“Do Injectables make all patients look the same?”

A common concern when approaching aesthetic medicine is whether administering injectables will make all patients look the same.

This is a normal worry, especially given the popularity of what’s often known as the “Instagram look”.

However, as we teach our trainees, cosmetic injectables should always work with and enhance your patients’ unique facial presentation. Your aim shouldn’t be to change their aesthetic or to impose your own beauty standards.

With this in mind, we asked Harley Academy founder and facial aesthetics expert, Dr Tristan Mehta for his take...

HOW TO AVOID MAKING ALL INJECTABLES PATIENTS LOOK THE SAME

“Do we have a completely boutique approach for every case as we go along? Or do we have some fundamental principles that we apply, and are we at risk of making every patient look the same? The first thing to understand is that every patient’s face starts differently,” explains Dr Tristan.

“If you applied the same injection methodology to every face – not that you should – but if you did, they will all look different. This is because the starting point for each individual is different.”

“So it’s not like you could make everyone look the same by doing exactly the same thing because every face is different,” he clarifies. “Every face will end up in a different place after that same methodology.”

EMPLOYING STANDARDISED PROTOCOLS TO DELIVER PERSONALISED RESULTS

“When you’re starting out in aesthetics, you’re going to have some guide rails,” says Dr Tristan. “You’re going to be treating zygoma, you’re gonna be treating in certain sequences that give you a confident, comfortable pattern to start getting good results from.”

“Where my practice has moved to is that I’ll assess my patients then there are some fairly standard things that I will do. For example, I’ll always try to treat deep bony volume loss. For example, deep fat volume loss.”

Dr Tristan believes that “there are key principles that are uniform”. As each patient has their own unique appearance, applying these principles should help you to deliver personalised results. Just because you’re adopting the same methodology, this doesn’t mean the outcomes will make all patients look the same.

Equally, he notes that there are also, “certain things that I’m doing now that are completely boutique and are dependent on the patient.” By this he is referring to the patient’s concerns, treatment goals and their particular aesthetic presentation.

COMBINING STANDARDISED TREATMENT PRINCIPLES WITH A BOUTIQUE APPROACH

So, how do we, as injectors, prevent all patients from looking the same? Do we take a boutique approach or do we follow standardised treatment principles?

“In reality, I think the answer is both,” Dr Tristan confirms. “I think you’re going to have some fundamental principles but that’s not going to apply to everyone at the full extent of their treatment.”

“There are going to be some fundamental principles and then some specific, tailored treatments that you do for every case that you see.”

THE APPROACH YOU NEED TO BECOME AN AESTHETICS SPECIALIST

When it comes to becoming an aesthetics specialist, you’re going to want to deliver natural looking results that work for each person’s own distinctive look. By doing this, the aim is to keep their results restorative and/or enhancing, rather than making all your patients look the same.

To do this, in addition to an in-depth knowledge of anatomy and excellent safe injecting techniques, you’re going to need to:

Know how to assess each patient holistically, taking in how each treatment will affect the appearance of their entire face, not just the treatment area in isolation.

Develop a full understanding of standardised protocols based on fundamental treatment principles, and know how and when to apply these.

Be able to tailor your treatments to each patient’s presentation and concerns.

Refrain from imposing your own beauty standards onto patients and instead work with their anatomy and goals in mind.

If you’re able to offer your patients this kind of personalised service alongside safe practice and beautiful results, you’ll be well on your way to the type of aesthetic success that generates excellent word-of-mouth patient referrals!

Contact us today to learn how we can help you to achieve this level of excellence. Our team will be happy to take you through our range of aesthetics training options to find the best injectables course for you.

All information correct at the time of publication.