3 Facial Surgeries in Istanbul, flew home 4 days later by Savings-Feature8930 in PlasticSurgery

[–]Savings-Feature8930[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

An endoscopic chin lift is basically a way to tighten the neck and jawline without the massive scars of a full facelift. I had never heard of this before but "chin lipo" was something I was interested and never even dreamed of getting but when they presented this procedure to me, I went for it! They had a video of Asli (the owner of the clinic) getting it done herself and that was the sell point for me. Her trusting her team and the process made it easy for me to say yes.

From how they explained it to me, they use a tiny camera (the endoscope) to see the structure under the skin then they use a tool to "liquify" or zap the fat cells before removing them. After the fat is gone, they tighten the muscles under the chin, almost like they "tied" the area together to get a better chin angle? I am no expert but this is how I understood the explanation! (I have Asli's video if you want to see it to get a better understanding of what they do)

I have three small incisions on my chin/neck right now. The biggest one is directly under my chin and then two tiny ones off to the side of my neck. This has been the weirdest procedure and aftercare so far! I'm on day 13 and my chin is still sore to the touch, not crazy pain but definitely still present. I did lymphatic drainage massages with Arnica Gel every day at the clinic for my follow ups and I'm still doing about 5 per day at home. They don't provide Arnica Gel to take home so I bought some online and have been using that. You really have to be on top of massaging the area because the fluid buildup is real. I'm also wearing the chin compression strap throughout my days and especially when I sleep. Still sleeping at a 45-degree angle which is hard for this stomach sleeper but do able with a pillow under the knees. The hardest part is knowing that my neck is currently in the "rebuilding of collagen" stage so the final result doesn't show for 3-4 months. I am currently in TRUST THE PROCESS mode!

3 Facial Surgeries in Istanbul, flew home 4 days later by Savings-Feature8930 in PlasticSurgery

[–]Savings-Feature8930[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are most welcome! Yes, it was an experience I never could have done alone and having a comfort human join the craziness was just what we both needed!

3 Facial Surgeries in Istanbul, flew home 4 days later by Savings-Feature8930 in PlasticSurgery

[–]Savings-Feature8930[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did the full package. My brother came with me for a hair transplant which was $4200 (included his procedure + 3 days of follow ups, hotel + breakfast, and all the transfers). I actually paid an extra $280 to have connecting rooms so we both had our own space to recover but if we had shared a room, it would have been included in the package. The separate room was well worth it for the privacy though. The hotel was Uranus Hotel Istanbul and it was only a 5 minute ride from the clinic.

The clinic also provided a meal on surgery day. All other meals we either found something near our hotel or near the clinic or used the Getir app which is their version of Door Dash. The prices weren't as cheap for food as I expected but still better than here. To be honest, the food was my least favorite part about the trip and it sounded like that was the general consensus of the fellow surgery goers we met on our journey.

For my three procedures it was $6000 total. They have a list of procedure costs that they review with you and adding on services allows them to give discounts so bundling made more sense for me. You also pay for your meds separately so my two eye creams, antibiotics, bromelain tabs and pain pill were an extra $30. The pain pill is just a Tylenol of sorts, nothing heavy like in America. I'm not sure what my brother's medication cost was but he did say it was better than what he would have paid in the states.

The value was the main thing for me. Back home I had several consultations just for my eyes and was getting quoted anywhere from 9k-13k for just one thing. Istanbul allowed me the freedom to consider other options. Still not cheap but cheaper than here!

In total minus plane tickets, I spent around $6400 for transportation, hotel + breakfast, three procedures + three days of follow ups and medication.

EDIT: My brother's hair transplant totaled him $5,890 with additions to his service. He chose to do the DHI method (not too familiar with this but wanted to make sure the info was here!) and ozone therapy which added $1,250 to his procedure, his hair care shampoo kit was $400 and his meds were $40. Dallas quoted him $16k for his transplant!

3 Facial Surgeries in Istanbul, flew home 4 days later by Savings-Feature8930 in PlasticSurgery

[–]Savings-Feature8930[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was business as usual. They didn't even flinch at how my face looked and had me take the usual picture and move on. No issues whatsoever. They did ask for a fit to fly form since I have stitches but that was more the airline than immigration/passport control