Facial Aesthetic Surgery
Unlike a facelift, which focuses on restoring the firmness lost over time, facial aesthetic surgery aims to improve the proportion and harmony of specific facial features — such as the nose, eyelids or chin — at any age.
When is it recommended?
- Nasal disproportion or asymmetry that affects overall facial harmony.
- Excess eyelid skin or under-eye bags that age the look.
- Prominent or disproportionate ears relative to the rest of the face.
- Lack of chin projection or definition that unbalances the profile.
My approach
I'm a member of the Rhinoplasty Society of Europe and the Spanish Society of Facial Plastic Surgery (SECPF), and I bring the same eye for proportion and naturalness to aesthetic surgery as to my work in facelifts and reconstruction: every procedure is planned individually, aiming for a harmonious result rather than an artificial change to the features.
Rhinoplasty: techniques and planning
Rhinoplasty is probably the most demanding facial operation, because millimetre changes produce visible differences. There are two approaches: closed, with all incisions inside the nose, and open, which adds a small incision on the columella and offers greater visibility for complex or secondary cases. As for the dorsum, classic structural rhinoplasty resects the hump and rebuilds the nasal roof, while preservation rhinoplasty lowers the dorsum while keeping its support structure intact. Planning matters as much as execution: standardized photography, analysis of facial proportions, and an honest conversation about what result is achievable with the starting anatomy — skin thickness, for example, greatly determines how much tip definition can be obtained.
Blepharoplasty: upper and lower eyelids
The eyes are the first thing to convey tiredness, and often what ages the face most. Upper blepharoplasty corrects excess skin that droops over the eyelid and in advanced cases reduces the visual field; the incision hides in the natural eyelid crease and the scar is practically invisible when the eye is open. Lower blepharoplasty treats under-eye bags — which are not excess skin but protruding orbital fat — and here the current approach is to reposition that fat to fill the tear trough rather than simply removing it, avoiding the hollowed, aged look that older techniques produced. It is important to distinguish excess eyelid skin from brow descent: they are different problems, and operating on the eyelid when it is the brow that has dropped does not solve it.
The chin and profile balance
One aspect that is frequently overlooked: many patients who come asking for rhinoplasty actually have an under-projected chin. The nose looks large because the chin is set back, and the profile cannot be balanced by touching only the nose. That is why I always analyse the complete profile before proposing any nasal surgery. Depending on the case, the chin can be treated with an implant, with a sliding genioplasty — moving the patient’s own bone, with no foreign material — or, if the issue is the position of the upper and lower jaws together, with orthognathic surgery. My maxillofacial training provides exactly that skeletal perspective, which in many cases avoids over-operating the nose to compensate for a problem that lay elsewhere.
Recovery
Recovery varies by procedure: swelling after rhinoplasty can take several weeks to fully resolve, while after blepharoplasty most patients resume their social activity within 7-10 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is rhinoplasty only about aesthetics?
Not always. It's often combined with correcting a functional problem, such as a deviated septum that makes breathing difficult, within the same procedure.
Can several facial aesthetic procedures be combined in the same surgery?
In many cases, yes, provided the preoperative evaluation allows it. Combining procedures — for example, eyelids and chin — can mean a single recovery instead of several.
What should you avoid after blepharoplasty?
For the first few days it is best to avoid bending with the head below heart level, lifting weight or straining, as these raise pressure and encourage swelling and bruising. Do not rub the eyes or apply make-up to the area until the surgeon says so, and set contact lenses aside for a few days. Intense exercise resumes at around 2-3 weeks. It is also important to protect the area from the sun and not to smoke: tobacco compromises healing more than most people realise.
Are blepharoplasty scars visible?
On the upper eyelid the incision hides in the natural crease, so it is concealed when the eye is open; for the first weeks it is pink and then fades until it is practically imperceptible. On the lower eyelid, when the issue is only the under-eye bags, it can often be operated from inside the eyelid (transconjunctival approach), with no external scar at all. If there is also excess skin, the incision sits just beneath the lashes and likewise ends up very discreet. The eyelids are in fact one of the areas of the body where skin heals best.
What is preservation rhinoplasty?
It is a technique that, instead of resecting the dorsal hump, lowers the entire bony-cartilaginous dorsum while preserving its original support structure. In patients with the right anatomy, it allows a very natural result, with a lower risk of dorsal irregularities over the long term.
- RhinoplastyNasal surgery, aesthetic and functional, planned around each patient’s anatomy and the way they breathe.
- BlepharoplastyUpper and lower eyelid surgery, planned around which structure has actually changed: skin, muscle, fat or cheek support.
- Chin SurgeryChin surgery to balance the profile, moving the patient’s own bone where possible instead of resorting to an implant.
- Buccal Fat RemovalRemoval of the buccal fat pad to slim the midface — with a far narrower indication than its popularity suggests.