facelifts to meet our patients’ needs.

I will personally take full responsibility for contouring surgery from start to finish, and we have brought in an excellent director for lifting and facelift care.

Director Huh Jae-won focuses exclusively on the single field of facial lift surgery among the many surgical areas in plastic surgery.

1. Could you please introduce yourself?

Hello, I’m Director Huh Jae-won, a board-certified plastic surgeon.

I specialize in anti-aging, that is, anti-aging plastic surgery. Simply put, you can think of me as someone who helps make you look 10 years younger than your friends.

2. What surgery are you best at?

Surgery that makes people look younger. More precisely, surgeries that make you look younger. It may sound grand, but I think it’s fair to say I specialize in all surgeries with “lift” in the name.

3. Please explain facelift surgery in detail.

The name is facelift surgery, but while removing your concerns, it is closer to surgery than you might think.

If we assume there is a 50-year-old patient, Patient A may have fine wrinkles on the forehead, Patient B may have deep nasolabial folds, Patient C may have hollowness under the eyes or, conversely, puffiness, and Patient D may have sagging from around the mouth down to the neck, the so-called bulldog jowls and turkey neck. If these are more pronounced than in the average person in their 40s, that person may appear to be in their 50s.

Conversely, if you address those areas, you can make someone look 10 years younger. If you attach the name “lift” to the area of concern, it becomes a rejuvenation surgery for that area, and you can think of it as facial lift, brow lift, neck lift, forehead lift, lower eyelid lift, and so on.

4. What age group do you think is appropriate for lift surgery, and what age range actually comes to see you?

I haven’t seen anyone in their 90s or teens yet. I have operated on patients from their 20s to their 80s, and it is possible at any age.

However, the timing I recommend is generally once in your 40s to 50s, and once in your 60s to 70s. As an exception, for some patients who have had contouring surgery, I sometimes recommend it in the mid-to-late 30s. I’ll set aside time and make a video about this at some point. The age range of people who come to see me is similar to what I just mentioned.

5. When can you return to daily life after lift surgery?

Until the tenth day, when the stitches are removed, it’s better not to overdo it.

But by “overdoing it,” I mean things like lifting heavy weights or sprinting at full speed, so things like wearing a hat and going to the supermarket or taking a walk are of course possible after the first two days go smoothly. In fact, I encourage people to walk a lot.

6. I’m worried there will be a lot of scars. Is that okay?

We need to make the scars invisible. Making scars invisible is a matter of skill and know-how.

In fact, among surgeries, pulling up a sagging face is finished surprisingly quickly. But making the scars invisible is difficult. It varies greatly depending on the surgeon. At our clinic, we pay two to three times more attention to scar-concealing design than other hospitals, so if you look at the before-and-after photos, you will clearly feel the difference.

7. Is there any surgery that goes well with lift surgery?

Sagging skin can be returned to its place, but it is difficult to restore lost volume. For people whose faces look gaunt or sunken, fat grafting, which simply takes material from your own belly fat to fill in the hollow areas, works well together.

8. What do you think the plastic surgery trend is these days?

These days, younger people often finish eye surgery in middle or high school, and by the early 20s they may already be done with nose surgery or contouring. Perceptions have changed a lot.

Mothers who had plastic surgery when they were young and loved the results bring their daughters in and have them do it too. Just as it is now very common for 20-year-olds to have double eyelid surgery, I think it will become very common for people in their 40s and 50s to get a face lift when they have 1–2 weeks of time.

9. Your future goals

I would like to gradually introduce rejuvenation surgeries and, if possible, share the results as well. Thank you.

I hope you will also take an interest not only in contouring surgery, but also in anti-aging procedures and lift surgery at our newly relocated clinic.

We will continue striving to make 입체성형외과 a clinic that keeps developing. Thank you.