02 Cosmetic surgery
Face.
Blepharoplasty · Rhinoplasty · Facelift and neck lift
Three procedures, three different questions. Eyelid surgery deals with the lids themselves, rhinoplasty with the shape and breathing of the nose, and a facelift with the lower face and neck. Each page explains what the operation can and cannot change, before you meet anyone.
Vertex Medic coordinates the practical side of a face procedure: understanding it, the consultation, the paperwork. The surgeon who would operate examines you, decides whether it is suitable, explains the alternatives and takes your consent personally.
Free to ask · No obligation · Never a clinical assessment
How Vertex Medic fits in
Vertex Medic is a booking, marketing, administration and coordination platform. It is not a clinic and does not employ surgeons. Your surgeon, an independent registered clinician working from registered premises, decides whether a procedure is suitable, takes your consent and carries it out. Vertex helps you understand your options, arranges the consultation and keeps the practical side in one place.
§01 Which page is for you
Start with what you notice.
Ordinary editorial signposting, not a diagnosis. Only the surgeon who would operate can say what is suitable, and the honest answer may be a different procedure, a smaller one, or none.
- If what you notice is hooded or heavy upper lids, or bags beneath the eyesRead about eyelid surgery
- If it is the shape of the nose, or breathing through itRead about rhinoplasty
- If it is loose skin along the jaw and neck, or deepening folds in the lower faceRead about facelift
- If it is fine lines, skin texture or volume rather than loose skinAsk, and expect an honest answer: a surgeon may suggest something other than surgery, or nothing at all
§02 The procedures
Three procedures, in full.
Each page covers what the operation involves, what it cannot do, the options, the recovery week by week, the risks, the questions worth asking, how to check the surgeon, and what moves the price.
- 01
Blepharoplasty.
Blepharoplasty is an operation that removes or repositions surplus skin, muscle and fat in the upper or lower eyelids to reduce hooding, puffiness or bags.
- 02
Rhinoplasty.
Rhinoplasty is an operation that reshapes the bone and cartilage of the nose to change its size, profile, tip or nostrils, sometimes together with surgery on the septum to help breathing.
- 03
Facelift.
A facelift is an operation that repositions the deeper soft tissues of the lower face and removes surplus skin to reduce jowls and sagging, and a neck lift does the same for loose skin, fat and muscle bands in the neck, either on its own or as part of the same operation.
§03 Choosing a surgeon
What to check before you choose anyone.
The Vertex Standard: the checks Vertex Medic applies before an independent clinician or registered provider can be listed, and the same checks you can make yourself. The first four, in brief.
01The GMC specialist register
Your surgeon holds a licence to practise and appears on the GMC specialist register in a specialty relevant to your procedure. A GMC number is the minimum; the specialist register shows completed specialist training.
Walk away if a surgeon cannot give you a GMC number.
Check a doctor on the GMC register02RCS cosmetic surgery certification
Where the Royal College of Surgeons certifies the procedure area, your surgeon holds it. Certification is voluntary, so its absence is a question to ask rather than a verdict.
Ask why not, and listen to the answer.
The RCS cosmetic surgery pages03Professional association membership
BAAPS or BAPRAS for aesthetic plastic surgery, BAHRS for hair restoration. Membership is not a licence, but it shows peer standards the surgeon has agreed to work to.
Membership is a signal, never a substitute for the register.
BAAPS member directory04Registration of the premises
The place where surgery happens is registered with the Care Quality Commission, and its entry lists surgical procedures under regulated activities. Outside England: Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales or the RQIA.
Read the entry, not the badge on the wall.
Find a service on the CQC register
§04 Before you book
What UK rules require.
- ConsentThe doctor who will operate must discuss the procedure with you and take your consent personally; this cannot be delegated (GMC, Guidance for doctors who offer cosmetic interventions, 2016, paragraph 16).
- TimeYou must be given the time and information you need to decide, and told you can change your mind at any point (paragraphs 24 to 26). The Royal College of Surgeons sets at least two weeks between consultation and consent.
- PremisesAny procedure that involves a cut or an implant must take place in premises registered with the Care Quality Commission, or the equivalent regulator in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- MarketingMarketing must not claim a procedure is without risk, must not use promotional tactics that encourage an ill-considered decision, and must not offer surgery as a prize (paragraphs 49 to 53). The CAP Code adds that cosmetic advertising must not be aimed at people under 18 (rule 12.25).
- AftercareThe surgeon must make arrangements for aftercare and continuity of care, including out-of-hours contact, and explain charges clearly, including any charges for revision or routine follow-up.
Sources: GMC: Guidance for doctors who offer cosmetic interventions (2016) · Royal College of Surgeons: cosmetic surgery · CQC: choosing cosmetic surgery · CAP Code, section 12: medicines, medical devices, health-related products and beauty products. Vertex Medic follows the same rules on this site.
§05 Also considered
Often read alongside.
Ordinary editorial navigation: nothing here is inferred from anything you have told us.
§06 Common questions
The things people actually ask.
Can more than one face procedure be done at the same time?
Sometimes. Surgeons do combine, for example, eyelid surgery with a facelift, but a combined operation is longer, the anaesthetic is longer and the early recovery is heavier. Whether it is sensible for you is the surgeon's decision after examining you, and it is worth asking what each option changes in recovery and cost.
How do I know which face procedure I need?
You do not need to know before you enquire. These pages describe what each operation addresses so the conversation starts well informed, but only the surgeon who would operate can say what is suitable, and the honest answer may be a different procedure, a smaller one, or none.
Will there be visible scars on my face?
Every operation that goes through the skin leaves a scar. Surgeons place facial incisions where they are least visible, in the eyelid crease, inside the nose, or in front of and behind the ear, and scars usually fade over 6 to 12 months. How yours settles cannot be predicted, and no surgeon can promise an invisible scar.
What happens at the consultation?
You meet the surgeon who would operate. They take a medical history, examine you, explain what the operation can and cannot change, set out the risks and alternatives, show you where the scars would sit and give you a written quote. Royal College of Surgeons guidance then asks for at least two weeks before you decide.
Sources and review
Written by the Vertex Medic editorial team from published UK guidance (NHS cosmetic procedures pages, GMC cosmetic interventions guidance, Royal College of Surgeons and BAAPS patient information), checked 5 September 2026. General information, not medical advice.
§07 When you are ready
A consultation is a conversation, not a decision.
Tell the Vertex Medic booking concierge what you are considering. A real person calls you back within one working day. No deposit, no deadline.
Free to ask · No obligation · Never a clinical assessment