I had gynecomastia surgery in December 2019. While Evita Clinic was a good value, the process and results left something to be desired and, looking back, I wish I'd paid more for a better experience.
• Scheduling: Very convenient over KakaoTalk, with English-speaking staff. My consultation and surgery were quickly scheduled and both took place on the same day.
• Consultation: The doctor spoke English but was quite difficult to understand, and the staff didn't translate unless asked. I would've preferred the doctor to just speak Korean and have a full-time interpreter instead.
• Pre-op: The nurses and assistants were all really nice and warm, which helped calm me down prior to the procedure.
• Surgery: Completed in under two hours for my "grade 2" diagnosis, and I didn't feel anything other than the IV insertion. I came out of the anaesthesia freezing cold, and the staff put a heater under the covers of my recovery bed which warmed me right up.
• Recovery: Even though it was still an hour before closing time, I got the feeling that everybody was waiting on me so they could go home early—and sure enough, as soon as I ate, drank and went to the restroom, they discharged me. While I was waiting for a cab outside, everyone came out of the building and went home. (Speaking of the restroom, it's outside the suite as in most Korean buildings, and you have to parade yourself past the front desk and in front of other patients while hooked up to an IV, barely coherent, and wearing nothing but a thin robe.)
• Meds and supplies: The clinic sends you to a specific pharmacy (with which they have a deal) to pick up post-op care supplies. You fork over a bunch of money and they hand you a small, pre-prepared bag of ibuprofen, bandages, and surgical tape.
• First night: I was instructed to sleep exclusively on my stomach for additional compression, but the pain was unbearable and I got no sleep whatsoever. If you have access to prescription painkillers or sleep aids, I strongly recommend you get some.
• Follow-up visits: The first visit was to remove the drains that had been placed during surgery, and the second to take out some non-dissolvable stitches and check on my healing progress. This was the last time I saw the doctor.
• At-home post-op care: The overpriced bag from the pharmacy didn't contain nearly enough bandages or surgical tape to last the two weeks I was supposed to wear them, so I found myself having to cut them into small pieces to make them last longer. I eventually told one of the clinic's nurses and she handed me more on the spot, which they could've just done in the first place instead of making me go to the pharmacy at all.
• Outpatient post-op sessions: A combination of massages and alternative medicine (heat and light therapy) of questionable efficacy, rather rushed and performed in awkward silence. These sessions felt more like a filler than anything else.
• Results: I now look great with a shirt on, but nine months post-op and even with the recommended massages and exercise, my nipples look bad—they're "caved in" and I have a permanent, noticeable bump under each areola, at the end of each line of stitches. While overall preferable to having moobs, these flaws make my chest look unnatural and like I've had some sort of botched surgery. Perhaps I had unfortunately large glands or inelastic skin and needed additional reconstruction, but this wasn't offered to me and I would've happily paid more for it.