DR. WORLDWIDE GETS SOCIAL
DR. WORLDWIDE GET TO KNOW HIM
Frank Agullo, MD, FACS — known globally as Dr. WorldWide — is a double board-certified plastic surgeon in El Paso, Texas. He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Affiliate Professor at the University of Texas at El Paso. Specializing in preservation-based aesthetic surgery and the Deep Plane Facelift, he has been named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor for thirteen consecutive years and has a global social following of over 3.5 million across Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat. He is the founder of Southwest Plastic Surgery and Plastic Surgery Studios.
Meet Dr.WWDR. WORLDWIDE GET TO KNOW HIM
Frank Agullo, MD, FACS is the plastic surgeon the world watches. Known globally as Dr. WorldWide, he has built one of the largest followings of any surgeon on the planet (over 3.5 million on Instagram @RealDrWorldWide) by pulling back the curtain on plastic surgery and showing what extraordinary results actually look like. Celebrities, influencers, and patients from across the United States and around the world make the trip to El Paso, Texas, because when you have seen the work up close, there is nowhere else to go. More than 80% of his patients travel from outside El Paso. The practice handles every detail of their journey.
Dr. Agullo is double board-certified, Mayo Clinic fellowship-trained, and a Clinical Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. But credentials only tell part of the story. What sets him apart is a philosophy built on preservation: enhancing, restoring, and elevating what is already there rather than changing who you are. Not cookie cutter. Every plan is molded around the individual patient's desires, their anatomy, their life.
That philosophy drives every decision in the operating room. His Motiva Preserve breast augmentations deliver results that feel as natural as they look. His deep plane and endoscopic deep plane facelifts turn back time without announcing themselves. His Supercharged BBL has been refined, published, and presented on international stages. And his ability to combine face and body procedures in a single operative session is a capability few surgeons in the world can offer safely at his level.
The same philosophy applies outside the OR. Forget synthetic fillers. Dr. Agullo restores volume with regenerative grafts including Alloclae, Lipoderma, exosomes, and platelet-derived growth factors. Recovery is treated as part of the result: lymphatic massages, scar management, and Elixir MD LED light therapy ensure that what happens after surgery is as intentional as what happens during it.
Castle Connolly Top Doctor for eleven consecutive years. Texas Super Doctors Hall of Fame. Best Plastic Surgeon in El Paso for thirteen consecutive years. Aesthetic Everything Top Plastic Surgeon 2026. Founding Vice President and President of the World Association of Gluteal Surgeons, where he helped write the global safety standards for gluteal surgery.
The results are daily. The standard is uncompromising. The philosophy is simple: #MakeItHappen. #HappyIsBeautiful. #StayBeautiful.
#PlasticSurgeryIsMyPassion
GLAMOUR SHOTS
Plastic Surgery is a very personal choice and a unique experience for every individual who chooses to undergo a change, be it a discreet or major surgery. The one thing in common for my patients though is that they experience an inner transformation which ultimately shines through as confidence in themselves. Confident is Beautiful!
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- Posted on: August 20th 2026
- Category: Commentary, Patient Safety
Yahoo Finance asked me about medical tourism pricing. The discount is usually real. The aftercare risk almost never makes it into the pitch, and it’s the part that matters most.
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- Posted on: August 20th 2026
- Category: Commentary, Patient Safety
Yahoo Finance called about a piece on Americans flying to South Korea for $312 health screenings that would cost four times as much at home. It was mostly about general checkups, not surgery, but my practice sits forty minutes from Ciudad Juarez, and I see the surgical version of this question constantly. Here’s the fuller answer.
The Price Comparison Is Usually Apples to Oranges
An overseas quote and a domestic quote are rarely measuring the same thing. A US quote tends to fold in the surgical facility, anesthesia, and a defined postoperative period, all bundled into one number. An overseas quote often covers just the operation itself, with everything else priced separately or not mentioned at all. Before you compare two numbers, make sure you know what’s actually inside each one.
The Real Draw Isn’t the Discount
For most patients I talk to, the deciding factor isn’t the price gap. It’s access and speed, being offered an appointment in two weeks instead of five months. That’s a legitimate reason to travel. I’d just rather patients travel with eyes open about what they’re trading for that speed.
The Risk Sits in Aftercare, Not the Operating Table
This is the part that rarely makes it into the pitch. Complications after surgery often surface after you’re already home, and at that point the surgeon who operated is on the other side of a border. The physician picking up your case locally has no operative report, doesn’t know what was actually done inside, and is starting from zero on a case that isn’t routine anymore.
That gap, between when a complication shows up and who’s actually available to manage it, is the real risk in medical tourism. It has nothing to do with the surgeon’s skill and everything to do with distance and timing.
Five Questions Before You Book
Verify the operating surgeon’s individual credentials, not just the clinic’s marketing. Get an itemized quote in writing, so you know what the price actually includes. Confirm in writing who pays if there’s a complication, and what the revision policy is. Line up a physician at home before you travel, so you’re not searching for one mid-crisis. And build in more recovery time before flying home than the clinic recommends, since travel stress on a body still healing is its own risk factor.
None of that is meant to talk anyone out of traveling for care. It’s meant to make sure the trip doesn’t trade a five-month wait for a much worse problem six weeks later.
About Dr. Frank Agullo
Frank Agullo, MD, FACS, is double board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He completed his plastic surgery fellowship at Mayo Clinic and serves as a Clinical Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. He has been named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor for thirteen consecutive years, and his El Paso practice regularly treats patients navigating exactly this decision given its proximity to Mexico.
Ready to Talk?
Whether you’re considering surgery here or weighing options abroad, I’ll give you the same honest questions to ask either way.
Call (915) 590-7900, text 1-866-814-0038, or book online at agulloplasticsurgery.com/appointments. #StayBeautiful.
@RealDrWorldWide on Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, @Agullo on X, or @AgulloPlasticSurgery on Facebook.
Cross-links
- Patient-facing version on agulloplasticsurgery.com: “Considering Surgery Abroad? Read This First” (link once live)
- Practice version on swplasticsurgery.com: “Southwest Plastic Surgery on Medical Tourism” (link once live)
- Source: Yahoo Finance (syndicated from Moneywise.com), “‘Still worth it’: Why Americans fly to South Korea for $312 healthcare that can cost up to four times more at home,” Victoria Vesovski, August 1, 2026. https://finance.yahoo.com/healthcare/articles/still-worth-why-americans-fly-120000175.html
- Posted on: August 19th 2026
- Category: Rhinoplasty
The nose does not care what city it is in. The patient does. On travel, trust, and the week you spend hiding anyway.
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- Posted on: August 19th 2026
- Category: Rhinoplasty
In most such visits, the patients begin by apologizing for the commute. “I am sorry that it is far away,” they begin from their homes on screens in Seattle, Toronto, or, on one occasion I still recall, Dubai.
This is what I tell them: the nose does not care what city it is in. Eighty percent of my patients come from out of town now. Texas and New Mexico send the most, then New York, California, Florida, and Seattle, a whole contingent from Canada, and international patients from as far away as Japan.
Your travel time is nowhere near the barrier to be, but there are specific factors you will need to assess before committing to travel for your surgery. Let us be clear: honesty wins out.
What Travel Does Not Change
When you look, every checklist you see is the exact same. Board-certified plastic surgeon, either in general plastics or facial plastics, that specializes in rhinoplasty (this is key; they do them over and over, unlike a plastic surgeon that rarely works on noses). Make sure it is an accredited surgery center. You want to look for a long string of before-and-after photos of noses just like yours and to see happy patients whose problems look just like your potential problem. If you can talk to any former patients, then you will really get good information.
I published the full checklist, plus how our process works step by step, in the complete Texas rhinoplasty guide on the practice site.
What Travel Actually Changes
Logistics. Solely logistics. The patient will consult from her country. 3D simulation of the case will be completed entirely in my virtual office. By the time she boards an airplane, we have worked through the Surgical Plan piece by piece and agreed on the plan. Pixel by pixel.
From there, your personal coordinator handles the remaining details, such as arranging your hotel, surgery booking, nurse visit after your surgery, post-op appointments and virtual check-ins after you return to your home country. My patients are actually scheduling their rhinoplasty similar to scheduling their vacation with one mandatory and the most crucial meeting in the middle.
And the framing’s not inaccurate. It would take about a week, no matter where you went, to recover at home after a rhinoplasty. And again, this comes down to bias on my end, if I were going to hide out for a week, West Texas sun and Texas cuisine sound as good a place to do it as any.
The Simulation Is the Contract
Here is the part of my process I would defend to any colleague: nobody gets on a plane until the simulation is settled.
My patient and I edit using VECTRA 3D and Crisalix, determining their goals, what they find undesirable, and what is realistic for their particular body type. By the time we agree on a plan, we are entirely in accord and the image will then be utilized over the coming year as our visual guideline through the healing process.
This is even more important in ethnic rhinoplasty, which is 30 to 40 percent of what I do. Some patients prefer a more Western profile; others just want a refined version of their own nose.
The simulation forces that conversation to happen before surgery, where it belongs. And the image bypasses language differences entirely, which matters in a bilingual border practice where my patients move between Spanish and English.
The Year After
Distance is irrelevant; it generally takes one full year for rhinoplasty to heal. The residual swelling will dissipate and the nasal tip will relax as the healing process reaches its final stage, which takes one year to become apparent.
That should be a check on the vetting list. You will have spent more hours on your surgeon than on virtually anyone else over the year; pick someone you are willing to see more than one more time. Do not pick someone whom you barely tolerated in one single visit.
It really is not too hard; I wrote the rough range prices I had down on paper in there: real-deal prices for plastic surgery and what makes them so.
Ready to Talk?
The consultation is virtual. The simulation is virtual. The only thing that has to travel is you, once.
Call (915) 590-7900, text 1-866-814-0038, or book online at agulloplasticsurgery.com/appointments. #StayBeautiful
@RealDrWorldWide on Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, @Agullo on X, or @AgulloPlasticSurgery on Facebook.
Cross-links
“Rhinoplasty in Texas: Why Patients Cross the State (and the Border) for a Nose” can be found on agulloplasticsurgery.com. Southwest Plastic Surgery also offers an out-of-town program, which will be linked here once it goes live.
