Asian Perspectives on Facial Plastic Surgery

Sandeep Uppal, PhD, FRCS (ORL-HNS)

It is an honor for me to serve as the Guest Editor and to welcome you to this issue of the Facial Plastic Surgery entitled “Asian Perspectives on Facial Plastic Surgery.”

In our multicultural and multi-ethnic world, facial plastic surgeons often encounter Asian patients in their practice. The aesthetic sensibility and desires of these patients are often distinct from those in the other parts of the world. The so called ‘Asian’ patients actually comprise of diverse and distinct groups with very unique facial features and characteristics. The Northern Chinese, Southern Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and South East Asian groups, to name a few, are all exclusive and beautiful in their own way. Each ethnic group idolizes certain facial characteristics more than the others; this, along with the influence of globalization and beauty industry, shapes the societal aspirations of beauty. This makes understanding the aesthetic desires, treatment planning, and execution of surgical and nonsurgical procedures very difficult for surgeons, particularly those who encounter patients belonging to this region infrequently. Some of the issues involved in the care of Asian patients are quite nuanced and even the experienced surgeon often struggles to grasp and tackle them expertly.

The concept of this issue is to cover a wide range of topics in facial plastic surgery as applicable specifically to Asian patients. This issue is devoted to bringing surgeons up-to-date with some of the latest concepts and techniques being used for facial rejuvenation by surgeons in Asia. The authors present a variety of proven approaches being used for aesthetic enhancement of the Asian face. This issue brings together authoritative articles written by some of the thought leaders in the field. Some of the techniques and concepts being presented have been chosen especially because they are novel and thought provoking. The authors present an assortment of exciting ideas and techniques with critical evaluation of their usefulness and a candid look at potential shortcomings and complications. The readers may notice some conflicting opinion among the articles. This has been done deliberately to illustrate that every surgeon has a unique way of looking at the same problem and a different methodology for assessing, planning and managing them surgically.

I want to thank all my contributing colleagues for their enormous help in helping me to produce this salient issue. I sincerely hope that this text will help to expand readers knowledge and understanding in the field of cosmetic surgery of the Asian face.

Publication History

Article published online:
24 December 2020