Did you undergo any aesthetics procedure? Last April 15, I attended the International Forum on Aesthetic Medicine. It was held at Dusit Thani, Makati City. I was delighted to talk to three experts in the field of aesthetic surgery in Asia.
Q: What’s your specialty?
A: My favorite procedure is Anti-Aging, Breast and Body Contouring then Nose Surgery. When I do the Nose Surgery I don’t use the artificial implant only patient’s own tissue, mostly rib cartilage to provide the most naturality and safe for the patient for the life time so I use self-tissue, own tissue only.
Q: How long in your profession?
A: Yeah, too many. I had the board in 1994 a very long time about 24 years, long time practice.
Q: Aside from being a surgeon, Did you try another field / job/ specialty ?
A: I’m just a Plastic Surgeon. I’m a doctor and my major is plastic surgery. I worked in a university hospital, I did microsurgery and tissue transplant.
Q: How about the procedure of tissue transplant, I was curious about it.
A: It’s the procedure I had done but after I opened my clinic, I just do cosmetic surgery .
Q: What’s the name of your clinic?
A: Awon Plastic Surgery.
Q: Do you have a clinic here in the Philippines?
A: No, only in Korea.
Q: Where in Korea? Seoul?
A: Close to Seoul but not in Seoul.
Q: What’s the name of the city in Korea?
A: Yongin.
Q: If you want to catch him you have to go to Yongin.
A: Yeah, most clinics in Korea are located Downtown but my office is located in Countryside, very peaceful and very beautiful place, very quiet. I think being a plastic surgeon is not the job to make money. I think the job is to make art so the location of my office is different from those other clinics.
Q: What is your philosophy is doing in doing surgical and why you like surgery?
A: Everybody has their characteristics, I am not a doctor to make beautiful face but make a characteristic and unique face for each patient. When I do the eyelid surgery or nose surgery, I’m not trying to make a beautiful nose but try to make balanced nose. The most fit shape for my patient’s face. I think that is the most important than beautiful nose, beautiful eyes or the beautiful other facial structures. It is very important.
Q: If some Filipinos visit your country If ever she need a face lift, Did you invite some Filipinos to go to your clinic?
A: Yeah, Some Philippine people come to my office to get whole procedure, whenever I do a procedure I always recommend to my patient all or nothing. All means when I consult my patient I usually analyze all face as one unit not partially it’s the most important, I said you balance harmony is the most important but beautiful face is something. Balance and the harmony of the face is everything, I think.
Q: How much is the cost face lift?
A: Expensive, maybe more than $10,000. Usually I do the whole face the price about $20,000, yes it’s expensive but it takes a long time and it is a long recovery for the patient but after recovery to your surprise the original image of the patient is not changed but the patient will get more balance, more harmony of the face and finally the facial bright side will increase and the dark side will decrease.
Q: Plastic Surgery in Korea and your office is in Seoul?
A: Apgujeong you know?
Q: We’re planning to visit Korea soon. Where is it located?
A: Apgujeong, Gangnam Station and Sinsa Station.
Q: How long have you been in your profession?
A: My plastic surgery residency start from 1997 and I have done my board, plastic surgery board in 2001, this year 20 (years).
Q: Aside from your clinic in Seoul, Do you have any clinic here in the Philippines?
A: No, actually the doctors are walking with their license, I have the license in Korea and China but not in the Philippines.
Q: Some Filipinos are asking for a double eyelid, do you recommend it to the Filipinos to do the procedure? What can you say to the Filipinos who want to have a double eyelid?
A: Filipinos eyes are better. In Korea we have a single fold, you have a double fold.
Q: but some are Chinese- Filipinos?
A: Usually we East Asian, me, Chinese, Japanese. We have the skin, little bit sagging, we call it brow ptosis. Brow position is low and the skin is sagging even in young people, plastic surgeon make a fold, fold means flip the skin and then the eyes will look bigger. Aesthetically, the bright eye is better. I think the double-lid surgery is good for all East Asian. Sometimes they have the function, function program “ptosis”. In that case, the surgery is more difficult but we are good at ptosis correction in Korean plastic surgeon and the function and cosmetic we can make two things better and make muscle function better and make the fold better.
Q: What is Dr. Kim specialty, What is Dr. Kim is known for?
A: Usually I’m doing the facial surgeries, facial bone contouring, eye surgeries and I also like face lift surgeries. Face need harmony, bone, skin and volume everything harmony. Actually if one doctor doing everything on face, together is better. If there is one doctor is in eye, and other on nose, and the other on bone then the harmony will be… Face and Body can be divided, some doctors are good at body. Breast, liposuction, abdominal plastic and calf reduction, the body. But me, I’m on face. Neck is face.
Q: How many sessions will there be for the whole face?
A: One day, you can do everything. Usually some patients, they don’t have much time and they come to Korea, they do everything and then usually one week stay in Korea for recovery and go back. Sometimes, patients want face and body but the time I divide, one day face one-day body.
Q: Initial cost for face surgery.
A: Usually the entry surgery of eyelid, double fold surgery the operation time is 30 minutes and patient pays $1,000.
Q: Do you invite?
A: Many patients come to me but consultation is not free.
I’m Dr.Michael Lim from Malaysia. Having footprints all over the world, Hong Kong, China, Australia Sydney, Melbourne in Europe, Germany but I’m based totally in Malaysia now also in Singapore, companies in Singapore I’ve been in Aesthetics for the last 19 years but for these last 6 years I’ve been doing stem cells, so we do the stem cells we search.
Q: What is your specialty?
A: We are concentrating on how to use stem cells in anti-aging and also better health or what we call wellness. In the other time, we research based on disease intervention to help the people with diseases. Usually Parkinson’s, Arthritis, SLE and we have people with heart failure, heart attack, Liver cirrhosis, Liver failure.
Q: Do you have any other profession?
A: I’m a medical doctor. Aesthetic is my main field for the past 19 years it’s continuing but I still do other new research.
Q: How long have you been in this profession?
A: 19 years, as a doctor 21 years. Since ‘96.
Q: How much is the initial cost?
A: As low as $200 and as high as $15,000, we are doing that. I am more concentrated in the stem cell therapy which is actually on the high end. Of course, there are a simple as just a plain vitamin that can help you we do that as well. Nutritional method to help you get better health so our principle.
Q :How many sessions in anti-aging?
A: It depends on the treatment, in our stem cell therapy it’s once, only once. If we’re talking about Nutritional method it could be a daily life but we could teach you to have better life in food and diet and also your nutrition and hormones. Different patient, different needs.
Q: Example my face how many sessions do you think?
A: In your face, number one I would think width would be possible so when you’re controlling your width we need to see… you see if today we control your width by asking you to go on a diet it won’t work because if you’re running up and down and exercising it won’t work that well because the problem which I can see, it’s a hormonal problem so I need to optimize your hormone then I ask you to do a little bit exercise it works but if I don’t correct your hormones and I ask you to exercise a lot it’s a waste of money and waste of energy that’s why we need to do prioritize treatment, some treatments are more important to do first and some treatments do later. Because the order of things is not proper you don’t get the results you want.
Q: Do you have any Filipino patients for anti-aging?
A: Yes and No, very few
Q: If they want to catch you, How?
A: They can come to Malaysia, you can see me in Singapore or I can meet them in the Philippines.
Q: Are you planning to put up an Aesthetic clinic here in the PH?
A: No, We do collaborations all over the world so if someone in the Philippines would want to collab then we can do it.
Q: Some doctor invite you to give anti-aging in other clinics?
A: I wouldn’t mind. I can explore to that but my time is very limited, I’m a very very busy so today.
Q: Can you invite Filipinos to your clinic.
A: Yeah, clinic is just a typical clinic so no problem they can come over anytime in Kuala Lumpur. In Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur exact address, you can go to Hartamas Shopping center, contact me and then we can get from there because it’s a bit difficult to find a place.
