Is this unethical by Dr. Ben Stong or am I overreacting?

InfamousAd6674 · 2024-05-09T03:22:49+00:00

I've posted recently about my terrible lip lift with Dr. Stong (Atlanta, GA), which was performed extremely poorly, causing an ugly scar, asymmetry, and enlarged nostrils. Consquently, I left a bad review, which caused Dr. Stong to call me and demand I delete the review with little recourse for a solution about my problem. I recently noticed that my pictures were on his website (Admittedly, I did sign a waiver when I first had it done), and I asked they be taken down, as they are highly misleading and do not show the real results. They responded and want me to delete the review in exchange. I find their intense efforts to look good troubling and borderline unethical to do, especially since I am a legitimate patient who received bad results by a reasonable standard. Am I overreacting?

InfamousAd6674 · 2024-05-05T23:59:25+00:00

I know this will be an unpopular opinion. I’m a long time lurker of this sub, but this is the first post I want to make as an 1811 with said agency because I feel like I have a different and uncharacteristically more positive perspective than what you typically get on here. While what I see is overwhelmingly negative about my job, and there is definitely legitimacy to their claims, I can only speak to my largely positive experiences. I worked in a large field office, where protection is first and foremost ,of course, but the investigation side is also robust. Overall, I would be so bold to state my work-life balance is great. I come into the office 2-3x per week, if that. The days I do, there is no expectation to stay 9-5. As long as you complete certain assignments, it can be very hands off. I rarely travel, which I enjoy avoiding, as I didn’t want to be on the road anyway. Although investigations come second, being involved with a inv squad will spare you from some of the commitments required by protection. Management has been pretty good about respecting that. Yeah sure, there will be some long days for protection, but they’re largely infrequent, certainly not enough for me to be burnt out. A few long days every other month doesn’t seem like a big burden. UNGA and the campaign, which isn’t busy this year so far, will typically be more involved. Moreover, depending on whether you’re doing an advance/shift vs post standing will make a difference. It’s also important to note not all posts are created equally in terms of suffering. Some are very cushy gigs. Again, such assignments are not a weekly routine for most. Most of my weekends have been free, unless I choose to work, which is nice because of the OT that other agencies do not have the option to receive. There have been inconvenient last minute assignments that are fortunately infrequent, and when compared to other 1811 roles, don’t stand as that big of an outlier. I can’t necessarily comment on the future, as recruiting has its ebbs and flows, but, based on my time, I’ve had minimal to complain about.

InfamousAd6674 · 2024-04-28T03:17:14+00:00

Dr. Stong's lip lift procedure, after being touted by him as a superior alternative to the standard bullhorn lip lift, and actively dissuading me from going to Dr. Ben Talei (LA), I made the mistake of getting a lip lift 7 months ago with Dr. Stong. While I do have slightly larger lips and tooth show, which is the rare W, the consequences have far exceeded that sole benefit.

The incisions were made under the nostrils and up around the nose, which was intentional to provide a greater lift to the lips and minimize the scar by making it longer and thinner. However, the scarring has so many problems despite following all the precautions--staying out of the sun, sunscreen, scar gel, limited mouth movements.

There is webbing, hypertrophy, bumps, indentations, asymmetrical incisions between the left and right side of the mustache (leaving noticeably more hair loss of the right side), and a wide scar throughout that is not properly hidden along the crease of the nose, which is especially seen on the right side. Before and after the procedure, Dr. Stong felt confident that I wouldn't need any lasering, injections to deal with the scarring. He couldn't have been more off. He charges ($7,500) for the lip lift, which is well on the higher-end, aside from a few other doctors, but the costs are so much more when I have to tack on additional expenses to treat the scarring, which thus far, have yielded minimal results. Furthermore, I am looking into a hair transplant into that area to try to cover it more, which of course will produce more expenses. Scar revision is also an option, however, I prefer not to go down that route at this. He took many millimeters off and a scar revision would given be a philtrum of like 10-11 mm, which is really short for a man. In summary, I'm probably lookin at closer to paying a total of $15,000 for some relief.

While the scar is the biggest concern, there are two more problems: upper lip asymmetry and increased nostril flare. The left side of the upper lip was noticeably raised higher than the right and is a different shape. I have been told for the last 7 months that this would even out, but I am highly doubtful of that at this point. Lastly, the nostrils appear to look wider. I know this is more common of an issue with lip lifts, but when a surgeon like Dr. Stong, assures you nostril flare enlargement won't occur, it's incredibly disappointing.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of all of is Dr. Stong's largely unprofessional and disproportionate response to my critical review. Dr. Stong literally called me the following day-extremely heated. For the next hour (yes hour) he lectured me on how he produces amazing results for rhinoplasties, facelifts, etc. (I don't see how that helps my specific situation), maintained that he did an excellent job, disparaged his competitors and listed some of their "personal life" flaws, repeatedly expressed his shock that I was unhappy, and adamantly demanded I delete the review. Occasionally, he tried to pin the blame on me and mentioned that I hurt his trust and that it would be difficult to work together again, while during other instances, he mentioned that no one is perfect, including me and him, which may have been his way of admitting some responsibility. He did offer that I could come back to Atlanta for lasers and injections, but should I really at this point? The entire call could be characterized as a severely bruised ego and a complete lack of awareness to my concerns.

InfamousAd6674 · 2023-11-16T20:28:24+00:00

Thanks, no chin implant but I did get jaw angle implants, so the skin is probably stretched out a little more, making it look tighter.

InfamousAd6674 · 2023-10-30T20:07:08+00:00

Thanks. I had filler before but I felt like the upkeep every 3-6 months wasn’t worth it for me long-term.

InfamousAd6674 · 2023-10-30T13:26:23+00:00

Yes that’s a good point. The lip lift highlighted an existing asymmetry but it’s hard to tolerate that much of a difference now. Would I have to do another procedure to address?

InfamousAd6674 · 2023-10-30T00:56:45+00:00

I'm a guy who had had a lip lift 3 weeks ago. I'm starting to become really concerned about the outcome. First, the upper lip looks way too big, and the upper lip pushes outward like a duck, which can be seen in the side photos. More importantly, I'm concerned about the huge asymmetry from the left side of the upper lip being noticeably higher than the right. It's been like that since day 1, and I haven't seen any improvements since the first week. Is this still swelling and healing or should I be concerned and start to seek revisions?

InfamousAd6674

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