The successful aesthetic consult

Kent Remington, M.D., guides patients through his method for conducting a successful aesthetic consult, he told attendees at the MauiDerm 2014 meeting. Knowing a patient’s “real” reasons for aesthetic improvement - and shifting from a monotherapy toward performing a full-face rejuvenation following a multitherapeutic approach - are essential in achieving excellent aesthetic outcomes, he told attendees at the MauiDerm 2014 meeting. The aesthetic consult is where this shift takes place. By connecting with your patient and then engaging your patient through education, you instill trust. Remember that patients are not paying for a unit or a joule, they’re paying for good results. 

“All aesthetic physicians worldwide are plagued by patients who have a selective focus. One of my central goals during the aesthetic consult is to change the patient’s selective focus on monotherapy and from one area of the face to a full-face restoration project with the correct recipe for that individual patient,” said Dr. Remington, Remington Laser Dermatology Centre, Calgary, Alberta.

Before any rejuvenation procedure is performed, all of Dr. Remington’s patients will also have at least 10 photographs in his dedicated camera room taken during the aesthetic consult, including relaxed, animated, smiling, and spontaneous smiling images. The photographs will not only take the focus off a particular line or wrinkle a patient sees, Dr. Remington said, but will also help to point out the positive characteristics of the patient’s face, and stress what can be done to support and enhance those good features. These concepts and issues are easy to show in the camera room’s high-resolution monitor rather than just a mirror.

Beauty is often judged and evaluated on the basis of symmetry, balance and harmony. Along these lines, Dr. Remington performs rejuvenation procedures in his patients. Usually multiple procedures are performed and they include a mosaic of different fillers, neurotoxin and laser therapies - allowing him to comprehensively address the different aspects of the aging face such as asymmetries, sagging skin, brow ptosis, dyschromias and general deflation of the facial skin and tissues. So part of the consult is outlining the plan and starting with one area.

The aging face should not be treated all at once, Dr. Remington said, but instead it should be restored as one would an antique painting - in a piecemeal, progressive and caring fashion. Different approaches should be employed in multiple sessions over time that ultimately will result in a natural-looking, youthful patient.

“The big key is to give time to your aesthetic patients. You need to connect and engage with your patient, which will instill trust. Once you connect with them and understand what their genetics are, where they came from, what their job is and what they do - and what their real reasons are for desiring rejuvenation treatment - you can better address their concerns and achieve excellent aesthetic outcomes,” Dr. Remington said.