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Gangnam before & after

Facial Contouring before and after: what to expect

A week-by-week recovery timeline from Gangnam clinics.

Facial contouring, usually marketed as V-line surgery in Gangnam, reshapes the lower face by reducing the mandibular angle (square jaw), shaving the chin, and sometimes narrowing the zygoma (cheekbones). It is one of the heaviest-recovery procedures on offer: a liquid diet for 2 weeks, a soft diet through month 1, dramatic swelling for 6–8 weeks, and 6–12 months for the bone to fully consolidate. The result you see at 3 months is roughly what you keep.

Facial Contouring — Gangnam recovery timeline

Before surgery: what to prepare

Stop aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, and any blood thinners 10–14 days before. Stop fish oil, vitamin E, ginseng, ginkgo in the same window. Smoking and vaping must stop 4 weeks before and through 6 weeks after, nicotine slows bone healing and increases the risk of delayed consolidation. Have a dental cleaning and any necessary dental work completed at least 2 weeks before; you will not be able to see a dentist for routine work for 6 weeks after. Stock the kitchen with high-protein liquid and soft foods. Skip the straws, straws are not used after this surgery because the suction can dislodge intraoral clots. Buy a soft toothbrush, a small soft-spouted cup or squeeze bottle, and an antiseptic mouthwash (chlorhexidine) for post-meal rinses. Arrange for 2 weeks of help at home for cooking and basic tasks because chewing-related fatigue is significant.

The day of surgery

Facial contouring is performed under general anaesthesia, runs 3–5 hours depending on which combination of jaw, chin, and zygoma work is done, and almost always requires a 1–2 night hospital stay. All incisions are inside the mouth so no facial scars are visible. You wake up with a compression bandage wrapped around the lower face and jaw, drains in the cheeks, mouth packing, and significant facial swelling already starting. Talking is difficult; nurses will give you a notepad. Swallowing your own saliva feels strange because of the numbness and packing.

Days 1–3: peak swelling

Swelling peaks day 3–5, not day 2–3 like most other facial surgery, and is dramatic. The face looks much rounder and wider than your pre-op baseline, a known and temporary effect of bone surgery edema. Pain is moderate to significant and well-controlled by the IV medication during the hospital stay. Drains usually come out before discharge. Strict liquid-only diet, do not use a straw, even though it seems easier. Suction generated by a straw can dislodge intraoral clots and trigger bleeding or seed infection. Use a spoon, a cup, or a soft squeeze bottle instead. Protein shakes, soup blended smooth, no chewing under any circumstances. Sleep with your head elevated 45 degrees on multiple pillows. Cold compresses on the cheeks (outside the bandage) for the first 48 hours. Do not lie completely flat, sleep at 30–45 degrees. Tongue and floor-of-mouth edema in the first 24–48 hours can subtly compromise the airway; if breathing or swallowing feels increasingly restricted, sit up and call the clinic.

Week 1: stitches out, bruising fades

The compression bandage comes off around day 5–7. Swelling is still dramatic but now visibly improving day by day. The face is bruised down into the neck. Mouth opening is restricted (trismus) and you can fit about a finger's width between your teeth, this gradually improves over weeks. Liquid diet continues. Mouth rinses with the prescribed antiseptic solution after every meal are essential because the incisions are inside the mouth and food contamination is the main infection risk. Sutures inside the mouth are usually dissolvable.

Weeks 2–4: back to public

Office work from the end of week 3 for most patients, week 4 for more conservative cases, the face still looks noticeably swollen and many patients prefer to wait until they feel comfortable in public. Soft diet begins around week 2 (porridge, scrambled egg, soft tofu) and gradually expands toward normal-texture foods at week 4. No chewing tough or crunchy food (steak, nuts, raw vegetables) until cleared by the surgeon, usually week 6. Mouth opening continues to improve. Numbness across the lower face, chin, and lower lip is universal and resolves slowly.

Months 2–3: swelling resolves

Swelling drops dramatically between week 4 and month 3. The result begins to look like the goal. Numbness improves but is far from resolved, the inferior alveolar nerve was stretched during surgery and full sensory recovery can take 6–12 months. Tightness and stiffness in the jaw muscles begins to release. Mouth opening should be near normal by month 3. Mental nerve numbness (lower lip and chin) is the slowest to resolve and small patches can persist longer.

Months 6–12: the final result

Bone consolidation runs 6–12 months. The result you see at month 6 is essentially final; minor refinement of swelling continues into month 12. Numbness in the lower lip and chin is largely resolved for most patients by month 6 but partial numbness can persist past 12 months in a minority of cases and is occasionally permanent. The surgical osteotomy lines inside the jaw are completely healed and structurally normal by month 12.

Red flags: when to call the clinic

Call the clinic the same day for: fever over 38.5°C after day 3, sudden one-sided swelling that is firm and increasingly painful (haematoma), pus or foul taste from the mouth incisions, sudden inability to open the mouth more than it had been opening (possible infection or osteomyelitis), or numbness suddenly getting worse rather than slowly better. Go to an emergency room for: difficulty breathing or sudden severe airway swelling, rare but a true emergency because the surgical site is close to the airway and post-op swelling can be unpredictable in the first 72 hours. Routine numbness, mouth-opening restriction, and asymmetric facial swelling in the first 4 weeks are not red flags.

Patient before/after photo reviews

42 patient-published photo reviews across 8 clinics and 5 sources. Photos stay on the original platform so credit, context, and consent stay with the patient who posted them.