Dr. Michael Kim - Facial Plastic Surgery

This beautiful patient in her 30’s is one of our longtime friends in the Portland aesthetic community.
She had been getting some filler in her lips, but it was not giving her the projection and elevation that she was wanting. Given her experience in aesthetics, she already knew that she was looking at a modified upper lip lift, but she just had to find someone who could do it for her. Therefore, she came and saw me in consultation, and we did her procedure under local anesthesia with a touch of oral sedation for comfort. She was at 19mm maximal length and we shortened the lip by 5.5mm. This was also followed by a round of steroid injections and laser resurfacing of her scar.
I can’t believe how time flies when you are busy, but this was 3 years ago!. We just got her in for photos as she was the ride for another one of our friends who just got her liplift. It’s an honor that people in the industry trust me with their faces and also trust their friends’ faces to me too! 👄🔪💥
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below! 👇🏻

This stunning patient in her late 20’s had some pretty clear goals in mind when she had her rhinoplasty consultation. She was seeking better symmetry of her nostrils, smaller overall size and less projection, and an overall “fairy” type of shape with a good amount of slope and upward tip rotation.
Most patients come in with some idea of what type of shape they like. And sometimes those ideas are outside the bounds of what can and should be done since it would not fit with their overall facial structure. And sometimes anatomically it isn’t possible to do. It’s my job to be the bearer of good and bad news.
However, in her case, she was absolutely correct in that she could pull off a shape like this one that is a little on the “stylized” end of the spectrum. I just had to execute the plan.
I think she looks absolutely amazing at just 4 months after her surgery. She just had a wedding shoot and it is stunning! Hopefully she will let me share some of those with you at a later time. Until then, feast your eyes on her beautiful face and nose!
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.👃🔪💥

As promised here are the rest of the photos and some background!
This beautiful nurse in her 50’s came to see us for a facial rejuvenation consult. She thought that she developed an “angry” appearance which did not match her personality. She also wanted to lift her jawline and neck because it was falling and looking a lot like her older relatives’ necks!
She was referred by one of our excellent operating room nurses. I’m grateful that people not only trust me with their faces, but with their friends’ faces too.
She is pictured here 4 months after her surgery. We did an extended deep plane necklift and buccal fat reduction as well as some periorbital procedures (eyelid stuff). I can’t show the eyes to you for privacy purposes, but take my word for it, those look great too! 👁️ 💥
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below. 👇

This gorgeous patient in her early 30’s first had a virtual consultation in May 2020 at at time when we were only doing virtual consultations for some reason. 🤔 In any case, despite thinking about changing the shape of her nose since her teens, it was just not the right time for her then.
Fast forward to this year when she reached out. Now was the time and timing is everything. So in February we got reacquainted. This time in the office and in real life!
She was seeking a reduction of her bump, shortening the length of her nose, and lifting and refining the tip. We took her to our operating room and did the deed. I think what resulted was a really nicely balanced and natural result. She is pictured 4 months out from surgery!
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.👃🔪💥

Only one month later after lip lift for this gorgeous patient in her 50’s. I’ll post the rest of the set at some point when she comes back in a few months later, but had to get this out because I’ve been slacking on the posting! 👄 🔪 💥
Let me know if you want or need one below! 👇🏻

Sometimes you meet people who are just such bright and happy personalities and you’re like, “I’ll have what she’s having!” This beautiful 60-year-old patient is one of those people. She came to see me for a facial rejuvenation consult and told me that she “felt great, but looks old.” I hear this a lot in that patients don’t look the way they feel. We set out to change that.
We took her to the operating room for a bunch of little tweaks including brow reshaping, uppers and lower blephs, a conservative lip lift, a deep plane face and necklift, and full face Erbium YAG laser resurfacing. Lots of little things add up to a beautiful and natural result that now matches how she feels on the inside.
She is pictured here 4 months after her surgery and looks amazing. One thing to note is the power of the laser resurfacing. The surgical lifting component of the operation is like making the bed and the laser resurfacing is like ironing the sheets. What’s cool in the closeups is that you can see the positions of her moles have moved vertically and a little back, while her fine skin wrinkles are vastly reduced. When it’s indicated, the synergy between lifting the tissue and resurfacing the skin is an incredible combination.
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Good morning on this beautiful 4th of July everyone! It is nice to be back in the good of US of A. 🇺🇸 Because I need a vacation from my vacation, I want to keep this short and sweet.
This beautiful woman in her 20’s wanted a change since she was in high school. She felt beautiful on the inside and didn’t feel as confident on the outside. She wanted to have a more balanced profile by reducing the bump, shortening the length of her nose, and creating a cute curve. She is pictured 4 months out from surgery looks amazing!
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.👃🔪💥

This lovely patient in her 20’s was looking to create more balance between her top and lower lip. She didn’t like how her upper lip hung down and was quite a bit thinner the lower lip. She also desired to have increased tooth show.
We performed her procedure under local anesthesia with a touch of oral sedation. She is pictured before and 2 months after her lip lift where we excised 4.5mm of length from a 14.5mm lip.
Post procedure, most patients like her benefit from a little injection to soften her scar and help it mature faster. This is usually done at the 1 month mark and the 2 month mark if needed.
She looks great, and I am so grateful that she trusted me with her beautiful face! 👄 🔪 💥
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below! 👇🏻

To know her is to love her! This gorgeous patient in her 50’s from out of state came to see me last year looking to get a refresh. She is in the aesthetics industry and had tried many things short of surgery, but after a period of time she knew that it was time for some cold steel! 🔪 💥
She was seeking to reverse some of her neck and jawline sagging, and to refresh the area around her eyes. The icing on the cake for her was to reshape her nose. This was something that had always bothered her as she didn’t like the size and bulbosity of her tip and the way that it drooped especially when smiling. She also didn’t like the size of her nostrils.
So we took her to the operating room 1 year ago and performed a deep plane facelift, rhinoplasty, upper and lower blepharoplasty with fat transfer. All of these little tweaks add up to what I think is a beautiful and natural result on an absolutely stunning woman. I have loved working with her and appreciate that she is sending all of her out of state friends to see me as well!
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below! 👇

This beautiful woman in her 20’s came to see me seeking some changes to the shape of her nose. She didn’t like the bump on the bridge of her nose and also did not like the droopiness of her tip especially when smiling. I was her second and last consultation before she was ready to pull the trigger.
She is pictured here 1 year after her surgery. It’s kind of a common theme around here recently, but she got it done in advance of getting married later this year. You don’t typically need that much lead time before the big date, but she’s a planner and it has worked out beautifully!
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.👃🔪💥

You’ve seen her before but you get to see her again!
I posted this gorgeous woman in her 50’s after her lip lift procedure. After her positive experience with her lip lift, she came back for round 2 as she wanted to improve the shape of her neck and jawline. So about 4 months ago, we performed a deep plane facelift with specialized deep necklift techniques. She is pictured here before the lip lift, and 4 months after surgery.
I don’t get to see her very often because she lives in a different state, but when I saw her yesterday I was super pleased with her progress. She looks and feels amazing and it’s been a privilege taking care of her and her friends too! Let me know if you have questions in the comments below! 🔪 💥 🔥
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Since the New York Times story highlighted those getting surgery in advance of getting married, I wanted to post another stunning bride-to-be! I also wanted to figure out a way to tell people that I was in the again. 📰 👰‍♂️
This beautiful patient in her 20’s from Southwest Washington wanted to make a change to the shape of her nose and the area under her chin. She inherited her dad’s nose and didn’t think that it looked flattering on her. On the flip side, she didn’t want a nose that was too pointy or too swoopy.
So we took her to our operating room and performed a rhinoplasty as well as a little submental liposuction. She is pictured 4 months after her surgery and looks amazing. I can’t wait to see her wedding photos!
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.👃🔪💥

Hey Mom! We made the ! Thanks to for her writing this article celebrating and telling the stories of patients who had aesthetic procedures before their wedding days. And special thanks to who is absolutely stunning and deserved to be the cover model on the story! 🔥

This beautiful patient in her 60’s came to see me for a consultation mainly wanting to address her jowls and neck area. She also didn’t like some of the lines around the mouth that had developed over the years.
The thing is, she leads a very active lifestyle in her retirement. She likes to hike, bike, yoga and paddleboard. Many of my young-at-heart patients want to better match up what they look like on the outside with how they feel on the inside.
So we took her to the operating room about 4 months ago and performed a deep plane face and necklift with laser resurfacing. She is healing beautifully. She is such a bright and lovely personality, and I have enjoyed taking care of her.
Also, I really appreciate that she let me share her partially-obscured photos with you. Pacific Northwest patients are pretty shy in general, so you get what you get and don’t throw a fit! Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!

This handsome gentleman in his 30’s was looking to improve the form and function of his nose. He had nasal obstruction and a deviated septum that needed to be addressed. In addition, he was also looking to reduce the size of his bump and to lift his tip.
Simple, right? Nah. Every rhinoplasty exhibits its own challenges. In this case, the hardest part is that he is married to one of our anesthesia providers! Just kidding. They are both incredible people and recovery went very smoothly. I am honored that the people I work with trust me with their faces and the faces of their loved ones.
He is healing beautifully for only being one month out. They are moving up north to my hometown in June so hopefully you’ll get another look at his progress. But if you don’t, then this will have to do!
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below! 👃🔪💥

An update from a a beautiful patient whose photos I orginally posted over 2 years ago. This gorgeous patient in her 40’s had a lack of volume around her eyes. Her issue was unlike most others who have extra skin on the upper lids that requires removal. She has the right amount of skin, but was deficient in volume. This physical finding is called a “A-frame deformity” because the deficiency of volume causes a peaked appearance of the lid that looks like those ski chalets and mountain homes that have pitched roofs.
We chose to use Restylane with a cannula to provide the volume needed to give her a nice and consistent lid crease. We did it in two sessions (the main treatment during her rhinoplasty), and another touch-up session to clean up a tiny bit of asymmetry. No skin was excised at all!
The key here is recognizing the anatomical problem and performing the right treatment. In her case a standard upper lid blepharoplasty would have been the wrong thing to do and could have even excacerbated her volume loss.
What is amazing is that this is a change that can last a long time. From top to bottom, she is “before treatment,” “4 months after” and an astonishing “32 months after treatment.” At 32 months, she has only lost a tiny bit of volume and likely won’t need to be topped off for several more months. 👁💥
                       

To open, or not to open, that is the question. 💀
A comment on a previous post asked me whether the surgery was “open” or “closed” and why. It’s a great question that I think needs an explanation, so here it is!
My own philosophy around this is that I believe I can better control shape and therefore the outcome by using an open approach. An open approach has a set of incisions including one external incision, while with the closed approach, the set of incisions are all inside the nose.
The 100% closed rhinoplasty proponents will say that the external scar is conspicuous and best avoided. To be honest with you, this argument unnecessarily plays on patient fears. If put back together well (I put about 9 dissolving sutures along the transcolumellar incision), it heals incredibly well. Makeup can be placed on it at 2 weeks, but in reality, most patients just let it go bare since it’s in the shadow of their nose. At the 1 month visit, it is often red or hyperpigmented but fades by the time I see patients at 4 months. So somewhere between 1 and 4 months it essentially becomes invisible. Sure, if you look closely under magnification you can see it, but it is truly one of the privileged places on the body where scars heal consistently well.
In addition, with few exceptions, tip work can be more precise when you are able to see better and open surgery allows for vastly superior visualization. This also goes for revision rhinoplasty, where complex techniques can be employed. Now the flip side of this is that because you can see more, a novice or inexpert surgeon may end up doing more and cause some problems as a result. So like in all things, there is a balance. Just pick someone who does a lot of noses!
A open rhinoplasty takes longer but that’s really just a downside for the surgeon. It usually takes me about 3 hours of operating time to do one primary rhinoplasty (add 1-2 hours for revisions), while you can bang out 4 or more endonasal (closed) rhinoplasties in a day. However, it’s not a race when it comes to your face (just made that up; trademark pending). CONT’D IN COMMENTS

This gorgeous patient in her 30’s from Central Oregon had wanted to have her nose done for years but was too scared to do it. Last year, she finally mustered enough courage to take the next steps toward having a rhinoplasty.
In our consultation, she let me know what her goals were:

✅ bring the bridge of the nose down to a gentle curve
✅ Lift the tip of her nose to a cute and more slender, button nose
✅ Make the tip droop less with smiling.

We took all of these requests in mind and performed an open rhinoplasty in our state-of-the-art operating room. She is pictured here 4 months after her rhinoplasty and is healing great. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.👃🔪💥

This stunning patient in her 20’s from The Gorge (Columbia River Gorge to nonlocals) came to see me in the office last fall for a consultation to reshape her nose. She wanted the bridge of her nose to be brought down and the tip of her nose to droop less when smiling. As part of a rhinoplasty consultation, I offer an optional simulation of the profile. We actually did three of them in her case because she wanted to see a few different iterations until we settled on one that was straighter and less curved.
While I don’t guarantee that the sim will be an exact copy of what your outcome will be, I think we get pretty close mostly because I won’t simulate something I don’t believe I can achieve if everything heals as expected. The real, main benefit of a simulation is its role as a communication tool because seeing is believing. Granted, the goals do have to be realistic and not some perfect model’s face that is likely photoshopped and contoured anyways.
She is pictured here only 5 weeks after her rhinoplasty and is healing beautifully. The nose will continue to slowly refine over the next several months but she is already, shall i say, Gorge-ous? Haha, I kill me.👃🔪💥

This beautiful retired physician in her 70’s came to see me to discuss facial surgery options. Over the years, she gained weight and peaked at over 300 pounds. Then a decade ago, she decided to make some lifestyle changes, and through diet and exercise and sheer will she was able to lose half of that weight!
This weight loss, coupled with the natural aging process, led to an appearance that didn’t reflect how she felt inside: happy and energetic. So we took her to the operating room and voila!
She is pictured here 4 months after deep plane facelift, browlift, lower lid blepharoplasty and fat transfer. She is such a positive and active person and has been delightful throughout the whole process.
I appreciate that she let me share her results with you. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!

This lovely patient came to see me in consultation seeking rejuvenation of her eyes. She reported that the droopiness of her upper lids aged her the most.
Under local anesthesia and an oral sedative, we performed an upper lid blepharoplasty. She is pictured here before and 4 months after her procedure. Her incisions are nicely healed and it was like no one was there. Her lid skin is no longer resting on her lashes and she now has a beautiful and uniform “tarsal platform” (the area of skin between her eyelid crease and lashes).
This procedure is one of the most common surgeries I do in the office under local anesthesia and it’s so satisfying to see the changes. 👀 💥

This lovely patient from Southern Oregon was seeking to reshape her nose. In particular, she wanted her hump reduced and her frontal view to be more symmetrical. She attributed her asymmetry to be a result of being accidentally kicked in the face when she was 10 years old. Ouch!
She saw us in consultation and we took her to the operating room and performed a primary rhinoplasty. However, this was not your garden variety rhinoplasty. Already, rhinoplasty is known as the most difficult of all of the plastic surgeries and this one, for a primary rhinoplasty, was at the high end on the degree of difficulty scale.
Because of the extreme asymmetry and twisting of the septum, we essentially had to removed the whole septum, work on it on the back table to get it as straight as possible, and then reinsert it and secure it into the face. This process is called a “septal transplant.”
She is pictured here 4 months after her surgery ,and I could not be happier with her result. Not only is her nose straighter, but it also straightened out aspects of the upper lip and mouth area as well. We were able take down her dorsum to a curve and maintain her rotation. While one could quibble over some asymmetries and imperfections in shape, I think that given the starting point, I am proud of the outcome that we were able to achieve. 👃🔪💥