Cosmetic surgery procedure
Facial Feminization & Masculinization
Facial feminization and masculinization surgery reshapes the features of the face and facial skeleton, aligning your outward appearance with who you are through gender-affirming surgical care.
Facial Feminization Surgery in Los Angeles
Your face is how the world meets you, and it should reflect who you are. Facial feminization surgery (FFS) and facial masculinization surgery are gender-affirming procedures that reshape facial features, and often the facial skeleton itself, to align your outward appearance with your identity. At Cosmetic Doc, Dr. Husam Elias, a triple board-certified cosmetic surgeon with dual MD and DMD degrees, brings a career of craniomaxillofacial surgery to this deeply personal work. He welcomes patients from across Los Angeles with care, compassion, and artistry, and he takes the time to understand your goals before recommending any procedure. Whether you are early in exploring your options or arriving with a detailed list, you will find a team that listens first. Consultations are available at both our Pasadena and Sherman Oaks offices.
What Does Facial Feminization Surgery Include?
FFS is not one operation but a personalized combination of procedures chosen to soften features the brain reads as masculine. Your plan may include one or several of the following.
- Forehead contouring: Reshaping or setting back the brow bone and frontal sinus region to soften the upper face, often the single most impactful FFS procedure.
- Hairline advancement: Lowering or rounding a high or M-shaped hairline to frame the face.
- Rhinoplasty: Refining the nose so it harmonizes with newly softened features. Learn more about our approach to rhinoplasty.
- Cheek augmentation: Adding volume and lift to the midface with implants or fat.
- Lip lift: Shortening the space between nose and lip for a softer, fuller smile, as in a lip lift.
- Jaw and chin contouring: Narrowing and tapering the lower face by reshaping bone.
- Tracheal shave: Reducing the prominence of the Adam's apple through a small, well-hidden incision.
What patients gain
Benefits of Choosing Cosmetic Doc for FFS
Facial feminization is surgery of the facial skeleton, and it deserves a surgeon who has spent his career there.
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Trust Bone-Level Expertise
FFS reshapes the framework of the face. Dr. Elias holds both MD and DMD degrees and has spent his career reshaping facial bone, so he operates with rare structural precision.
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Rely on Proven Credentials
Dr. Elias is a former Section Head of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic and served on the team behind the first U.S. civilian face transplant.
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Expect Natural Results
Because he understands the face from the bone outward, Dr. Elias creates changes that read as softly, authentically you, never operated on or exaggerated.
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Feel Respected Throughout
Our team provides affirming, judgment-free care from your first phone call through your final follow-up, honoring your name, your pronouns, and your goals at every step.
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Heal in Accredited Safety
Procedures are performed in our AAAHC-accredited Pasadena surgery center with hospital-grade anesthesia monitoring, so you can focus on your transformation with full confidence.
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Get Insurance Guidance
Some FFS procedures may qualify for insurance coverage as gender-affirming care. Our team can help you gather documentation and understand your benefits before you commit.
Facial Masculinization Surgery
For patients seeking a more angular, defined face, Dr. Elias offers the masculinizing counterparts of these procedures, including jaw and chin augmentation with implants or bone reshaping, brow and forehead augmentation, cheek enhancement, and rhinoplasty designed to strengthen the profile. The same principle applies in both directions: the skeleton sets the shape of the face, and lasting, natural change starts there. As with feminization, every plan is fully customized, and procedures can be combined or staged to fit your recovery time and priorities.
The FFS Experience at Cosmetic Doc
Your journey begins with an unhurried consultation where Dr. Elias listens first, then examines your facial structure and reviews detailed photographic analysis to map the skeletal foundations of your features. Together you will build a surgical plan, deciding which procedures matter most to you and whether to combine them in a single session or stage them over time. Surgery is performed under general anesthesia in our accredited surgical facility. Recovery varies with the procedures chosen: swelling and bruising are most prominent in the first two weeks, most patients return to work in two to three weeks, and bone contouring results continue refining for several months as swelling fully resolves. Our team follows you closely at every stage, and patients who travel to us from across greater Los Angeles receive help planning their visits and follow-up care.
Insurance and Investment
The cost of facial gender-affirming surgery depends on which procedures you choose, whether they are staged or combined, anesthesia, and facility time. Some FFS procedures may qualify for insurance coverage, and our team can help with letters and documentation. A personalized quote is provided at your consultation, and financing options are available.
Schedule Your Consultation
You deserve to recognize yourself in the mirror. Contact Cosmetic Doc to schedule a private facial feminization or masculinization consultation at our Pasadena or Sherman Oaks office, and let us help you bring your appearance into alignment with who you are.
Questions patients ask
Facial Feminization Surgery FAQs
Who is a candidate for facial feminization surgery?
Candidates are generally healthy adults who want their facial features to better reflect their gender identity. There is no single required path: some patients pursue FFS as part of a broader transition, others as a standalone step. Dr. Elias reviews your health history and goals at consultation.
Can multiple FFS procedures be done at once?
Often, yes. Combining procedures such as forehead contouring, rhinoplasty, and a tracheal shave in one session means one anesthesia event and one recovery. For extensive plans, staging over two or more sessions can be safer and easier to recover from. Dr. Elias helps you weigh both approaches.
What is recovery like after FFS?
Expect swelling and bruising for the first two weeks, with most patients returning to work or school in two to three weeks depending on the procedures performed. Bone contouring results continue to refine for several months as residual swelling resolves, revealing the final softened contours gradually.
Does insurance cover facial feminization surgery?
Some insurance plans cover certain FFS procedures as medically necessary gender-affirming care, though coverage varies widely by plan and procedure. Our team can help you understand your benefits and assemble the documentation and support letters insurers typically require before treatment is approved.
Why choose a craniomaxillofacial surgeon for FFS?
The features that most influence gender perception, the brow bone, jaw, and chin, are skeletal. Dr. Elias holds MD and DMD degrees and has spent his career operating on facial bone, including reconstructive work at the Cleveland Clinic, giving him uncommon command of exactly these structures.
Will my results look natural?
That is the goal of every plan we create. Because Dr. Elias understands the face from the bone outward, he reshapes underlying structure rather than camouflaging it, so your features soften in harmony with one another. Most patients simply look like themselves, seen clearly at last.
Your surgeon
Meet Your Surgeon
Dr. Husam Elias
MD, DMD, FACS
Facial gender-affirming surgery is surgery of the facial skeleton, and few surgeons know that terrain like Dr. Elias. Learn more about the dual medical and dental training behind his approach.
Start here
Your Choice for Expert Cosmetic Surgery in Pasadena & Sherman Oaks
Cosmetic Doc delivers board-certified cosmetic surgery with care, compassion, and artistry. From facelifts and rhinoplasty to body contouring, Dr. Husam Elias pairs dual MD/DMD training with an on-site AAAHC-accredited surgery center for the safest, most natural-looking results. Contact our Pasadena or Sherman Oaks office today to schedule your consultation.