Choices, Choices

I want to talk a little bit about the patient’s choice to have a procedure or treatment. In every consultation, it should be your goal to help your patient reach THEIR skin health goals. If patients ask you what you think they should do, you should hand them a mirror and ask them to point out the thing or things that bother them the most. As professional medical aestheticians we need to make recommendations based on lifestyle, timeline, and budget. What we shouldn’t do under any circumstance, is point things out that our patients haven’t mentioned, but may bother them later. Chances are, if we get great results addressing one issue, then we will have the opportunity to work with the same patient in the future to either address new concerns or help them maintain their results. When all is said and done, they have to look in the mirror and feel good about the reflection looking back at them. To that point, please know that we should only want to know what our patients are interested in working on, not what anyone else thinks they should change. I’m always astounded by statements like “My husband/daughter/sister/wife thinks I should not do this, or I should do that.” Don’t get me wrong, I respect my husband’s opinions and our joint finances. On the flip side, he respects my decisions when it comes to caring for my skin health.

Educating Our Patients

The services we provide are personal. It is never ok for someone else to tell your patient that they should have a procedure, and it is equally not ok for someone else to tell your patient that they should not have a procedure. The choice should be theirs and theirs alone. If they do solicit the opinion of friends or family, please try to make sure that all parties are educated on how the procedure in question works, and that they receive all pertinent information prior to giving their thoughts. Bad information is everywhere, it’s your job to wade through the muck and un muddy the waters for your patients and their support network. I am not a fan of “bring a friend” consultations, but they are a very real part of being a medical aesthetician. In these circumstances, you will need to adapt to multiple personalities and education levels. It’s not always easy or predictable, but necessary. I always make a follow-up call to patients after a consultation to make sure I have an uninterrupted opportunity to answer all of their questions, and to de-bunk any bad or unreliable information a patient has been given elsewhere. This is especially important when another individual sits in on your consultation. Don’t be afraid to tell your prospective patient that their best friend’s sister’s cousin who works for a Salon in Jersey is incorrect when she says not to “fill your lips with Botox” or that “Botox is botulism” Botox is neither a filler nor is it botulism…educate them.

Medical Aestheticians: Serving Our Patients’ Best Interest

In a time when information is plentiful, easily accessed, and often confusing or contradictory, how can you be sure they’re getting accurate knowledge-based material? Provide information and resources that are well-sourced and easily understood to your patients directly during a consultation. Empower your patient to take back the choices they make about their skin health. Give them the autonomy to make a decision without entertaining the cacophony of controlling partners and friends or nay-sayers who are ignorant to the science of what we do. Let them know that you can help and support them through the process so that they don’t look to others for reinforcement.