Dr Chrysis Sofianos - CS Plastic Surgery

Dr Chrysis Sofianos - CS Plastic Surgery Bedfordview, Germiston, East Rand, Gauteng.

With his experience and surgical expertise, Dr Chrysis Sofianos aims to maximise expectations, ensuring the very best outcome when enhancing and refining your natural features

Living in South Africa, with our high levels of sun exposure, skin cancer is something I see a great deal of — and an ar...
03/09/2026

Living in South Africa, with our high levels of sun exposure, skin cancer is something I see a great deal of — and an area where plastic and reconstructive surgery plays a quietly vital role.

Most skin cancers are highly treatable, particularly when caught early. The challenge often isn't removing the cancer itself but what's left behind. A skin cancer on the back or the leg may be straightforward to close. But on the face — the nose, the eyelid, the lip, the ear — even a small lesion can leave a defect that's both functionally and aesthetically demanding to repair. These are areas where every millimetre matters, where the skin is specialised, and where a poor reconstruction is immediately visible.

This is where reconstructive technique comes in. After the cancer is fully removed (sometimes in coordination with a dermatologist or via a technique that checks the margins precisely), the task is to rebuild the area so that it both functions and looks as natural as possible. Depending on the size and site, this might involve careful direct closure, a local flap that borrows neighbouring tissue, or a skin graft. The art lies in hiding scars in natural creases and restoring the normal contours of a complex, three-dimensional area like the nose or eyelid.

The encouraging message is twofold: most skin cancers are very treatable, and even where removal leaves a significant defect, modern reconstruction can restore the area remarkably well. The key, as ever, is early attention — please don't ignore a changing spot.

If you asked me where the most important work in my practice happens, I wouldn't say the operating theatre. I'd say the ...
31/08/2026

If you asked me where the most important work in my practice happens, I wouldn't say the operating theatre. I'd say the consultation room.

It's where the real decisions are made and where surgery is often, rightly, avoided. A good consultation is not a sales meeting, and I'm wary of any practice that treats it like one. It's an assessment, a conversation, and frequently a reality check. My job in that room is to understand what's actually bothering a patient, examine the anatomy they actually have, and then give them honest advice about what - if anything - surgery can do for them.

Sometimes that means recommending a procedure. Sometimes it means recommending a different one than the patient came in expecting. Sometimes it means a non-surgical route. And not infrequently, it means saying that the best advice is to do nothing at all - that what they're concerned about is well within the range of normal, or that surgery wouldn't deliver what they're really hoping for.

I take the time in consultation seriously because the decisions made there shape everything that follows. A patient who leaves fully informed - understanding the options, the risks, the recovery, and the realistic outcome - is a patient who will be satisfied, whatever they decide. A rushed or oversold consultation is where disappointment is quietly seeded.

You should leave a consultation feeling clearer and calmer than when you arrived, never pressured. That, to me, is the standard.

There's a persistent idea that you have to pick a lane: serious or vain, substance or surface. Erin Brockovich took on a...
30/08/2026

There's a persistent idea that you have to pick a lane: serious or vain, substance or surface. Erin Brockovich took on a utility company and won, and also rather liked her chest. Both true at once and neither one cancels the other.

Patients often arrive slightly apologetic, as though wanting to change something about their body requires a moral defence and two character references. It doesn't. Nobody owes me a justification for how they'd like to look.

What I do owe them is a straight answer about what surgery can and can't do. It can alter a body. It cannot rewrite a life, repair a relationship, or deliver self-worth in a sterile pouch. The people who do best are the ones who already know that — who come in for a clear reason, with expectations rooted in reality, and who would be entirely themselves either way.

This question comes up more than almost any other, usually in a quieter moment near the end of a consultation, and there...
29/08/2026

This question comes up more than almost any other, usually in a quieter moment near the end of a consultation, and there's no right answer to it.

Some patients are entirely open. They'll happily tell friends and family they've had a procedure and feel no need for secrecy — for them, it's no different from any other choice they make about their health or appearance.

Others guard it closely. They might say they look "rested" or "refreshed" and leave it there. The details feel private, and they're entitled to keep them so.

What I find interesting is how much of this is shaped by the people around us rather than by the surgery itself. The same procedure can feel like something to share openly in one social circle and something to keep quiet in another.

My own view is simple: it's nobody's business but yours. There's no obligation to disclose and no obligation to conceal. The only person who needs to be comfortable with the decision is you.

So I'm curious — would you be open about it, keep it private, or does it depend entirely on who's asking?

27/08/2026

Most recoveries are smooth, but knowing the genuine red flags means you can act early — and early always matters. Some signs warrant a prompt call to the practice: redness spreading outward from a wound, pain that worsens after the first few days rather than settling, or unusual discharge.

Others are more urgent: one-sided calf pain or leg swelling can signal a clot, and shortness of breath or chest pain is a medical emergency requiring immediate care. None of this is cause for anxiety — complications are uncommon and most issues, caught early, are easily managed. You'll never be a nuisance for calling. We'd far rather check something that turns out fine than have you wait and worry.

📞 010 500 5151 | 💬 060 070 2751
🌐 www.cs.surgery
📍 Bedfordview | 📍 Brackenhurst | 📍 Melrose Surgical Centre

Thank you, Christian.There's an assumption buried in that review worth pulling out into the open: that asking a lot of q...
26/08/2026

Thank you, Christian.

There's an assumption buried in that review worth pulling out into the open: that asking a lot of questions might be an imposition. It isn't.

Questions are how informed consent actually works. Not the form that gets signed, but the understanding sitting behind it — what the procedure involves, what recovery looks like week by week, what the realistic range of outcomes is, and what the plan is if something doesn't go as expected.

So if you're the patient who arrives with a list on their phone and apologises for the length of it: no apology needed. That list is the work of someone taking their own decision seriously.

24/08/2026

Reference photographs are useful, and I'd far rather see one than guess. Where they help is in showing me your aesthetic taste — whether you prefer a straight dorsum or a slight curve, a defined tip or a softer one. Where they mislead is in suggesting a result can be transferred between two different faces.

Skin thickness, existing cartilage, nasal bone width and facial proportions all determine what's achievable for you specifically. A good consultation takes the photo apart: this element is realistic, this one isn't, and here's why. Patients who leave understanding that distinction tend to be far happier a year later than those who leave holding onto an image. Bring the photo, and bring the questions with it.

It's a strangely common experience: being askedrepeatedly whether you're tired, sad, or unwell when you feel perfectly f...
20/08/2026

It's a strangely common experience: being askedrepeatedly whether you're tired, sad, or unwell when you feel perfectly fine. Often the cause is the upper eyelids.

As we age, the skin of the upper lid loses elasticity and begins to droop. In some people this is mild and purely cosmetic. In others, the excess skin becomes heavy enough to rest on the lashes or even encroach on the field of vision, creating a genuinely tired, hooded appearance — and sometimes a real obstruction to seeing clearly, particularly when looking upward or to the sides.

Upper blepharoplasty addresses this by removing the excess skin, and sometimes a small amount of fat, through an incision hidden in the natural crease of the eyelid. The scar settles into that fold and becomes very difficult to see. The effect is to open up the eye and lift the heaviness, so the face looks more rested and alert: like you, but less weary.

Where the excess skin is genuinely obstructing vision, this can move from a cosmetic concern into a functional one, with the possibility of medical aid motivation in some cases.

If your eyelids feel heavy or you're tired of being told you look tired, it's worth having them assessed.

📞 010 500 5151 | 💬 060 070 2751
🌐 www.cs.surgery
📍 Bedfordview | 📍 Brackenhurst | 📍 Melrose Surgical Centre

Tummy tuck and liposuction are frequently confused, but they address fundamentally different problems. Liposuction is fo...
19/08/2026

Tummy tuck and liposuction are frequently confused, but they address fundamentally different problems. Liposuction is for fat in someone with good skin elasticity and no muscle separation.

A tummy tuck is for loose, excess skin and the muscle separation (diastasis) that often follows pregnancy or significant weight change. Many patients need elements of both.

The only way to know which is right for you is a proper assessment of what your body actually presents — not a guess based on a photograph.

📞 010 500 5151 | 💬 060 070 2751
🌐 www.cs.surgery
📍 Bedfordview | 📍 Brackenhurst | 📍 Melrose Surgical Centre

In South Africa, the key check is registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) as a speciali...
15/08/2026

In South Africa, the key check is registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) as a specialist plastic and reconstructive surgeon. This is not the same as a general practitioner or another type of doctor offering cosmetic procedures. A registered plastic surgeon has completed years of supervised specialist training and examination specifically in this field. The HPCSA register is public, and you are entitled to verify it.

Beyond the baseline registration, it's entirely reasonable to ask a surgeon how often they perform the specific procedure you're considering, what their approach is, and what complications they've seen and how they manage them. A good surgeon will welcome these questions, not bristle at them.

Be cautious of anyone who guarantees a particular outcome, pressures you toward a quick decision, or is vague about their qualifications. Ethical practice — which the HPCSA requires — means honest discussion of risks and realistic expectations, never guarantees.

You are entitled to be an informed, even sceptical, patient. The right surgeon will respect you for it.

Address

Suite 3, Level 1, Life Bedford Gardens Hospital, 7 Leicester Road
Bedfordview
2008

Opening Hours

Monday 08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 08:00 - 17:00
Thursday 08:00 - 17:00
Friday 08:00 - 16:00

Telephone

+27105005151

Website

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