Dr Miguel Ángel Olivardía Moreno

I am a physician specialising in ophthalmology, with a subspecialty in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery of the eyelids, orbit and tear ducts.

I chose oculoplastics because it brings together two demands that do not always sit side by side: the surgical precision of working millimetres from the eyeball, and the responsibility of operating on the part of the body with which a person both looks and is looked at. An eyelid does not only protect the cornea; it also carries the expression of a face.

I completed my subspecialty training at the Asociación para Evitar la Ceguera in Mexico, at the Hospital «Dr. Luis Sánchez Bulnes», a regional referral centre for orbital and eyelid disease. Before that I was chief resident in Ophthalmology at the Complejo Hospitalario Metropolitano «Dr. Arnulfo Arias Madrid», in Panama City.

The difference between a small operation and an extensive one is usually the time that passed before the first consultation.

That sentence sums up much of my practice. Many of the conditions I treat — eyelid tumours, ocular surface neoplasia, tear duct obstruction — begin looking like minor problems. That is why I spend part of the consultation explaining what to watch for and when to come back.