Planning an international visit to ILCHI
Plan the consultation, time in Seoul, recovery and follow-up as one journey, with a plan for what happens if your schedule needs to change.
Start with a consultation request
Contact ILCHI and explain that you wish to discuss facial lifting with Dr. Moon. Describe the concern in your own words, give your proposed travel dates and tell the team about previous facial surgery, threads, fillers or fat transfer. Ask what information is needed before an in-person appointment.
An online conversation can help prepare the visit, but it does not establish a final surgical plan. Dr. Moon’s international-patient guide describes an in-person consultation and preoperative testing after arrival, followed by finalising the plan. Keep enough flexibility for the recommendation to change.
A week in Korea is a planning estimate
In his guide, Dr. Moon recommends ideally staying about a week after surgery. He describes a next-day review and another review around one week, when sutures may be removed. That is a planning outline, not a promise that every patient can leave exactly seven days after any facial operation.
The actual stay depends on the procedure and recovery. Ask for the review schedule before buying non-changeable tickets, and ask what to do if an examination leads to a longer stay. A combined operation may require a different plan from the operation described in a short video guide.
Allow time beyond the clinic visit
A patient may be ready to leave the clinic before being ready to attend a public event. Dr. Moon’s guide distinguishes early swelling and bruising from looking socially presentable, for which he recommends allowing at least about three weeks. Neither milestone is the final result.
Consider the practical recovery setting: where you will stay, how you will reach reviews, who can help you and how you will communicate with the clinic. Confirm any language support and transport arrangements directly; do not assume they are included in a surgical quotation.
Ask about travel separately
The decision to travel should take account of your health, the operation, your progress and the length of the trip. CDC medical-tourism guidance treats surgery, air travel and continuity of care as connected issues. A flight date should not be inferred solely from a suture-removal appointment.
Use the flight and stay questions to discuss the timing with the treating team. Ask whether travel insurance covers care related to elective surgery and what arrangements you would make if it does not. Coverage is a matter for your insurer, not something this website can confirm.
Before you return home
Dr. Moon’s guides describe keeping in contact through photographs, video and online consultations when needed. Confirm the contact channel, when it is monitored and the next scheduled review. Ask for a written summary of your procedure and aftercare instructions that you can share with another clinician if necessary.
Remote follow-up is useful for communication but cannot deliver emergency care. Identify the route to local medical assessment at home and discuss how ILCHI can provide records if a local clinician needs them. Read follow-up after returning home.
Sources and further reading
Adapted from Dr. Moon’s patient education. Additional references are listed below where used.