What Happens During Your First Medical Aesthetics Consultation?
If you’ve never been to a medical aesthetics clinic before, you might assume you’re supposed to know what you want before you book.
Botox? Filler? Microneedling? Something for your skin?
Here’s the good news: you don’t need to know.
In fact, we’d much rather you come in and tell us what you’re noticing than arrive with a treatment plan you’ve created from TikTok, Google or what worked for your friend.
Maybe you feel like you look tired all the time. Your skin doesn’t have the same firmness it used to. Your jawline has changed. Your makeup isn’t sitting the way it used to. Or maybe you just don’t quite feel like yourself when you look in the mirror anymore.
That’s enough information to start.
A medical aesthetics consultation is where we figure out what has changed, what you’d like to address and which options, if any, actually make sense for you.
Here’s what you can expect during your first consultation at The Klinik.
First, We Want to Know What Brought You In
Before we start talking about treatments, we want to hear from you.
What are you noticing?
What bothers you?
Has something changed recently, or has it been bothering you for years?
And most importantly, what would make you happy with your results?
There’s a big difference between someone who wants a noticeable transformation and someone who wants to look in the mirror and simply feel a little more like herself again.
Understanding your goals helps us make recommendations that actually fit you.
You Don’t Have to Know What Treatment You Need
This is probably the biggest misconception we see.
You do not need to diagnose your own face.
You might book a consultation because you think you need dermal filler, when what you’re actually noticing is a change in skin quality. You may think you need Botox when your concern is related to volume loss. Or you might be focused on one individual line when looking at your face as a whole tells us something completely different.
That’s why we encourage patients to start with the concern rather than the treatment.
Tell us what you’re seeing.
We’ll help you understand the options.
We’ll Review Your Health and Medical History
Medical aesthetics is still medical care.
Before recommending or performing a treatment, we need to understand your health history, medications, allergies, previous cosmetic treatments and anything else that could affect whether a treatment is appropriate for you.
This is also your opportunity to tell us about previous experiences with medical aesthetics, including what you loved and what you didn’t.
If you’ve had Botox, filler or other aesthetic treatments elsewhere, tell us. The more information we have, the better we can understand your starting point.
Then Comes the Facial Assessment
This is one of the most important parts of your consultation.
Rather than looking only at the wrinkle, line or feature you pointed out, we assess your face as a whole.
Depending on your concerns, that may include looking at your facial structure and proportions, areas of volume change, muscle movement, skin quality, symmetry and the way different areas of your face relate to one another.
Aging doesn’t happen to one isolated feature at a time.
Skin changes. Collagen production decreases. Facial volume and support can change.
Muscles continue to move. All of those factors can contribute to what you see when you look in the mirror.
Understanding the why behind the change helps us determine what, if anything, we should treat.
We May Tell You That You Don’t Need What You Thought You Needed
Sometimes a patient comes in absolutely convinced she needs a particular treatment.
And sometimes we disagree.
That’s part of our job.
Seeing your own face every day can make it difficult to maintain perspective. You may become focused on one line or feature that nobody else notices. If you’ve previously had aesthetic treatments, you can also become accustomed to your results and start feeling like you need more.
More isn’t always better.
If we think you should wait, choose a different treatment or leave something completely alone, we’ll tell you.
A consultation isn’t about finding something to inject.
It’s about deciding what makes sense for your face.
We’ll Talk About Your Treatment Options
Once we understand your concerns and have completed an assessment, we can discuss potential treatment options.
Depending on what you’re hoping to address, that could include neuromodulators, dermal filler, microneedling, biostimulation, medical-grade skincare or a combination of approaches over time.
But you probably won’t need everything at once.
Part of creating a good treatment plan is deciding what should come first, what can wait and what you may not need at all.
We’ll explain why we’re recommending a treatment, what it can realistically accomplish and whether there are alternatives.
We’ll Set Realistic Expectations
One of the most important conversations we can have is about what a treatment cannot do.
Medical aesthetics can create beautiful, subtle changes, but every treatment has limitations.
Your anatomy, skin, age, previous treatments and individual response can all influence your results.
Before proceeding, you should understand what kind of improvement is realistic, how long results may take to appear, how long they may last and whether maintaining them will require additional treatments.
Our goal is never to promise perfection.
It’s to create a plan with results that make sense for you.
You’ll Have an Opportunity to Ask Questions
Ask them.
There is no question you should feel embarrassed asking during a medical aesthetics consultation.
You can ask about the treatment itself, products, risks, downtime, recovery, cost, alternatives, expected results or why we’re recommending one option instead of another.
You can even ask:
“What would you leave alone?”
It’s actually a great question.
Your consultation should leave you feeling more informed about your options, not pressured into making a decision.
You Don’t Have to Have Treatment That Day
A consultation is not a commitment to treatment.
If you want time to think about your options, take it.
Medical aesthetics is elective. You should feel comfortable with your provider, understand the recommended treatment and feel confident about your decision before proceeding.
There is no reason to rush.
Your Treatment Plan Should Be Able to Change With You
We don’t look at medical aesthetics as a series of isolated appointments.
Your face at 42 will not necessarily need the same things it does at 47 or 52.
Your priorities may change. Your skin will change. Treatments will evolve. And sometimes the right plan is simply maintaining what you have rather than adding something new.
That’s why developing a relationship with a provider who knows your face, your baseline and your goals can be so valuable.
Instead of chasing every new concern as it appears, you can make thoughtful decisions about how you want to age.
What Should You Bring to Your First Medical Aesthetics Consultation?
You don’t need to do much to prepare.
It can be helpful to know which medications and supplements you take and to share information about previous aesthetic treatments.
You can also bring older photos of yourself if there’s a particular change you’re struggling to describe.
But you do not need to arrive knowing the names of treatments, how many units of Botox you think you need or how many syringes of filler you want.
That’s what the consultation is for.
Your First Medical Aesthetics Consultation at The Klinik in Edmonton
At The Klinik, our philosophy is restored, not renovated.
We’re not interested in changing your face simply because we can.
We want to understand what you’re noticing, assess what has actually changed and determine whether there’s an appropriate treatment that can help you reach your goals while still looking like yourself.
The Klinik is located in Edmonton’s historic Oblates Manor and is led by Heyam Tarrabain, RN, who brings more than 30 years of clinical experience and more than 18 years of experience in medical aesthetics and injector education.
Whether you’re considering Botox, dermal filler, microneedling, biostimulation, medical-grade skincare or you genuinely have no idea where to start, your first step can be the same:
You don’t need to know what you need before you come in.
That’s what we’re here to help you figure out.
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