Medical Korea: Dermatology, Korean Facial

#medical korea #dermatology #korean facial #allergy test

Wondering how to take advantage of the high-quality low-price medical care in Korea on your upcoming visit? I've got you covered, with information on dermatology, facials, complete exams, women's care, with locations that do other services too. (Looking for glasses or contacts? Visit our blog post "Medical Korea: prescription glasses and contacts"

General advice for any appointment:

1. take your passport with you; this will allow you to get a refund on the tax you will pay

2. consider restrictions on air travel for your procedure. For example, if an endoscopy requires polyp removal, one can't fly for 2 weeks.

3. Most searches in English for Korean medical care will take you to concierge services. They will assist you with appointments and they say they will help you with language issues during the appointment, but they will also charge you about double of what you will pay going directly to the service provider. If you want a conceirge service, we have one recommended at the end of this post.

4. If you need/want a medical certificate regarding your visit, which I believe is the same as a medical report, you must ask the doctor during your exam. It will be issued at the end of the appointment.

5. Bottom line: unless you want a 1-off medical service, or dermatology services, the medical check-ups in South Korea are not necessarily a bargain (depends on your insurance), but they are available quickly, efficiently, and without referrals.

Dermatology

I used WooSkin which was suggested by others on Reddit as a place that spoke English and had decent services. It is located near the subway stop for Sookmyung Women's University. Set up an appointment one month in advance: email webmaster@wooskin.co.kr They emailed me back to collect some basic information: Preferred Appointment Date : 

◇First visit or Revisit :

◇Name (First Name:               , Last Name :                    ) 

◇Date of birth : 

◇Procedure You Wish to Book: (ok to list several if you don't know; nothing is charged until you get there and meet with the doctor)

If this is your first visit, please provide additional information below.

◇Gender :

◇Phone Number :

◇Nationality :

I was assigned an appointment at 2:10pm on the day I requested.

Arrival: Wooskin is all over this building. I checked in on floor 2. Bring your passport so they can create a receipt for you to get your taxes back when you leave the country, should you attempt to do so. [This was so easy to do. Next to Gate 28 in Terminal 1, I waited about 1 minute in line, handed my passport over, chose the currency format, and boom--I have $22 crisp US dollars. ]

After check-in, my name appeared in English on a digital display in the waiting room so I could see that I was in the queue for my initial consult with the doctor.

The doctor assigned to me spoke English. He said, "I notice you have some red skin. . .we can take care of that with a laser" Then he asked what I'd like to have treated and I pointed out:

red cherry angiomas on my chest

milia (white bump on face that doesn't go away)

a few chin hairs

possible blood test for food allergies

The doctor then did some calculations I didn't understand and gave me a price of about 400,000 won (about $279) for everything except the blood test, and 330,000 won for the allergy blood test.

I said no to the blood test because I don't really need it. I just thought it would be fun and potentially useful if it was cheap enough.

I asked, "can you tell me what the price of each item is?"

Turned out there was about $70 worth of hydrating creams in there. I rejected the creams.

My new total was

• 308,000krw for the laser work (cherry angiomas, redness of the face, a few chin hairs). . Of this, the chin hairs were $27.

• 55,000 krw for a facial, which included taking care of the milia (10,000krw)

• 30,000 for the initial consultation

The doctor gave me a paper in English that showed the different floors I'd be going to in the building, and the order I should go. Then he sent me back to the desk to pay, which I did with a credit card.

I went upstairs and washed my face and had a photo taken. The receptionist here, and later in all the other rooms I visited, was expecting me so each time I got to a new part of the office I didn't feel lost.

THE FACIAL: I went downstairs to have a facial. I laid down on a table. First she popped the milia. Then she put a gel all over my face and gently massaged it in. Next, she put a thin towel over my face, contouring it to my features, and used some kind of hand-held machine that glided over my skin, including lips, to do something--I'm guessing a hydration machine. After this, I got a face mask and sat for perhaps 20 min. Then I got a little shoulder rub and a final face massage. Finally, I got a Yakult-type drink and was sent on my way. BOY, did my face look bright! I'd recommend this facial to anyone interested in facials.

THE HAIRS: I've had this done many times in the US so am familiar with how it is supposed to feel, and the various ways that practitioners handle it. I'd have preferred that he used the laser to target my whole jawline, instead of trying to pinpoint two places. However, for $27 it probably killed some hairs and that's cheaper than anything in the States, where they won't even do a one-off zapping. Afterwards, they had me hold an icepack on the spots. This is good practice.

ANGIOMAS and REDNESS: the PDL laser was used to first target the angiomas. I showed him where the first 6 were, on my chest and stomach. He then spotted one on my right shoulder that I can't see and zapped that. He then switched the laser setting and zapped my face where I am red from rosacea. I had this done once before about 20 years ago when I was first diagnosed, and I was really glad for the touch up. This is another procedure that is so expensive in the States. After the treatment, I held an icepack on my face for 3 minutes.

My final stop was the pharmacy around the corner of the building, where I paid about $7 for a few pills. These included anti-inflammatory (like Benadryl) and an herbal medicine. I took them and had no side effects. I suggest you wear clothing that can reveal the areas you want treated, if possible. There was no "change into this paper gown" sort of thing.

I made a follow-up appointment for one week later, so he can check the results and presumably take an "after" photo.

FOLLOW UP: I felt that the original treatment for facial redness did not target my whole face. The doctor said that is on purpose, explaining that when one redness is zapped, the vessel looks for another place to go on the face, so treating all at once can be counter-productive. He gave me a 10,000krw discount on the second treatment, so I paid 20,000 for the consult; 44,000 for the facial, and 176,000 for the laser (originally quoted at 186,000).

There was much more zapping this time, and he also re-did a few of the cherry angiomas.

Full Medical Exam, Woman or Man-Focused Exam

A friend of ours who lives in Korea goes to KMI https://global.kmi.or.kr/introduce/globalkmi for his annual exams, which are required for all citizens/employees over 50. They have a program called "Global" that is designed for foreigners. The complete exam fee is 500,000 krw for a "basic" test, and 1M krw or 2M krw depending what else you want--and you will probably want something in those more expensive packages. You can also add on items to the full package, including an allergy test, colonoscopy, special cancer screenings, or more. They have a list of services that may be added, but you still have to start with a package and there are some items that are not available only in a package.

Another direct-service option is to contact a hospital. We have an international health insurance that covers us in the US and all other countries. On our health insurance app, we saw that the pre-approved in-network options were mostly hospitals. So I looked up Seoul National University Hospital. They have an email just for English-speaking folks, plus an online form for requesting services. They emailed me back quite promptly and had appointments available for mammogram and allergy testing within one week. For mammogram, they quoted a price of " Approximately 200,000 KRW" plus a 70,000 KRW consult fee. A second 70,000krw consult fee would also apply for allergy testing, as it is a different department, and they could not quote a price for the test because they didn't know enough about the type of test I wanted. I think if you need one service, it might be worth it to do this type of appointment. With 2 or more, the package deals, despite their upcharges, start looking more cost effective. In the end, I decided the tests I really was interested in were the food allergy test and a heart calcification test. I read this paper explaining that mammograms in the US are perhaps better, and I think the cost will be about the same or less for me in the US. The heart calcification test is available for not too much money in the US, but I have to get a referral. I'm going to try for that first.

Other options:

Our friend recommended as useful to foreigners HiMedi.com. This is a

concierge service. It seemed crazy expensive. Full body MRI from HiMedi is $1,800 USD

(Preneuvo in the US is $2,499. Consider also your plane ticket and travel costs.)

I went directly to the website of one of the clinics HiMedi contracts with, Hanshin Medipia, and the prices were about half of the conceirge service. Hanshin Medipia seems to be a clinic that contracts with area hospitals. They, like the concierge website, only offer packages for health care: for example, a full annual medical exam, or a full women's health exam. I was due for a mammogram, and there are other screenings in the package that I wouldn't have minded doing, like some cancer screenings. But I did not need a colonoscopy or a pap smear, and since these are significant procedures it made me wonder how much the a la carte price is for a mammogram. They also quote prices in US Dollars, which made me suspicious. Prices ranged from $400-$3,200 and are available on the "Health Checkup" tab on their website >>"Health Check up Program" >>and then download the "comprehensive" pdf to see the routine checkup packages